Several hundred people, one collective paper artwork
Manufactures SéraneInvented name
The workshops of a luxury house, formed from two merged entities, had a vision and a motto worked on so far by leadership and managers. It remained to bring them to life with everyone. Over one day, several hundred craftspeople and staff built a paper artwork together, now on display in the production workshops.
- Sector
- Luxury goods, workshops
- Size
- Several hundred craftspeople and staff
- Format
- One day, every team
- In the room
- Every team in the workshops, craftspeople and support functions, from several sites: several hundred people.
Context
- Two merged entities, craft trades and support functions that rarely meet, several sites.
- A vision and a motto, worked on in stages with the leadership team and then with managers.
- Issues of unity and management culture, to be carried this time with everyone.
The challenge
Meet differently, all together, in a single day. Bring the motto to life without speeches, mixing people who never cross paths. And leave a trace that stays after the day.
The design
Key ideas
An envelope the day before
The day before, a gold envelope is left on every desk and workbench. It holds the invitation and a pyramid template. Everyone writes on it the gesture or skill they care about passing on, then cuts it out, folds it and brings it the next day. The day starts before the day.
An artwork that changes scale
The common thread is a paper artwork designed with an artist. Groups of 4 assemble their pyramids, groups of 8 build polyhedra, groups of 16 are joined by lines on the ground. At each step, the artwork and the group grow together.
Three questions, one per word of the motto
Skill: which gesture I want to pass on. What we receive: what I received and want to keep, in gestures, values, habits. What we build: what I want to contribute to the future. The motto becomes an experience rather than a slogan.
Groups designed to mix
Coloured badges form the groups so that trades, sites and the two original entities cross. Nobody works with their usual team.
Bodystorming
In the afternoon, on the lawns, everyone stands on one side or the other of a line: craftsperson or not, former entity A or B, more about passing on or more about building. The house’s diversity, and what binds it, is visible at a glance.
A leadership team that prepares
A workshop beforehand with the extended leadership team prepared its stance on the day. Its members then speak in small circles spread across the site, rather than from a stage.
How the time was used
- Open
- Explore
- Decide
- Celebrate
Before
The day beforeOpen
The envelope
An invitation and a pyramid template to write on, fold and bring.
The day
MorningOpen
Welcome
Everyone drops off their pyramid.
Open
Opening
Leadership and the artist present the artwork to be built.
Explore
Skill
Groups of 4, formed by badge colour: assembling the pyramids.
Explore
What we receive
Groups of 8, a short film, then building polyhedra.
Explore
What we build
Groups of 16, joined by lines on the ground.
AfternoonDecide
Unity
In large circles, leadership team members speak.
Celebrate
Bodystorming
On the lawns, one side of a line or the other.
Celebrate
Close
Everyone around the artwork.
The seminar in miniature
Welcome, pyramid in hand
The day before, a golden envelope was waiting on every desk and workbench, with the invitation and a pyramid template. Everyone wrote on it the skill or gesture they most want to pass on, then cut and folded it. In the morning, people drop off their pyramid as they arrive: the day began before the day.
- Write your skill
- Cut
- Fold and glue
- Bring
Opening
Leadership and the artist present the paper artwork that everyone is going to build. The thread is set: three questions, one for each word of the totem, and groups that will grow through the day. The totem will be lived rather than presented.
Skill
Groups of 4, formed by badge colour, mix roles, sites and the two original entities. The skills written the day before meet, and the group assembles its four pyramids. Nobody works with their usual team.
What we receive
Groups join up in eights. After a short film, each person says what they have received and want to keep, in skills, values and habits. Together they build a polyhedron: the artwork grows in scale along with the group.
What we build
In groups of 16, people answer the third question: what I want to contribute to for the future. Groups are joined by lines drawn on the ground. You can see the whole taking shape, and everyone feels part of something bigger than their team.
Unity
In the afternoon, by the water, large circles form around the members of the leadership team. They speak in the middle of the teams rather than from a stage, a stance prepared in a workshop beforehand.
Bodystorming
On the lawns, everyone stands on one side or the other of a line: craftsperson or not, former entity A or B, more about passing on or more about building. Without a word, the company’s diversity, and what binds it, is visible at a glance.
Close
Everyone gathers around the artwork, made of more than a thousand shapes written and assembled during the day. It is then installed in the production workshops, where everyone passes their own skill, and those of other trades, every day.
The materials, redrawn
The template handed out the day before
An artwork that grows in scale
- × 4The gestureEveryone places their pyramid
- × 8What links usOne polyhedron per group
- × 16What we buildLines on the ground link groups
- × 64All togetherA circle around a leader
Deliverables and follow-up
- A collective paper artwork, made of more than a thousand shapes written on and assembled by the participants.
- Artworks then installed in the production workshops: everyone walks past the gesture they wrote, and those of other trades, every day.
- Self-explanatory instructions, with tutorials and QR codes, which let several hundred people work at once with a small facilitation team.
What we take away
- A motto is better lived than presented. Writing your gesture, folding it and joining it to others’ makes it concrete.
- Changing scale from group to group, from 4 to several dozen, lets everyone feel part of something larger.
- An artwork that stays in the workplace extends the day long after the day.
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