Jane's page
Project title: The use of story as a facilitating tool in small work group

Background: I have practiced as a nurse casemanager, health care tour guide of sorts, for several years in different settings. I have felt conflicted with my role at each setting yet continue to be drawn to the position at different places always finding myself back where I started. I am member of a small department or group in my current position that requires cooperation. My group has become increasingly more dissatisfied with increased job responsibilities and management expectations. The group has started to meet outside of work to identify problems and strategize solutions. It seemed like a natural experiement of sorts. At the onset, I began to reflect on the role of casemanagement, my personal and professional beliefs and values and the locus of change that I pulled me in. Initially, I was tangled up in the casemanagement role with an inquiry to how to improve performance including satisfaction. Literature of job satisfaction identified elements such as skill variety and meaningfulnes which proved interesting but not quite the focus. PT helped me to recognize the group as the locus of change rather than the outcome of the group work. This led me to reflection about my role in the group since I am the newcomer and historically I havn't been involved with successful group work. Rather than focus on the outcome of the group, I could investigate the use of facilitating tools such as what? But what about my interest in story? Reflection and dialogue provided insight to the use of story as a facilitating tool. I currently exploring group dynamics, role of facilitationg tools and specifically the use of story.693AR07JL.doc