Systemic family constellations applied to businesses – by Pierre Lucas

Pierre Lucas, Director at BAO Academy and senior trainer coach at BAO-Elan Vital , had the idea a few years ago of applying the family constellations method to businesses. The objective: to put oneself in a position to understand, but also and above all to change the nature of the difficult relationships that exist between colleagues, the public/client, hierarchy, etc. He takes stock of this approach.

TEXT BY GAËLLE HOOGSTEYN

PIERRE LUCAS – Director at BAO Academy and Co-Administrator of BAO Elan Vital, Executive business coach

Family constellations are based on the idea that certain emotional blockages or inappropriate negative behaviors can be linked to events or traumas experienced by family members, sometimes across multiple generations. In a family constellation session, a group of people symbolically represent family members, allowing them to visualize and understand underlying relationships and conflicts, in order to resolve them and improve well-being. And as everyone knows, businesses are big families, right?

Quick reminder: what are systemic constellations?

Pierre Lucas – The principle of systemic constellations is based on the idea that individuals are deeply rooted in larger systems. Based on the hypothesis that we are consciously or unconsciously influenced by both our ancestors (and their beliefs) and the entire system to which we belong, the constellation allows us to externalize the links that bind us or the obstacles that block us. By putting the elements of a system (family/business/couple/friends/body /…) into “space,” the constellation allows us to visualize in 3D what is happening in the unconscious and thus to highlight what was in the shadows.

How does it work?

PL – Constellations will allow us to see—or at least glimpse—invisible but interconnected elements in the corporate world, either within itself or with external variables. This way, we can take alternative paths and explore previously completely ignored connections. This awareness leads to a new balance and the reestablishment of healthy dynamics. A departure that hasn't been ritualized, a poorly digested merger, the elimination of a product or software… can take years to assimilate. And in the meantime, have negative consequences on a daily basis.

" Many things can be 'constellated': the interactions between members of a management committee, a department, a team, a strategic plan, the elements that promote burnout, the causes of an increase in absenteeism... "

PIERRE LUCAS 

How did the idea of ​​applying this principle to businesses come about?

PL – The family constellation system is relatively well known to the general public. Its application in business, however, is much less so. Yet, applying this method to businesses makes perfect sense. Firstly, because each person's family history has influenced their behavior within the company, but also because each business is—like a family—a system.

What can we constellate?

PL – The interactions that exist between the members of a management committee, a department, a team, a strategic plan, the elements likely to promote burnout, the causes of an increase in absenteeism… Everything can be put into a constellation as soon as we define constellations as a tool that makes it possible to reveal links between the elements of a complex system.

What about interpersonal relationships?

PL – They are, of course, essential in the context of constellations. These can be used, for example, to detect and resolve problems of conflict or harassment (conscious or unconscious). And since the principle of constellations shows the way forward, this allows problems to be resolved in a much more effective way than through traditional interventions based on speech. In a system as complex as that of a company, direct cause-and-effect links practically do not exist.

What concrete lessons can we learn from this?

PL – To make a comparison with the medical world, it is important to keep in mind that the constellation is not a treatment (a drug, an antibiotic), but rather a tool (a scanner, an MRI) that allows us to detect what we cannot see with the naked eye. At the end of a day of constellations, the HR manager will have a different, much more comprehensive vision of their problem. They will therefore be able to ask themselves questions they had never asked before and find solutions they would not have considered.

Concretely, how does it work?

PL – Let's imagine that an HR director wants to understand why their company's absenteeism rate has increased over the past two years. A full constellation session lasts about half a day or even a day. Beforehand, we conduct interviews with members of the company. On the day, we put the HR director in touch with a group of 15 volunteers, who don't know them and know nothing about their company or their issues. Confidentiality is total. One or two observers from the company may also be present. Then, the interactions between these people clearly reveal certain things (X and Y don't get along, for example), but also other, much less obvious aspects. Throughout the session, one of our specialists supports the HR director. Then, decoding work is carried out with the HR director to help them better understand all the connections observed during the session. Finally, we help the HR director to develop an action plan.

What types of businesses and issues is this technique aimed at?

PL – As with families, the constellation system applies to all types of businesses: large, medium, small, and of course, family businesses!

In recent months, we've received a huge number of requests regarding conflict management within teams, regardless of their level. This can range from the individual team to the executive committee.

A word to conclude?

PL – In businesses, we tend to give good answers to the wrong questions. Using constellations means accepting humility, recognizing that the world is changing very quickly and that we don't know everything. Constellations don't provide ready-made answers, but they open up new areas of inquiry that will allow decision-makers—HR managers and others—to ask the right questions.

“ In the HR function, we shift the balance and we must remain equipped .”

 SYLVIE MICHEL (Head of HR of Banque de Luxembourg) 

“Constellate what is happening to go beyond the obvious”

SYLVIE MICHEL – Head of HR Business Partnering, Talent Development & Acquisition of Banque de Luxembourg

Sylvie Michel, Head of HR Business Partnering, Talent Development & Acquisition at Banque de Luxembourg, completed the “Consteller Coach” training . She shares her experience.

Banque du Luxembourg has a staff of around 1,000 employees. To better equip her team, the Deputy Director of Human Resources took a closer look at the practice of constellations and followed a "Constellation Coach" module . "Constellations give us other keys to interpret situations. Thanks to them, we can improve our ability to make the right diagnoses and therefore our ability to intervene in a more relevant manner. In the HR function, and depending on how we act, we shift the balances and the system in place. This training allowed me to be more enlightened in the way I carry out my job."

While Sylvie Michel enjoyed her training, she is especially convinced by the constellation approach: "It seems to me to be particularly justified in contexts of team reorganization, department creation, in situations of succession, turnover in a department or burnout. Constellating what is at stake at that moment and taking the context into consideration allows us to go beyond (false) obvious assumptions."

His point of attention: to follow this training, however, it is better to already have experience as a coach or HR professional. "An HR professional will benefit more from the training if he or she has already worked on himself or herself, is curious and open to an approach that, at first glance, seems off the beaten track. The trainers will help him or her decipher what is at stake during a constellation and the manager will thus be able to refine his or her analysis of a situation. This will open up other perspectives for the person to act appropriately or even to decide not to act."

For the Deputy HR Director, it's essential that companies embrace these broader ways of thinking. "We can't just analyze things based on cause-and-effect relationships, especially when we're talking about interpersonal relationships. The issues are becoming increasingly complex. We need to remain well-equipped to better understand the issues facing employees and businesses in today's workplace," she concludes.