different­part­of­yourself­that­you­don’t­ necessarily­have­in­the­office’.­While­for­ another, the evening commute on the train is where she transitioned from ‘work­self’­to­‘home­self’.­And­this­tran- sition­affected­the­nature­of­the­interac- tions and the stories exchanged with the colleagues that travelled with her. But the most consistent theme was that of blurred ownership. A number of­the­spaces­were­not­‘owned’­by­any­ particular group. They were neutral spaces, often on the border between different­teams.­Participants­spoke­ about kitchen areas as places where you could­meet­anyone­from­the­office­—­a­ space for ‘gatherings and paths cross- ing’.­The­encounters­here­were­often­ serendipitous — the changing room, the toilets,­smokers’­corner,­the­café­where­ you­‘bumped’­into­people.­And­there­is­a­ long thread of research that recognises such random encounters as valuable for transmitting ideas and stimulating crea- tivity — especially where these ‘inciden- tal­information­exchanges’­occur­across­ diverse groups. So, space, particularly liminal space, seemed to play a key role in stimulating the interactions that lead to storytelling. But then, for many, the pandemic com- pletely transformed the spaces where we worked.


A twist in the tale


Back in the summer of 2020, as I studied­my­participants’­photographs­ (which,­due­to­the­University’s­ethical­ research­requirements,­were­absent­ of people), they struck me as an eerie, unsettling portent of what was to come. Our­vibrant­office­spaces,­full­of­social­ interaction and congregation, now empty and­denuded­of­life.­Consequently,­I­ began­to­reflect­on­what­was­happening­ to­organisational­stories­now­we­weren’t,­ physically, in the organisation. Had they migrated to new spaces — the virtual spaces of Zoom, Teams, instant messag- ing and email? Or were stories, deprived of their natural habitat, now faced with potential extinction?


The early signs were not encourag-


ing.­From­the­workshops­I­ran­within­ Linklaters, with clients and at various conferences, a recurring topic was the struggle to replicate virtually random, unplanned encounters. And this was experienced as a loss — a sentiment echoed by then Chief Economist at the Bank of England, Andy Haldane who, in his Autumn 2020 speech, cited serendip- ity­as­the­‘cradle­of­creativity’2


. A similar


theme­was­that­of­‘information­friction’­ — denied the rich data we gain from face- to-face interactions, people talked about operating­in­a­vacuum­and­consequently­ misreading­situations.­Some­were­finding­ it­more­difficult­‘to­get­things­off­their­ chest’,­to­retain­a­sense­of­proportion.­


January-February 2022


So,­perhaps­what­some­of­us­were­find- ing challenging about working remotely —what we missed about the buildings we had relocated from — was our separation from those liminal storytelling spaces?


The final chapter…? For­the­next­stage­of­my­research,­I­will­ return to my two research sites and ask what actually happened to the spaces of storytelling during lockdown? And how might these habitats change in a new world of hybrid working? I believe these are­important­questions.­My­research­to­ date­has­confirmed­that­storytelling­is­a­ valuable activity — and that the spaces in which­it­occurs­matter­too.­The­findings­ have­consequences­for­anyone­working­in­ organisations and, in particular, to those of us involved in knowledge manage- ment. The 2018 International Standard on knowledge management systems (ISO­30401)­suggests­that­not­only­do­ stories and conversations form part of the ‘Knowledge­Spectrum’­but­that­KM­‘focuses­ on managing the working environment, thus­nurturing­the­knowledge­lifecycle’3


. I


suggest the research to date has demon- strated­that­the­term­‘environment’­ should not be considered metaphorically but, instead, grounded in the material, physical world. But­will­the­pandemic­—­and­its­effect­ on where we work — mean that storytell- ing environments become increasingly virtual? And how might an appreciation of the role of liminal space in storytelling influence­the­virtual­spaces­we­create?­ How can we best introduce serendipity, unplanned interactions between diverse groups or the creation of spaces where hierarchy dissolves? Or, to take a more pessimistic stance, will the predicted flight­from­offices­to­remote­and­hybrid­ working signal the decline of storytelling and,­worryingly,­the­benefits­it­gives­us­all.­ Are stories now a threatened species in the changing habitats of organisational life? Watch out for the next episode in this particular story.


Would you like to be part of the story? I’m­always­fascinated­to­hear­about­the­ places in which people hear stories in their organisations. So, if you have ideas and views to share, please do contact me at ian. rodwell@city.ac.uk or ian.rodwell@linklaters.com. Where did you hear stories before Covid — and where do you hear stories now? IP


l For those interested in liminal spaces, find out more via my blog: www.liminalnarratives.com


References


1 See for example, Turner, V. (1969) The ritual process: structure and anti-structure. New Brunswick: Aldine Transaction.


2 Haldane, A. (2020) ‘Is home working good for you?’ Available at: www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/ speech/2020/is-home-working- good-for-you-speech-by-andy- haldane. pdf?la=en&hash=099975AB9B41135F1DC132D90C5466DDD4598218 (Accessed: 31 October 2020).


3 International Organization for Standardization (2018) ISO 3041:2018(E) Knowledge management systems — require- ments. Geneva: ISO. p.vi


Auvinen, T., Aaltio, I. and Blomqvist, K. (2013) ‘Construct- ing leadership by storytelling — the meaning of trust and narratives’, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 34(6), pp. 496–514.


Fayard, A-L. and Weeks, J. (2007) ‘Photocopiers and water-coolers: the affordances of informal interaction’, Organization Studies, 28(5), pp. 605–634.


Fletcher, C. (1996) “’The 250lb man in an alley”: police storytelling’, Journal of Organizational Change Manage- ment, 9(5), pp. 36-42.


Fotaki, M., Altman, Y. and Koning, J. ‘Spirituality, symbol- ism and storytelling in twenty-first century organizations: understanding and addressing the crisis of imagination’, Organization Studies, 41(1), 7-30.


Humphreys, M., Ucbasaran, D. and Lockett, A. (2012) ‘Sensemaking and sensegiving stories of jazz leadership’, Human Relations, 65(1), pp. 41-62.


Patriotta, G. (2003) ‘Sensemaking on the shop floor’, Journal of Management Studies, 40, pp. 349-375.


Smith, R., Pedersen, S. and Burnett, S. (2014) ‘Towards an organizational folklore of policing: the storied nature of policing and the policy use of storytelling’, Folklore 125(2), pp. 218-237.


Snowden, D. (1999) ‘Storytelling: an old skill in a new con- text’, Business Information Review, 16(1), pp. 30-37.


Swap, W., Leonard, D., Shields, M. and Abrams, L. (2001) ‘Using mentoring and storytelling to transfer knowledge in the workplace’, Management Information Systems, 18(1), pp. 95–114.


Tangherlini, T.R. (2000) ‘Heroes and lies: storytelling tactics among paramedics’, Folklore, 111, pp. 43-66.


Van Gennep, A. (1960[1909]) The rites of passage. Trans- lated by M.K. Vizedom and G.L. Caffee. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.


Van Hulst, M. (2017) ‘Backstage storytelling and leader- ship’, Policing, 20(5), pp. 1045-1064.


Van Hulst, M. and Ybema, S. (2020) ‘From what to where: a setting-sensitive approach to organizational storytelling’, Organization Studies, 41(3), pp. 365-391.


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