Mark van den Brink is Project manager Safety at TNO.
TNO invests in personal development and intervision because we consider them very important. Therefore, we decided to start intervision training with Aletta Wubben's agency. As a group of project managers from different disciplines in our organization, we addressed the following question: how can we learn from each other the best way we can? During three sessions, we practiced conversation and giving feedback under the guidance of Aletta or one of the other coaches.
During these sessions, we learned a ten-step method that each person can use to give feedback appropriately. First of all, it is crucial to create a level of trust and openness. And, very important, we learned how to get to the bottom of things. Often the answers of the person you are talking with only show the tip of the iceberg; the challenge is to discover and understand his or her underlying motivations and doubts. By asking open questions and giving the other person the time and opportunity to answer honestly, you will get very useful insights. What’s more, we learned how to lead intervision sessions ourselves, so that we can do it after the coaching course ends.
Every session, one of the participants contributed a practical case or question. For example: what is the best way to ask a coworker to deliver a piece of work within a certain time frame? Then we discussed this case, and at the end of the day the contributor received many useful insights and concrete advice. Since we all have the same job function within TNO, we could all relate to these cases. Aletta knows how to create a nice atmosphere of trust. She makes sure we stay focused and don't deviate from the essence. And importantly, these sessions are really fun. After a training session, we tend to stay and chat with each other. It's a good idea to follow a course like this with your colleagues.”
December 2016
