Wytske van Ingen-Bouwsma is Controller at the faculty of Law of Leiden University.
“Our Finance Department decided to follow a two-day course led by Aletta’s agency. Earlier, our team had taken a training course focused on individual development; now, the team felt the need to focus on the team as a whole and to create a collective vision of how we all function as a group. We had a kickoff session with Gilbert Bookelman in which we tried to find out how we could operate as a team while still benefiting from everyone's individual qualities and talents.
Gilbert took us through a very interactive session using various training methods, including group discussions in which everyone could share their opinion. This was interesting, because it gave us the opportunity to listen to the different views of our colleagues. There was plenty of room for differences and individual styles. And it was OK if you didn't want to do or share something. Because we discussed the material in a very relaxed and lighthearted way, the session was fun and the insights are easy to remember.
It is nice that Gilbert gives special attention to how academics work. He understands how scientists can be totally focused on their work, and he knows how we, as a support department, can respond to that. This understanding of the perspective of the scientists enables us to communicate differently with them. Instead of “bothering” someone with work, we now take the time to ask what he or she needs and how we can facilitate their job. Our department is very enthusiastic about the training course and is motivated to work further on the development of the team.”
December 2016