Creative interventions are ways of bringing arts into organisations to meet both individual needs within companies and to improve team development and external communication.
What is their effect & impact?
The first evident effect they produce is above all on human resource development. For instance, organisational change or the opportunity to identify a problem or strengthen a sense of community may be enhanced throughout team events or a visual representation of the organisation’s identity and visions. Art and creative interventions approach ideas and problems in a direct, visual manner and stimulate audiences, enriching their experiences and fostering processes of self-reflection.
Besides simple ways by which creative interventions can be carried out into organisations including the organising, sponsoring or commissioning of arts events and creative artworks, some companies employ creatives and artists for (re-)designing corporate image, buildings, products, events, or even organisational processes.
Others employ them as management consultants since their creative and artistic capabilities support managers in solving problems, visualising concepts, ideas, objects and processes through images or products, coping with team or organisational problems and supporting discussions with the benefits of “fresh” and unconditioned perspectives.
Often, companies commission creative/art projects within the company with the aim of inspiring or supporting managers and employees in the idea or product/service generation through engaging in the process of artistic creation or the resulting artworks.
Creative interventions into business environments support employers and employees’ wellbeing and add value to corporate identity and branding to leadership, human resources development and organizational by enhancing strategic development, operational activities, brand communication.
The difference in direct perception of creatives and artists and managers generates new perspectives, interpretation and solutions on working contexts and points out alternative courses of action.
Following the examples provided above and their relevant positive impacts, creative or arts-based interventions take various forms in terms of how they are implemented in organisations and how they influence organisations and stakeholders.
How to make sure you make the best out of such an intervention?
It is crucial for the company/employer to plan, monitor and assess creative interventions carefully and purposefully by being aware that the creative intervention shall be planned firstly by defining the goal, issue or problem that should be addressed within the organization by considering:
(a) if the intervention aims at human resource development, organisational development, or external communication
(b) how the goal, issue or problem can be achieved e.g.
- by learning skills/competence and acquiring new perspectives
- by learning specific processes and contents
- challenging them to stimulate participated reactions within the organization
- via the organisation’s or a team’s identity
