The International Association of Business Communicators conducted one of the most comprehensive studies ever on storytelling in organizations in 2006, and Terrence Gargiulo and Angela Ioffredo have recently reported on the results.
The researchers found that organizations were using stories in six broad categories:
- Stories about the organization, including its creation story.
- Stories about products and services.
- Stories about business performance at both macro and micro levels.
- Stories about an organization’s people.
- Stories about its culture.
- Personal narratives, including stories about an individual’s department or role.
As for the media in which stories are being used, respondents cited these venues and functional areas:
- Town meetings
- Sales and marketing
- Training
- Reinforcing values
- Change management
Nearly half of respondents (48.7 percent) felt their CEOs were effective storytellers. More than two-thirds believed stories could play an important role in their communication strategies, but just under a third were convinced that their top leadership was making the most effective use of stories.
Respondents cited a number of obstacles to deploying storytelling:
- Time needed to collect and package stories
- Frustration, especially in large organizations, over collecting stories and finding ways to use them
- Legal issues in obtaining clearance to use stories
- Lack of a storytelling culture in the organization and a bias toward quantitative information
- Senior leaders who don’t understand how to use stories