Engaging Programmes’ facilitators, Jan Vaessen and Magda Veenendaal, customise each programme to their client’s needs. The programmes may take on different forms, but what they all have in common is an approach that is both task and people oriented. A project’s success rests on both.
Task orientation
In each project the team is expected to be ready for the challenge of achieving certain objectives within a specified time-frame. It is thus crucial that the team members:
- have the same understanding of the goals and what they entail
- have a joint plan to reach these goals
- know what each other member contributes
- take responsibility for their own contribution
Engaging Programmes makes sure that this happens. The team members jointly design a roadmap to achieve the desired goals. As the roadmap is a joint effort, it is supported by everyone and everyone feels responsible for it. The team takes ownership of the project and starts working on it immediately, experiencing this as stimulating and valuable.
People orientation
A multidisciplinary team can achieve spectacular results – as long as each team member is able to act to the best of his/her ability. Anything standing in the way of sound collaboration can jeopardise this. This is why Engaging Programmes focuses so much on the human dimension of a project.
During the programme, the team members:
- gain an understanding of each other’s personal ambitions and motivations
- gain an understanding of what the other team members need to perform optimally
- receive feedback on their behavioural styles and their impact on others
- have the opportunity to try other styles of behaviour
To achieve this, the facilitators use a range of methods and tools that can be used in both group situations and for individuals. More importantly, any friction that arises is not brushed aside but is made transparent and discussed immediately. Energy is thus not lost on underlying frustrations and the focus remains on the task at hand.
Uniting the task and the human elements
Neither the task nor the human elements exist in isolation. Engaging Programmes connects these two dimensions seamlessly. After all, a project will only move forward if the team members feel that they have a stake in it. And their activities will only have added value if they are completely interwoven. This calls for clear communication on the project goals, the tasks and on each person’s individual ambitions, needs and capacities. Engaging Programmes creates complementarity between the task and human dimensions.
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