What is a History Map and how can you use it in an organisation?

What is a History Map?

A History Map is a tool we often use to help a team or organisation become more aware of its own history.

It involves creating a timeline together, capturing the moments that have shaped the journey of an organisation, team or project.

Not just the major milestones.

It can also include the people who joined along the way, significant changes, projects that defined a particular period, challenges that were overcome and lessons learned.

Each person contributes a part of the story.

And, little by little, the map becomes a shared memory.

What is a History Map used for?

At first glance, it may seem like a tool for simply looking back at the past.

But its real value lies in the conversations it creates along the way.

It allows people to recognise the journey they have taken and acknowledge the efforts of those who have been part of it.

It brings to light moments that many people may not have known about and helps them understand why the organisation is the way it is today.

It can also help those who have joined more recently understand the organisation’s culture, decisions and evolution from a much more personal perspective than any onboarding document could offer.

Above all, it creates a space to share memories, lessons and emotions that rarely come up in everyday work.

When can a History Map be useful?

A History Map can be particularly useful when an organisation or team is beginning a process of strategic reflection, cultural transformation, onboarding or change.

It can also be valuable when we need to pause, recognise the journey so far and build a shared understanding before deciding what comes next.

Because understanding how we got here can also help us identify what we want to preserve, what we need to change and where we want to go next.

How do we use the History Map at Manahmana?

We prepare a large timeline and different types of cards, each linked to a particular aspect of the organisation’s history: people, milestones, projects, lessons learned, significant changes or particularly meaningful moments.

Each participant marks when they joined the organisation and, working in small groups, they begin to reconstruct the most important events.

Then, as a whole group, we complete the map, discuss the different moments and reflect on what each stage has meant for the organisation.

By the end, the History Map provides much more than a snapshot of the past.

It creates a shared conversation about the organisation’s identity, evolution and the journey it has taken.

Because, very often, understanding where we come from is the first step towards deciding where we want to go.