Stefanie Bosselmann und Björn Grande

Corporate Development Team

What was the objective of the picture?

As bankers, we are traditionally very fact-oriented and fixed on numbers. With the strategy picture we want to try out a new form of communication. With the help of the picture and the communication proposals that were developed at the same time, we encourage people to talk about our strategy and the bank's goals. By getting employees to see the big picture and work out their contribution to success together in their teams and with their managers, we can achieve our vision. Because strategy only works if everyone participates.

What is the target audience for the medium?

The target group for our strategy picture is the employees of Volksbank Lüneburger Heide eG and the employees of our subsidiaries (Gesellschaft für Entwickeln und Bauen (GEB) mbh, VBLH Grundbesitz GmbH & Co. KG, Immo-Konzepte GmbH).

What are the advantages of visual communication?

By visualizing complex topics, objectives, links and dependencies are easier to recognize and more understandable for most people: a picture says more than a thousand words.

How did you perceive the cooperation with DIALOGBILD?

The collaboration with DIALOGBILD lasted over 2 years. In all phases of image development we were well advised and accompanied by the consultants and draftsmen of the agency. Franziska, Toby, Carina and Egor guided us in the process and repeatedly gave us suggestions on individual topics. If necessary, they were always available to us as sparring partners.

How did the image development work?

We started with a graphic recording during a planning conference. For this, we first developed a picture world, on the basis of which the target pictures of the individual areas were drawn. The result was a "hidden object" of strategy, target images, challenges and visions.

In further development, the picture book was to become a strategy picture. Together with the company DIALOGBILD and a small team of the Volksbank, the picture world was first changed. Topics that had not yet been depicted were added and then all the scenes were clustered. The most important scenes were then positioned on the new imagery world. Key elements such as values, competitive advantages and regional characteristics of Volksbank Lüneburger Heide eG were integrated. Graphically, the diversity of VBLH was also depicted: so there are young and older people in the picture, light or dark skinned, men, women, children. The employees and the customers differ in their clothing.

Simultaneously with the graphic creation of the image, we started describing the individual scenes. Our employees will find an explanation of each scene in the interactive version of our strategy picture, so they can easily find out about the measures on the way to achieving our vision. At the same time, we have encouraged exchange between managers and employees in their teams. Each team is working out for itself what contribution they can make to individual scenes so that together we can achieve our goal of "enthusiasm and networks on all channels." At regular intervals, the managers receive reminders from the project team (e.g. mouse pads for a "clear view", apple boxes for "yield harvesting") so that they always have occasions to include the topic of strategy in their team rounds and conversations.

Do you have a favorite scene?

One of our favorite scenes is the "further development" scene, because we are always experiencing changes and driving innovations as part of our work in corporate development. In order to do this successfully, it is important to attract and involve qualified and motivated colleagues.

Further development and lifelong learning are a matter of course for us. Because only those who continue to develop can successfully master change. We promote the personal development of our employees through numerous seminar offerings and encourage them to seize the opportunity for further qualification at any time.

Our favorite graphic recording is our "team spirit", because only together can we achieve the goals of our bank.

Our team spirit accompanies us at events and workshops, is included in various presentations, adorns our "nerve food" and coffee mugs, and serves as the "mouse pointer" of our interactive version to the StrategyPicture.

What is the feedback from colleagues?

The degree of use of the strategy picture varies greatly. In an initial survey on this (about 2 months after the image was rolled out), the following picture emerged from the participation of about 50% of our managers on the question "How often have you used the strategy picture in discussions with your employees?"

One feedback we received in response to the question "What has been your experience with using the strategy picture?" included the following statement: "The strategy picture serves as a translator of our strategy. We use it to discuss practical situations and make our bank's change process more tangible."

And even though not all colleagues have yet been able to work intensively on our strategy picture, we are confident that in the coming months we will repeatedly have the opportunity to use the picture to engage in an exchange about our strategy, our goals and the associated change process.

Can you recommend DIALOGBILD to others?

Yes.