Work often creates moments that have higher value than realised until reflected upon, this is why the process of narrating ones work experiences verbally are so useful. It is by listening to these stories told by an individual that can provide value, as it is through these stories that we are able to pick up details that also relate to our own values.
By encouraging the recollection of significant, forgotten details, it seeks to generate more nuanced accounts of peoples lives, enabling both them and the lister to consider wider ranges of possibilities in the future. It is by sharing these conversations that people are better able to make judgement and shape their own values in accordance to how they are likely to act in the future and make plans around this.
I had recently been tasked with this exact opportunity, which required me to listen and dissect a guests speakers experience within their work and relate it back to my own experiences and the future of work I would like to create for myself. It is during this exercise that made a strong effort to listen for the specific words the guest was using in order to help connect this meaningful to my own work experiences and morals.
Throughout this exercise, I heard my guest use the term “jumping between lots of small things” within their current work role. This particular term really resonated with me due to my current working position in customer service. Where I am too jumping between lots of small tasks having to multi-tasks and manage different areas of customer interaction points such as emails, live chats and phones. Though while listing I heard the speaker state that when overwhelmed between tasks they seek the support of trusted individuals.
For me, this aligned greatly with a specific work experience, where within the first month of starting my new role I often leaned on trusted individuals. This could also been know as using the strategy of “club of life“, the club of life consists of an inner circle of people that you can count on for guidance and advice. My club life consists of family, friends and selective co-workers that I hold a collaborative conversation when stressed or need guidance. These conversations helped me during my first month of work to provide a structure and plan of how I will manage this role in the future. I found that due to the reciprocal nature of conversation with people from my club of life in my first month of work that it actually helped me build relationships and form a club of people within the work-space that I could trust due to the sharing of similar values and objectives.
Listening to others stories enables us to find and discover our own value by seeing what resinates most with us. This process is often referred to as “outsider witness” where through listening to the guest I found that I picked up on details of openness and accountability. Both of these values have been an important during my working career so far as I think it is vital to seek guidance when needed but also the realisation that the performance of your work is your own responsibility.
The tasks of listening is critical to the way stories work, as this practise is founded on the idea that these stories can be of societal use. This reflection allows us more time to re-evaluate or confirm our ethics. By exploring others stories we find which values are of importance to use, using it as a compass to be implement towards the future of our careers.
References
- Dulwich Centre Publications, 2020,. Outsider-witness practises: some answers to commonly asked questions.The Dulwich Centre (Accessed 23rd September 2022)
- Russell, S & Carey, M., 2021. Narrative practices.com.au (Accessed 23rd September 2022)
- Corson-Knowles, T., 2021. Stories Matter: Why Stories Are Important to Our Lives and Culture – TCK Publishing (Accessed 23rd September 2022)
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