Every day at GANDT we develop our problem solving minds, as we tackle issues, overcome obstacles, and implement solutions. We are constantly learning from each other and our clients. However, no matter how much we progress, there is always more knowledge to explore and new skills to learn.
During our Quarterly gathering last week, our team got together for what was an important and fruitful workshop led by our founder Jacek. The topic was triggering for us as individuals and as a group: as we focused on Learning and Development and what this represents for us, we brainstormed about methods, techniques, rules and exercises that could be implemented here at GANDT to leverage some of these ideas and contribute to our growth.
To begin, we dedicated some time to think about what personal development means to us. For some, this resinated on a personal level where improving health and peace of mind, reducing stress, and developing greater resilience and happiness were at the forefront. For others, the focus was stretched across a wider spectrum where building strong relationships, increasing productivity in the workplace, and becoming a better communicator were most valuable.
We used a co-creative approach to discuss practical ways in which we could leverage these ideas. Discussing the ‘how’ resulted in the following suggestions:
- Taking courses
- Shadowing each other
- Watching videos
- Sharing learnings on a weekly basis
- Initiating and taking part in open learning sessions
- Improving communication through workshops
- Brainstorming as a team
To flesh out these practical exercises, we took one step further to discuss the topics that we considered most valuable. These covered several different areas.
COMMUNICATION
- active listening
- business story telling
- non-verbal communication – body language
- asking questions
- learning industry jargon in both English and German
- building meaningful business relationships
ORGANISATION
- managing a schedule
- optimising productivity and performance
- mastering g-suite
- setting priorities
- how to do presentations
- mastering notion
- improving understanding of the tools we use every day
PERSONAL
- brainstorming on how to focus and block distractions
- developing motivation and drive
- balancing work and private life
- giving and receiving feedback
Reflecting on ‘why’ there is a need for learning and development after discussing ‘what’ this means to us and ‘how’ we can achieve it, was an effective way to demonstrate what value each team member can bring to the table. Indeed, thinking about what is important to us as individuals and having the opportunity to communicate and materialise it creates a sense of purpose and fulfilment. Most importantly, creating habits, being disciplined and taking initiative are necessary and part of our responsibilities in the workplace. To ensure the continuity of our co-creative workshop, we identified next steps which would start by engaging with our respective manager as well as our team mates, to communicate objectives and expectations.
What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving them.
-Henry David Thoreau
Striving for a proactive lifestyle, both privately and professionally, is what we believe in here at GANDT. The development of ones self is an ongoing process in which learning, challenging, reflecting and adapting are key, and creating the right environment for this to happen is the first step. Defining development ideas and designing a program is the next, in which we all have an internal role to play.
