Omtelling

Omtelling is a concept that originated in the fields of organization theory and industrial sociology. It refers to the process of retrospective sense-making in organizations, where employees and management gather to discuss and reinterpret past events, projects, or decisions. The primary goal of omtelling is to gain a deeper understanding of what happened, how it happened, and what it means for the organization's future.

Omtelling is often conducted in a post-project or post-event setting, where a team of stakeholders, including managers and team members, come together to share their experiences, perspectives, and insights. This collective narration of events serves as a means of sense-making, allowing the organization to analyze successes and failures, identify areas for improvement, and develop strategies for future growth.

During an omtelling session, participants typically engage in a reflective conversation about the past, exploring the underlying factors that contributed to the outcome. This may involve revisiting meetings, email exchanges, and other records of communication to re-trace the decision-making process. By doing so, the participants aim to reconstruct the narrative of what happened, mitigating the influence of confabulation and promoting a more accurate understanding of the past.

Omtelling can be seen as an approach to supplement traditional project retrospectives, offering a more nuanced and detailed analysis of the events. It emphasizes the importance of contextual understanding and encourages organizations to capture the subtle and implicit factors that affect project outcomes. By adopting omtelling practices, organizations can gain a more profound understanding of themselves, their processes, and their people, ultimately leading to improved performance and better decision-making.