# Several hundred people, one collective paper artwork

> 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.

*Real case, anonymised: the company name is invented.*

- Company (invented name) : Manufactures Sérane
- Sector : Luxury goods, workshops
- Size : Several hundred craftspeople and staff
- Format : One day, every team
- Audience : Every team in the workshops, craftspeople and support functions, from several sites: several hundred people.
- URL : https://www.getflowdesign.com/en/cas-clients/oeuvre-collective-papier

## 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.

## Design 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.

## Run of show

### Before

- The day before · **The envelope** : An invitation and a pyramid template to write on, fold and bring.

### The day

- Morning · **Welcome** : Everyone drops off their pyramid.
- **Opening** : Leadership and the artist present the artwork to be built.
- **Skill** : Groups of 4, formed by badge colour: assembling the pyramids.
- **What we receive** : Groups of 8, a short film, then building polyhedra.
- **What we build** : Groups of 16, joined by lines on the ground.
- Afternoon · **Unity** : In large circles, leadership team members speak.
- **Bodystorming** : On the lawns, one side of a line or the other.
- **Close** : Everyone around the artwork.

## Deliverables

- 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.

## Key takeaways

- 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.

Related expertise : [Seminar design](https://www.getflowdesign.com/en/design-de-seminaire), [Seminar facilitation](https://www.getflowdesign.com/en/facilitation-de-seminaire), [Collective intelligence](https://www.getflowdesign.com/en/intelligence-collective)

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Source: Flow Design, https://www.getflowdesign.com
Contact: victoire@getflowdesign.com, marie-violaine@getflowdesign.com, +33 6 72 15 94 77. Request a quote: https://www.getflowdesign.com/en/nous-contacter. Draft a run of show online: https://www.getflowdesign.com/en/concevoir-mon-seminaire.