Herve Graciet

Copyright © 2001-2007 Hervé Graciet

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When the Arts meet business: a success story

One of this year’s success stories has been the launch of a team building event called ArtWorks. Among other team workshops on the market, very few are themed around the Arts, and only one facilitated by a “real” artist who happens to have a “real” business background. After 16 years in the hospitality industry which has seen him managing restaurants and large teams of staff in London, the US and the Far East, Hervé Graciet turned to painting, and specialises in contemporary art. His passion for life is obvious in his art but his management skills and his relaxed, yet disciplined approach to work are exemplary.

Herve recognises the value that the Arts can bring to business, how it can act as a channel to engage people in order to improve team performance. “For my teams, I was always looking at events that focused on real team development, delivering something of genuine value back onto the restaurant floors as well as fun! Team ‘bonding’ doesn’t mean team ‘building’ and if it does, then that’s by a matter of chance. I strongly believed that my teams were too important to leave their performance progress to chance. Art is the perfect mean to allow for such personal development, nurturing creativity and inspiration which in turn flourishes happier people in the workplace. As a result, I got better working teams for greater commitment to the restaurants’ performance and productivity” says Hervé.
The rare difference with ArtWorks is that Hervé is a ‘jargon-buster’, with the proper skills to run courses that engage people in business communication

Lately Hervé was approached by The Spa Set, the largest Spa developer in the UK. The owner of their latest project, a huge free-standing establishment in Birmingham, wanted its staff to spend a day getting to know and work with each other before the actual opening. The Spa Set proposed an art day and submitted the innovative ArtWorks project. The primary objective of this event was about communication, building relationships and allowing people to think and believe in themselves without feeling constrained or embarrassed; art is very subjective and Artworks allows people to (re)discover the power inherent in their own creativity.

‘’The goals were achieved in an imaginative way and as the day went on and the sizes of teams working together grew, you could really notice personalities, respect and support coming out, it was amazing!’’ says Lisa Knowles of The Spa Set. ‘’We knew what we wanted. The level of commitment on the day was fantastic. One of the best by- products of the day being a team whose members fully understand each other and would be able to support one another in the times of pressure ahead. We had so much fun too!’’

The very first exercise in the workshop involves people being coupled up and asked to spend 5 minutes talking about themselves. Then each person draws a sketch representing how he or she perceives the other. ‘’This is a very powerful tool to use to get people to know each other; it can be as personal as the individual wants it to be and yes, it’s fun but if you really think about it, the exercise is a strong foundation to building a team and self development. The subject matter is so far from business, they learn about depths and sides of their co-workers that they would probably never see in the workplace’’ says Hervé.

The day sees the participants slowly growing into a team with a succession of challenges supervised by Hervé who advises on techniques and mediums, linking the experiences to the organisation. The finale of the workshop has everyone working in one large team, creating a stunning piece of art on canvas that the organisation can then exhibit on its walls to act as a continuous reminder of the team success.

So, creativity has become one of those buzz words. You either like it or you don’t but these days, businesses need to be minded as to the need to test new ideas and to create that space for creativity to happen, rather than suppressing it. By doing this, businesses rid themselves of one dimensional, quantitative ways of thinking, recognising a change in corporate culture, embracing energy and experimentation to reach those very same goals. Engaging with the arts enhances effective communication and problem solving and it allows for an emotional and sensitive side to both self and others that are completely foreign to business life.

Feedback for the event was very good. Lisa of the Spa Set wrote: “Many thanks for putting so much effort into the planning and the running of the team day, it was tremendously entertaining and successful. Herve was very motivational and got everyone into the spirit of things. The final result created a real sense of unity among everyone”.

ArtWorks will not teach someone to be an artist. It aims to help people improve their quality of thinking and the skills that will lead to better team interaction in order to improve company performance. Hervé Graciet speaks the language of business and art, a perfect combination that will be sensitive to the expectations of business but at the same time, encourage people to ‘nurture’ their imagination and creativity.

For more information about the workshop, visit the team building pages
For additional information, please email the press office at FranklyPR or call: UK +44 (0) 7951 031 769