Purpose provides direction
A clear, shared purpose brings people together around what needs to be achieved, why it matters and how each contribution connects to the whole.
Learn more about the principlePurpose – Dialogue – Performance
The Scandinavian Art of Organizing Work
Want to see how it could work in your organization? Book a meeting.
The Scandinavian Art of Organizing Work
Verksamhetsskap® is the Scandinavian art of organizing work around a shared purpose, the conditions people need to perform and dialogue in everyday work.
The result is people who perform and organizations that deliver results over time.
We make it possible through Agerus System, training and consulting services.
Three guiding principles
A clear, shared purpose brings people together around what needs to be achieved, why it matters and how each contribution connects to the whole.
Learn more about the principleThrough dialogue, people can interpret the purpose together, bring different perspectives into the conversation and develop the work close to where it happens.
Learn more about the principlePeople's performance turns purpose into reality. The right conditions make sustainable performance and lasting results possible.
Learn more about the principleThe Scandinavian Art of Organizing Work
Purpose, Dialogue and Performance capture three guiding principles in a Scandinavian approach to organizing work: a clear shared purpose, dialogue close to the work and a focus on sustainable performance. We bring them together in Verksamhetsskap – The Scandinavian Art of Organizing Work®.
Verksamhetsskap® in practice
Agerus puts Verksamhetsskap® into practice through system support, training and consulting. Each path is grounded in the same research, method and perspective, but meets a different need: understanding the organization, revealing people's conditions for performance, creating clarity and ownership around the purpose, building shared capability or supporting a specific change.
Understand the organization
Understand the organization's capacity to perform and what needs to develop to strengthen results.
Reveal the conditions
Reveal the conditions people and teams need to perform, develop and thrive.
Align around the purpose
Create shared understanding, clarity and ownership around the purpose to be realised.
Build shared capability
Build the shared knowledge and capability needed to make Verksamhetsskap® part of everyday work.
Make meaningful progress
Get expert support to understand the current situation, set the right priorities and turn insight into meaningful progress.
The method
Verksamhetsskap® is built around the interplay between the Individual, the Team and the Purpose – the person doing the work, the group in which the work takes place and the shared purpose to be realised.
The method helps organizations align people and teams around the purpose, create the conditions needed to succeed and use dialogue to overcome obstacles and develop the work.
Verksamhetsskap® is a continuous way of working that strengthens both people's ability to perform and the organization's capacity to achieve its goals.
A metric that reveals what lies ahead
Traditional metrics show what has already happened. The Verksamhetsskap Index™ shows what will happen next.
The Verksamhetsskap Index™ is built on more than two decades of research and development. Originating at Stockholm University, it has been further developed by Agerus through practical application and millions of data points from organizations around the world.
The index captures the organization's ability to create the conditions required for sustainable performance, engagement and long-term development. The result is an overall picture of its capacity to deliver results – today and over time.
A perspective for a Verksamhetsskap organization
Over time, Agerus' combined research, knowledge and experience have crystallised into a perspective that helps people and organizations succeed together.
People and organizations meet in a shared purpose. When organizational demands and people's conditions for performance are considered together, they can reinforce one another and create sustainable performance.
Read morePeople have a deep need to contribute and do a good job. When performance falls short, the organization needs to understand which conditions are missing from the work.
Read morePerformance and health can reinforce one another. When work is understandable, meaningful and open to influence, it creates better conditions for both results and wellbeing.
Read moreThe impact of Verksamhetsskap®
When people have the right conditions to perform, it shows in the organization's results. Research reveals strong relationships with several of its most important metrics.
The figures show the strength of the relationship between people's conditions for performance and each organizational metric.
Grounded in research. Proven in practice.
The Agerus method has been developed through more than two decades of close collaboration with researchers and practical application in Swedish companies and organizations. Today, the knowledge base encompasses 39 million insights from use in 150 countries.
Long-term partnerships
“Our leadership is largely based on a coaching approach in which dialogue plays an important role. That is precisely why Agerus, with its focus on purpose, conditions for performance and dialogue, was such a good fit in supporting our leaders.”
Tobias Frohm, HR Director Systembolaget
“We want a different kind of leadership at the Swedish Tax Agency, where the leader's role is to use dialogue in everyday work to create the right conditions for employees.”
Daniela Eriksson, HR Director Swedish Tax Agency
Next step
We regularly share perspectives on working life, purpose and sustainable performance.
Choose how you would like to continue: through the Verksamhetsskap® newsletter, LinkedIn, frequently asked questions or a conversation with us.
Book a short meeting to explore what Verksamhetsskap® could mean for your organization.