Reconnect with working life part 2
This is part 2 of 2 —best to read part 1 first.
Back in January 2015 I designed a DIY ethnography kit as part of the tools Fieldwork uses with its clients. We’ve now produced hundreds of these kits and they’ve been used in multiple companies to help employees get to know their own work and company in a way they hadn’t done before.
I am driven by a core purpose, to humanise work for more than the lucky few. To do that, we need to learn more about how humans feel at work. I believe Fieldwork and my other projects are helping with this, but I want to do more to spread our ideas as far and wide as possible.
The first small step is offering our DIY Ethnography kits as digital tools anyone can use. These tools are aimed at anyone interested in humans at work, but more specifically, HR managers, leadership teams, well being practitioners and internal comms teams.
This page contains everything you need to help you explore what your DIY Fieldwork kit assignments from part 1 may have unearthed. You are going to create a mini exhibition that tells the story of your working life. You can do it alone, but I’ve found it really useful to get together with a friend or colleague to talk through your story with.
Picking a place
Your exhibition can be displayed anywhere, on a large wall, on a tabletop or on the floor. The only stipulation is that wherever it is, it remains undisturbed and on show for a few weeks. I suggest picking a space you will walk past and look at over the next few weeks, this will give you more opportunity to interact with the findings.
Time and day
You will need around 2 hours to create your exhibition. It’s important that you can focus during that time so I strongly suggest a time when there are no big project deadlines, client work or other things that may take your mind away from the task at hand. I also suggest picking a time when you feel full of energy.
What you’ll need
Around 2 hours of time
Your DIY Fieldwork Kit Photographs printed no smaller than 5x7”
Your DIY Fieldwork Kit notes
A stack of post it notes
Sharpie
Bluetac or way to stick photographs on the wall
A notepad and pen
Creating your exhibition
Start by reviewing each photograph and it’s associated notes. Stick it up on the wall with a post it that summarises the most important feelings and thoughts about this photograph. If you are working with someone else, talk through why you took this photograph and note down any important ideas that come from these discussions.
Repeat this with each of the photographs. You might want to group certain photographs together to tell a particular story, or you can just organise them randomly. Most people find the photographs fall into some kind of order.
When you’ve placed each photograph on the wall, look to see if there are any patterns or obvious themes. Note these down and rearrange photographs if you need to. If there are themes, you might want to add some post it note headings to your exhibition.
Over the years of using these kinds of techniques I’ve found many people have found it useful to end with writing down any practical or physical actions that might need to happen. These may not be immediately obvious, which is why I suggest leaving the exhibition on your wall for a few weeks and keeping your notebook handy.
After a few weeks, review your exhibition and notes. Have you had any other thoughts that you need to reflect on or do something with? Before you start taking your photographs down, take a photograph of the your DIY ethnographic study of working life.
I’d love to hear how you used these instructions and what happened. Send me an email to let us know how you got on, or to ask us a question.
Fieldwork bridges the gaps between humans at work. Our work enables companies to work on strategy with clarity and focus, saving time and money whilst really supporting the humans in the workplace. We give companies a clear and objective picture that helps with leadership, internal comms, recruitment, innovation, well-being, induction and the broader short and long term strategy.
Get in touch — lab@wearefieldwork.com
