Cooperation in Science

Working in a changing scientific environment, with a variety of different scientific colleagues, puts specific strain on your social intelligence and cooperation skills. How can you influence others effectively? How can you create commitment? How can you become a pleasant but effective colleague? How can you deal with difficult people and situations? In this workshop we look at the science behind influencing people, communication styles, making clear agreements, convincing, creating commitment, giving feedback and conflict management. In an interactive workshop we help you to find ways to get what you want while being a team player!

We discuss your strengths and share difficult scenarios. Based on several science-based models for interpersonal communication, conflict and feedback, we practice a variety of skills.  One of our professional training actors will help you practice certain types of people and situations. With playful games and serious conversation exercises you can investigate your own styles and new solutions. Based on the wishes of the individual participants we can add tests to examine your styles, flexibility and effectiveness.

Become a master communicator and team player!

Dealing with work pressure

In this course,  we offer a tastery of various evidence-based techniques to cope with work pressure and the symptoms of stress. Studies show that stress is most damaging to people who lack coping skills and the self-confidence to aply them. This practical, no-nonsense course aims to be your first step to more focus, concentration and relaxation.

First we will discuss your tasks and activities and the pull-and-push forces in your environment. We analyze the causes of stress and perceived pressure. We investigate assumptions, possible solutions, and share alternative solutions. Reflecting on your attitude toward time, we discuss the positive sides and pitfalls of for instance perfectionism or impatience. A large part of the workshop is about coping strategies: how can you deal with the mental and physical strain? The increased work load and pressure on scientists leads to often reported effects such as: ‘I have difficulty to stop thinking about work, I have worrying thoughts a lot, I have trouble sleeping, I can’t concentrate, I regularly feel tired, I feel like I’m about to explode sometimes, sometimes I feel I am not present in my private life’. These experiences may coincide with a variety of physical signals that are not always recognized as stress-related. Under stress, people may feel tired, jumpy or grumpy, headaches, stomach aches or other intestinal problems, sweating, skin conditions, loss of concentration, forgetfulness. Being aware of such thoughts, feelings and symptoms helps you to make timely decisions. Also, there are many science-based techniques available to relieve such symptoms. In exercises and a coaching carousel we practice various techniques to focus, relax, and maintain your energy levels. We will also refer you to interesting books and practical guides.

Assertive behavior

‘I disagree with the decision the group making now; Do you mind not interrupting me?; That was not the agreement; I can’t take on any extra hours of teaching right now; I don’t like the way you say that; It seems you are not taking me seriously’. Can you relate to any of the situations or sentences? Try setting boundaries to people, without any nervousness or anxiety before, during or after. It is not easy for anyone!

The simple formula I / YOU = 1 (I devided by YOU equals 1) dictates that reasonable and respectful communication should have equal focus on your interests and the other person’s interests. Over-assertive behavior (>1) then says you have too little respect for the other person or his/her wishes. Sub-assertive behavior (<1) implies that you easily give up your own goals. Both strategies have a different effect on your emotions and on the relationship with the other person, depending on the combination of characters.

During the training we practice a lot in adult, assertive, equal and respectful communication with our actors. In simple and funny situations we practice the differences in behaviors. And in situations that you choose or suggest to us, you will practice assertive behavior whilst maintaining low blood pressure!

Concentration & focus

Do you find it hard to concentrate and focus on one task at a time? Because you are distracted in your mind, or because people and iphone apps demand your attention?

We help you to treat concentration as a limited resource that cannot be forced and must be treated with respect. You will check your environment, personality and biology as well as your concentration skills in this training. In which conditions do you concentrate best? With or without music? With people around you? In light or darkness? With a good chair? Coffee? Sweets? At work or at home? And what disturbs your concentration? When do you see the signals that your started to run out of concentration?

What are the right times in a day for you to concentrate? What stimulates your concentration? To talk with people first? To do sports first? Or promise yourself a reward? Or convince yourself of the necessity?

And how long are you able to concentrate anyway? And how is this different, with different tasks? What to do when my focus is gone? And is that a disaster? How do you refuel?

We offer you tips and exercises to find out more about your Concentration skills, conditions, and personality.

Energy management

Are you often to tired after work to go and do something fun and relaxing? Do sleep endlessly or fall ill when you start your holidays? Or do you simply wnat to know how to prevent getting overworked? In this workshop we see what energy sources and leaks are, in your individual situation, and share these experiences and solutions with the other participants.

You will reflect on what you think, feel and do in various situations when you feel you are loosing energy or experience stress. By looking at common energy leaks and sharing with other participants, you will become conscious of the steps to take. Practical tips that support your energy level are shared, such as sufficient light during the day, plants in your office, focus and concentration, changing negative thoughts, positive interaction with people, focusing on what you have accomplished,  etc.

At the end of this workshop you know what to do to get and maintain more energy in your life!

Everybody likes me!

Supervisors and managers need to be likeable to some extent. It is impossible, however, for everyone to like you all of the time. Some managers tend to prioritise likeability to a level where it impedes rational decision making. This may become a pitfall that is often described as ‘love junky’. Many managers recognise this to a certain degree, and describe it as ‘getting stuck in between’. In some situations this may lead you to make the wrong decisions or to delay decision making. At the same time it is a quality: you invest a lot in positive and strong relationships. How do you stay effective and maintain good relations whilst being able to make difficult decisions that are sometimes painful to or in disagreement with others?

In this training we focus on your communicative qualities and we look at how you deal with resistance and negativity. A test will give you insight in your natural communication styles. In individual cases with an actor we then practice how to deal with difficult situations: how do you bring bad news? How do you deal with resistance or disagreement among your employees? What do you do when you fail to convince others?

After this training you can separate rational decision making from emotional processes. You will be able to make necessary decisions unaffected by the opinions and feelings of others, whilst maintaining a good relationship with your people.  You can make tough decisions and still be sensitive to the emotions and wishes of your employees. They may not always like you, but they will understand and respect you and acknowledge your authority!

The perfectionist in me

If you always go the extra mile where others think it is ‘good enough’, you want to be perfect as a mother, father, researcher, colleague, friend, there is probably a perfectionist inside of you. Does that help you, drive you and get the best out of you? Congrats, you are a stable perfectionist. But if it drains you of pressures you, it is time to stop and think. Perfectionists are more likely to get burned out. Putting too much time in the last details may not be effective, causing your time management issues. And maybe you are very hard on yourself when you make (a little) mistake?

Why do you do this? What are the benefits? Are you competitive, or afraid to hear it is not good enough? Could you be mild to yourself?

With a number of playful exercises we demonstrate where perfectionism is a strong trait and when in goes wrong. We investigate what the voices in your head say, and we challenge wat they say. Mental relaxation may also help you to accept that enough is enough, and that other tasks and repsonsibilities also demand your time and devotion. This is a workshop that may free you of the load you’re carrying!

Personal Effectiveness & Time Management

Scientists are faced with increasing time pressure. Trying to balance research, supervision, writing, and teaching can be daunting, especially when trying to maintain a healthy balance with your private life.

In this training we help you to organise your work, plan your day/week/month, set priorities, map stress factors and solve periods of overload. There are a lot of methods you can use to make your work and life more effective whilst creating room to breathe! Less stress creates room for creativity.

A part of personal effectiveness and time management is assertive cooperation with colleagues, making clear agreements, dividing work, negotiating with colleagues or private partners and saying ‘no’ to others and saying ‘yes’ to yourself. We practice such communicative aspects with professional training actors.

Mental resilience

This module aims to strengthen your mental resilience: how can you stay effective, strong and happy under stress? We offer you some of the newest insights from psychology.

During the module, we will inform you, challenge you, and help you. You will apply strengthening techniques such as ‘Expectations’, ‘The Gratitude Attitude’, ‘The Perfectionist in Me’ and ‘Finding Flow and Energy’. Try out some of these techniques, choose which you find helpful, and go home with some new tools.

Stress can be your friend, if you know how to apply traditional psychology and positive psychology to your thoughts, feelings and physical state. Find more concentration, more creativity, calm energy, and a clear mind.

It will definitely be an active and fun module!

Maintain your Motivation

Your PhD should be a wonderful opportunity to enjoy your personal growth, learn a lot, develop or discover new things, and enjoy freedom and creativity. However, many PhD students struggle at some point to maintain their motivation, enjoying their work, and dealing with disappointment.

In this course we share which factors give joy and energy, and which factors are difficult to handle. Such factors may be the relationship with your colleagues and supervisors, or dealing with setbacks, experiencing scientific loneliness and a lack of sparring with peers, or time management. Psychological effects such as worrying, feeling tired or having trouble sleeping will also be addressed.

We will adjust the program to your wishes, which you can express in the intake form that we will ask you to fill in before the course. Stay strong and motivated during your PhD project!

This is not a conflict!

Yes it is!

No it isn’t!

Dealing with conflicts is not easy for anyone. What creates a conflict? How can they be prevented? How can we deal with them? Is avoiding the matter always a good solution?

In conflict situations it is important to focus on the needs of others and to be able to apply various conflict management strategies. Right when you need it the most, it becomes difficult to really listen to what the other is saying and to ask exploratory questions. Especially when your mind rages with emotions. How do you protect your own boundaries? What is it that the other person really wants from you? How can you have them understand and acknowledge your needs? How can we translate that to the ingredients for a calm and reasonable conversation? A conflict is nothing more than a negotiation gone wrong.

In the training we practice various conflict situations and apply different conflict management strategies. A test helps to discover your natural style of conflict management. We translate your qualities and pitfalls to a case with the actor in which you will learn effective ways to get what you want and still keep the peace. Both realistic as well as absurd and fun situations help to gain insight in the practice of conflict management.

A Creative View on your Career

Thinking about where you want to be in the future and planning your career, is only one of the strategies available. Actually, studies on career development show that such a planned strategy is not a reality for many scientists. Going for what drives you, and simply trying various aspects of jobs are two other valid strategies. Therefore, your view on your career can be much more open than you might think, and turning on your ‘creativity engine’ is what this course offers you.

In a creative setting, the trainer challenges your brain to reflect on current skills you may be able to translate to other types of jobs. Participants then actively brainstorm and discuss what motivates them, and who they are.

Active and evidence-based creativity exercises help you to open up and broaden your view on the past and the future. The result of this course is a clear personal compass that gives a sense of career direction, and helps you to base your career decisions on!

We will adjust the program to your wishes, which you can express in the intake form that we will ask you to fill in before the course.

Ethical dilemmas

A fruitful scientific career depends on a lot of factors that will positively affect it, such as a clear direction, skills, network, etc. There are, however, a number of factors that will negatively affect your career: this course is about those pitfalls. Even renowned scientists have made mistakes, which caused others to believe their actions were unethical. Most of such mistakes by scientists were not intentional, but the damage is done: their reputation is damaged by negative publicity and long procedures by ethical juries. A successful career therefore takes a strong and clear ethical and reputational decision making skill. Let me give you a few common examples.

PhD:
“I have worked with a colleague who contributed little to the work, and who wants their name on the paper as a co-author. I disagree. What do I do?
The anonymous reviewer of a paper suggests I mention 4 publications by a particular author, but I think it has nothing to do with the subject of the paper. It may even suggest that this reviewer is actually the author he suggests I put in. What do I do?
A colleague accuses me of misusing data, but I can defend the methodology and statistics. Am I in dangerous waters in terms of my reputation? How do I handle this?
I just published a paper in a high impact journal, and discover that one of my conclusions can now be explained by a technical error. What do I do?”

In this course we will discuss famous and not so famous examples of – mostly unintentional – mistakes that scientists have made, which have caused them reputational damage. We discuss your own questions and dilemmas, and offer a framework that will help you not fall into pitfalls and protect your career.

This is a fun course in which we use various active exercises, games and debates in subgroups. Strengthen your decision-making skills and have a flying career!

Personal Branding

You may have a clear view of your career ambitions, or you have designed a career strategy in the course Career Strategy. Personal branding adds everything you need to present yourself in a way that is consistent with your career strategy. Your self-presentation influences how people remember you, why they call you, and whether they select you or not. Such skills are important in network conversations, communication with project partners, policy makers, scientific presentations, and when presenting before funding agency committees. In any of such interactions, you need to have a clear and concise message that presents your qualities and unique value. Most scientists pay insufficient attention to this, leaving others to perceive you as unfocused or unclear.

In this course day we start from your desired image, in terms of values and competencies. We discuss and check how you act and present yourself in various forms of professional communication, and look for inconsistencies. We practice your brand pitch, which paints a coherent picture of your skills, research and value. Who are you and what can you offer? This has an effect on your business cards and website(s), emails, flyers and other materials, but also on how you communicate to for instance funding agencies. We practice how you can make your pitch elements work for you in interpersonal communication. Your individual wishes will be taken into account with the use of intake forms. Strengthen the contents and consistency of your self-presentation and make sure you stand out!

Job satisfaction

What are the factors that give you satisfaction in your work? From research (e.g. Harter etc al. 2003) and the SCARF model (David Rock 2008) we can derive factors such asjob security, fairness, growth, positive interactions, appreciation, autonomy, status, and authority. But how do you define job satisfaction?

You share these factors with fellow participants and discuss positive and negative influences. The actors help to practice positive interactions with superiors and colleagues.

During and after the training you apply your personal action plan to get more satisfaction out or your work and work environment.

My competencies

During network conversations or job interviews you need to be able to explain why they should be interested in you. But what are your qualities and competencies? How do you formulate and present them? What do others think about your qualities, and what do you think yourself? And what about that feeling that you are not authentic anymore, or boasting too much?

Honesty is key to presenting your qualities: just as you will be asked to say what you are not so good at, you must equally be able to present what you are very good at! We analyze your qualities and help formulate them in a factual way, while using a model that helps you prove that you possess that competency. It helps to present yourself in terms of ‘transferrable skills’, so you can convince people why you could do the next job. Not ‘I have shown that I can do scientific research’, but ‘I have managed a large project’, and ‘I have experience with international cooperation’.

Presenting yourself with convidence, based on true and proven qualities, will be practised with our actors and the other participants. We even make it into a hilarious contest!

Career pitch

Building a career starts by being able to express who you are, what your competencies are and which job you aspire. This requires both verbal and non-verbal skills in self-presentation. A career pitch helps you to convince others that they should stay in touch with you, keep you in mind for upcoming job opportunities, or hire you today!

In this workshop we focus on presenting a short story (pitch) that explains to others why they should remember you or hire you. We practice different situations in duos and with a professional training actor. We then apply the career pitch in a networking conversation, a job interview, and in a job evaluation interview. We look for a convincing story, but also help you to display a trustworthy charisma.

This fun workshop will give you a tool that you can immediately apply. It aims to convince the world to pick you: get noticed, get chosen, get hired!

Getting paid well!

So they want you? Then it is time to negotiate with your new employer about the conditions – including your salary. How can you maximize the result, while maintaining an good relationship with them? You may fear loosing the job altogether when you negotiatie assertively. This is one of the reasons women have much lower salaries in the same jobs, they may have to negotiate stronger. But salary is not the only thing you can negotiate about!

With the other participants and actors we determine your room for negotiation: salary, travel costs, child care, computers, etc. While applying different styles we try to influence the outcome of the conversation and maximize the result.

Negotiation is a game, you better know how to play it!

Consulting skills

Whether your career moves away from scientific research or not, consulting skills are needed nowadays in both arenas.

What is ‘advise’? How you translate the problem or question, and the conclusions, to advise? What do you do when you have ‘unwanted’ advise? How do you make sure they understand and accept your recommendations?

In this workshop we practise such skills with actors. In this way you can see what a consultant really does, and acquire some of the necessary skills.

Persuasive networking

Creating and maintaining a network and using it to your benefit is helps of your career. How do you persuade a party to take part in a project? How do you make new professional friends and have them remember you? How do you approach a difficult conversation partner? How do you deal with resistance?

All of these questions will be answered in this course. We discuss several communication models and practice them in different situations with the actor. Learn how to present yourself better and improve your networking skills!

Moving up or moving on

Are you thinking of changing your career or trying to move up? Do you not have a clue as to what to choose? Or do you have a specific direction you want to go, but do you not know how to go about it? Then this career training is what you need!

In this training we apply a 5-phase model:

1. Who am I? With the aid of tests and excercises we look at your personal qualities. What are your strongest personality traits? What is your style of communication? How do you function in teams? How do you deal with difficult situations, stress, and conflicts?

2. What do I want? What gives you satisfaction in your work? Is it working with people? Getting quick results? Or is autonomy your number one requirement? Do you need to be creative in your work? In this phase we analyse what makes you happy in your work, and we create an ideal picture of your current or future job.

3. What are my competencies? Based on your CV and experience we analyse your competencies. If you should aspire a total career change, we focus on transferable competencies, meaning the things that you have learned that are of use in any other job. We will also determine what you are at present unable to do but would like to learn, which defines your need for personal development and education.

4. How can I find that job? What kind of jobs fulfill your wishes and needs, as defined in the before phases? Where can we find such jobs in databanks and adverts?

5. How can I get that job? In the final phase, we help you to write job application letters, and train you to ‘sell yourself’ well in job interviews, as well as how to negotiate a good salary.

The participants will actively reflect and search and make choices inbetween the training days. If needed, ElroyCOM offers additional personal coaching during or after the training.

What do I really want?

Many people struggle with this question. A personal crisis commonly described as the quarterlife crisis often revolves around unhappiness with the current job or circumstances. Others simply want to re-evaluate whether they are on the right track. In the vast array of possibilities, how can you choose? How do you find out what it is that you really want in life? Which circumstances are needed for you to enjoy optimal job satisfaction? Does your ideal demand a career change? It is not surprising that many of us find it hard to find out and decide what we want: society seduces and directs us in a direction of development based on our competencies and talents, rather than on our wishes and desires.

In this course we combine training and coaching to rediscover your emotional compass, your drives and passions. We create a profile of elements of your current and ideal job that gives you energy and satisfaction. What is important to you? Do you like to work with people? Are you result-oriented? Do you aspire a management position? How do you value autonomy?

A number of excercises and tests will give you insight into your deeper desires. Both among the participants and with the individual coaching sessions you shape a picture of your future: what should your current or future job entail in order for you to be inspired and happy? Which steps can you undertake to reach such goals? Which competencies, needed to move into that ideal position do you lack and how can you develop them?

The profile and action plan, which are the results of this course help you to have a clear scope on what you are looking for. You may bring these results into the broader course ‘Moving up or moving on?’.

The job interview

After you have found out what kind of a job makes you happy, and you have mapped or developed your competencies, it is time to go and look for a great job! How will you assure that you will get hired in a job interview? This training is helping you to accomplish precisely that!

Before the training, we ask participants to collect adverts of jobs you would like to apply for. We discuss how you can present yourself convincingly during a job interview. Which qualities and competencies do you need for this job? Which do you have? How can you prove that? Can you make the employers believe that it is in their interest to choose you for the job?

After preparation each participant practices the job interview with an actor, who plays the part of your future employer. We help you to improve you charisma as well as your ability to present yourself convincingly. With the STAR-method we test if you are able to give your employers a strong image of your capacities. This training helps you to approach the next job interview confidently!

Body language

Would you like to know why some people make a good impression even without saying a word? Do you want to know what your own body language tells other people? Do you want to learn to use non-verbal signals to influence others? Body language – non-verbal communication – has a major effect on people’s first impression, connection, communication, credibility and general effectiveness.

In this workshop you will see how you can use expression, gestures, timing, pose, etcetera to mirror, connect, and open up. These skills can be used in network conversations, presentations, conflict, negotiation, leadership and general communication. Work your body in a way that impresses more!

This is not a conflict!

Yes it is!

No it isn’t!

Dealing with conflicts is not easy for anyone. What creates a conflict? How can they be prevented? How can we deal with them? Is avoiding the matter always a good solution?

In conflict situations it is important to focus on the needs of others and to be able to apply various conflict management strategies. Right when you need it the most, it becomes difficult to really listen to what the other is saying and to ask exploratory questions. Especially when your mind rages with emotions. How do you protect your own boundaries? What is it that the other person really wants from you? How can you have them understand and acknowledge your needs? How can we translate that to the ingredients for a calm and reasonable conversation? A conflict is nothing more than a negotiation gone wrong.

In the training we practice various conflict situations and apply different conflict management strategies. A test helps to discover your natural style of conflict management. We translate your qualities and pitfalls to a case with the actor in which you will learn effective ways to get what you want and still keep the peace. Both realistic as well as absurd and fun situations help to gain insight in the practice of conflict management.

Everybody likes me!

with actor

Supervisors and managers need to be likeable to some extent. It is impossible, however, for everyone to like you all of the time. Some managers tend to prioritise likeability to a level where it impedes rational decision making. This may become a pitfall that is often described as ‘love junky’. Many managers recognise this to a certain degree, and describe it as ‘getting stuck in between’. In some situations this may lead you to make the wrong decisions or to delay decision making. At the same time it is a quality: you invest a lot in positive and strong relationships. How do you stay effective and maintain good relations whilst being able to make difficult decisions that are sometimes painful to or in disagreement with others?

In this training we focus on your communicative qualities and we look at how you deal with resistance and negativity. A test will give you insight in your natural communication styles. In individual cases with an actor we then practice how to deal with difficult situations: how do you bring bad news? How do you deal with resistance or disagreement among your employees? What do you do when you fail to convince others?

After this training you can separate rational decision making from emotional processes. You will be able to make necessary decisions unaffected by the opinions and feelings of others, whilst maintaining a good relationship with your people.  You can make tough decisions and still be sensitive to the emotions and wishes of your employees. They may not always like you, but they will understand and respect you and acknowledge your authority!

Persuasive networking

with actor

Creating and maintaining a network and using it to your benefit is helps of your career. How do you persuade a party to take part in a project? How do you make new professional friends and have them remember you? How do you approach a difficult conversation partner? How do you deal with resistance?

All of these questions will be answered in this course. We discuss several communication models and practice them in different situations with the actor. Learn how to present yourself better and improve your networking skills!

Negotiation skills for women

(with actor)

Psychological research shows that women have more difficulty than men to ask for what they want, on average. They experience internal barriers to be assertive and negotiate openly, often because they invest in the relationship more than in their own needs. The quality that women posess more than men on average (social skills and maintaining the relationship) sometimes goes at the expense of their personal goals and needs. This partly appears to explain the differences in salary between men and women, and the lower number of women in high positions. Women who want to move up therefore appreciate this course highly:  negotiation skills can help you find the balance between getting what you want and maintaining good relations.

Finding a compromise is not always the ideal solution, though we seem programmed to go for it too easily. Forcing it may cause friction, and giving in will cost us our own objectives. What can we do to get thet maximum out of a negotiation, both for yourself as well as for your conversation partner? How can we get the optimum, and maintain a good relationship at the same time? The basic principles are the same, whether we deal with negotiations regarding salary or when we decide which movie to go to in the cinema with our partners.

Negotiation is about knowing what you can give and ask for (currency), exchanging wishes and needs rather than positions, dilemma’s or stale mates. It is therefore not so much about winning as it is about asking questions and showing respect for your conversation partner.

We explore various negotiation strategies in situations handed to us by the participants from their own context. A test gives us insight in the natural negotiation qualities of the participants and their pitfalls. In cases with an actor we then try these styles and strategies.

After this training you will find it easier to stand up for yourself and get what you really want, as you wil have tools to negotiate while maintaining a good relationship with everyone.

Female leadership

(with actor)

What kind of qualities do you need as a manager or executive? Especially when working in a male dominated environment, you need to have insight in the general differences in communication between men and women. Show your results, say ‘I’ instead of ‘we’, show both ‘female’ and ‘male’ qualities. State clearly what you want, handle conflicts but do not avoid them, openly disagree with others if necessary. As a manager, be a warm and kind personality, whilst being able to convey painful decisions.

We test your strategy of leadership and share experiences among the participants. With the help of an actor we practice the possibilities of adapting to different strategies of leadership when necessary. How do you deal with resistance, conflict, opposition, or negotiation? How can you coach someone to become a self-sufficient and happy employee? How do you stand firm in a competitive environment?

After this training you will be able to apply various leadership strategies and apply them to realistic situations. You will have insight in a number of  communication styles and know how to deal with them.

What a personality!

(with actor)

ElroyCOM developed this training especially for academic women who want to have a career in science and move to management and executive positions. Women are represented by a low percentage in the academic field: in The Netherlands only some 10% of the full professors are women. Beside other factors, women in tend to present themselves differently from men and are generally less visible as ambitious employees. Stereotypically, men will easily boast about their accomplishments, while women will modestly downplay theirs. In terms of charisma men generally tend to radiate authority, while women put coming across as likeable first. Psychological research displays such average trends, whilst confirming that both in individuals as well as in groups, a combination of ‘male’ and ‘female’ behaviours are the optimum. In a world that is predominantly ruled by men, women who want to move up need to strengthen their presentation and charisma.

During the training we make a quick inventory of our leadership competencies and try to convince each other of the importance of your qualities. We determine ambitious goals and translate them into an elevator pith, which we practice with the help of an actor. Furthermore, we practice how to enhance our charisma and stand firm in difficult situations such as resistance, criticism, or distrust.

Internal conviction, body languae, verbal expression and a clear message all influence how you come across. Even the rythm and speed of your speech, reaction time, and the pitch of your voice add to the effect you have on others. We invite participants to try these techniques during and after the training.

Leadership for beginners

We consider PhD-students as projectleaders. During their PhD they will need leadership skills. Moreover, PhD-students tend to move up to leadership positions faster that regular Master students, and therefore need the basic leadership skills.

In the training we discuss several leadership theories and apply them to individual cases. We test the leadership style and competencies of the students. What kind of a manager do you want to be? Which competencies does that require?

An important part of the training involves conversation skill cases with an actor. In these cases, handed to us by the students in their intake forms, we practice various alternative styles of leadership.

Taking Charge of your PhD-project

In The Netherlands, one of the world’s top countries in terms of PhD-project success, only some 10% of the PhD-stdents finish within 4 years. About 15% quits the project altogether, and 25-75% take longer than 5 years. The main reason for PhD-students to quit their project or suffer delay lies in the relationship with the supervisor. Other important factors are difficulty with planning, and obscurity about their rights and formal conditions. Finally, a key factor is the availability of an adequate help network.

In the training, we clarify the formal conditions of the PhD-project and help to make clear agreements with their supervisor(s). We then help the PhD-student to plan their project and monitor it. Additionally, the students build and create a help network that will supply the right people around them to support their needs as project leaders.

With the aid of an actor we practice several cases from the PhD-project context. How do you deal with a chaotic supervisor, or an uncooperative master student? How can you avoid conflict and still get what you want?

Learn to delegate!

With leadership comes delegation: you will have to delegate certain tasks and manage them. But how? Who do you choose? Will they be able to do it? Do they want to? Does delegation lead to less control? How do I monitor and maintain a grip? How do I let go of that task mentally, how do I stop worrying about it? What does delegating cost, and what are the benefits?

In this training you will share experiences with other participants, and we discuss hierarchical agreements, cooperation, task distribution, task description, task maturity, willingness, monitoring and control. The actor helps us to practice situations, based on the information that you give us.

If you can delegate and let go, you will become more effective in your work, without losing any sleep!

PhD-students outside universities

PhD-students are not always involved or based in the context of the universities. Some do their PhD-project whilst keeping a job, or they are in polytechnic education or ‘professional universities’. While it is hard enough to successfully finish a PhD-project within the university environment, it is even harder outside of that environment. Even more than in universities, the formal conditions largely lack for these ‘outsider PhD-students’. Some of them also lack methodological or scientifc background. And how do you deal with the limited amount of time you can spend on your research?

In the training, we clarify the formal conditions of the PhD-project and help to make clear agreements with their supervisor(s). We then help the PhD-student to plan their project and monitor it. Additionally, the students build and create a help network that will supply the right people around them to support their needs as project leaders. With the aid of an actor we practice several cases from the PhD-project context. How do you deal with a chaotic supervisor, or an uncooperative master student? How can you avoid conflict and still get what you want?

This course was especially developed for PhD-students outside of the environment of universities. The course information is always adapted to the context of the institution at hand.

Everybody likes me!

with actor

Supervisors and managers need to be likeable to some extent. It is impossible, however, for everyone to like you all of the time. Some managers tend to prioritise likeability to a level where it impedes rational decision making. This may become a pitfall that is often described as ‘love junky’. Many managers recognise this to a certain degree, and describe it as ‘getting stuck in between’. In some situations this may lead you to make the wrong decisions or to delay decision making. At the same time it is a quality: you invest a lot in positive and strong relationships. How do you stay effective and maintain good relations whilst being able to make difficult decisions that are sometimes painful to or in disagreement with others?

In this training we focus on your communicative qualities and we look at how you deal with resistance and negativity. A test will give you insight in your natural communication styles. In individual cases with an actor we then practice how to deal with difficult situations: how do you bring bad news? How do you deal with resistance or disagreement among your employees? What do you do when you fail to convince others?

After this training you can separate rational decision making from emotional processes. You will be able to make necessary decisions unaffected by the opinions and feelings of others, whilst maintaining a good relationship with your people.  You can make tough decisions and still be sensitive to the emotions and wishes of your employees. They may not always like you, but they will understand and respect you and acknowledge your authority!

Personal Effectiveness & Time Management

Scientists are faced with increasing time pressure. Trying to balance research, supervision, writing, and teaching can be daunting, especially when trying to maintain a healthy balance with your private life.

In this training we help you to organise your work, plan your day/week/month, set priorities, map stress factors and solve periods of overload. There are a lot of methods you can use to make your work and life more effective whilst creating room to breathe! Less stress creates room for creativity.

A part of personal effectiveness and time management is assertive cooperation with colleagues, making clear agreements, dividing work, negotiating with colleagues or private partners and saying ‘no’ to others and saying ‘yes’ to yourself. We practice such communicative aspects with professional training actors.

Dealing with supervisors

The most common question among PhD students is definitely: how do I deal with my supervisor(s) and promotor(s)? What do they expect from me? Can I say no? How do I keep them all happy? Where is the line between their suggestions and my independent decisions in the research? How much autonomy do I have? In this training you learn how you can make you relationship with your supervisor fruitful and effective. This relationship is essential for the speed and succes of your PhD research.

First we’ll give you some information about the roles of supervisors and promotors, and make you aware of the questions you need to have answers to first as a PhD. By sharing with the other participants and with the help of actors, you’ll get advice on how to handle some situations. Negotiate? Say no? Decide for yourself? Mediate between supervisors? We’ll show you how!

This is a workshop every PhD student should do, since your supervisors are the most important, most appreciated people during your PhD project. This is why we have been teaching this course for 10 years now.

Negotiation

Negotiating is a skill that we all apply every day, even without knowing it. These skills are therefore widely applicable. Finding a compromise is not always the ideal solution, though we seem programmed to go for it too easily. What can we do to get thet maximum out of a negotiation, both for yourself as well as for your conversation partner? How can we get the optimum, and maintain a good relationship at the same time? The basic principles are the same, whether we deal with negotiations regarding salary or when we decide which movie to go to in the cinema with our partners.

Negotiation is about knowing what you can give and ask for (currency), exchanging wishes and needs rather than positions, dilemma’s or stale mates. It is therefore not so much about winning as it is about asking questions and showing respect for your conversation partner.

We explore various negotiation strategies in situations handed to us by the participants from their own context. A test gives us insight in the natural negotiation qualities of the participants and their pitfalls. In cases with an actor we then try these styles and strategies.

After this training you will find it easier to stand up for yourself and get what you really want, as you wil have tools to negotiate while maintaining a good relationship with everyone.

Maximize creativity!

Creativity is crucial in the process of writing research grant proposals, during innovative scientific research, and while designing applications. Scientists, therefore, are generally very creative and innovative in their work. But some commonly used techniques have been proven ineffective in scientific psychology studies. In this workshop we will focus on enhancing your creativity by making use of science-based techniques, such as zapstorm, brainwriting or deviators (De Vos, 2013). We will help you try such techniques and apply them to your own context. Such methods are fun to try and will often give immediate results! This will change your view on your creative effectiveness.

We will also reflect on the differences and similarities between scientific and artistic creativity (Kaufman & Sternberg, 2010), and use results of creativity-research like that of Rex Jung (2013), to enhance the creativity of you and your team.

Optimize your creative effectiveness and apply it hands-on during this inspiring course!

How to write the Impact chapter?

Writing the scientific contents of your proposal does not automatically get you a grant. This course focuses on an essential part of grant writing: How can you shape the impact chapter ? The impact chapter has become a decisive factor: it can make or break whether you will get your project proposal granted.

Before the course, we will ask you to write a scientific summary and an impact summary of 200 words (half an A4 page) each. This can be a real proposal or idea, or a fictional one. During the course we will help you decide what the (potential) impact of your potential results are or can be. We then practice how to write this into a credible and compact summary. We share feedback and advice among the participants.

Last but no least, you will define an action planning and add it in the impact chapter: which actions do you plan to take when you have your results, in order to ensure that your results will have the desired impact on the end-users?

Increase your chances of getting granted, by writing a great Impact chapter!

Presenting for funding agencies

How to TEDx

Do you want to present and captivate your audience the way they do in TEDx lectures? Come and practice how to find the heart of your story, build up suspense, make your story personal and appealing, and leave your audience in awe!

In this training we will help you to analyse your main message to your audience and bring out the best of it. We help you structure a storyline that helps the audience focus, and offer you techniques from storytelling that make an lecture more personally important to members of the audience. How can you apply metaphors and examples? How can you make your story shine?

You can apply these skills in presentations for scientists and the general public, in network conversations, in your contacts with non-experts, and in for instance promotion videos.

IMPACT! Communicating with non-experts

Effective networking conversations

Successful Grant writing

Acquiring sufficient funding has become a prerequisite for scientific research. After designing a career strategy, writing grants and getting them awarded is crucial for your survival in academia.

In order to succeed you need to effectively connect to the aims of the grant, excite the reader, convince with a clear style and structure, and raise realistic but brave expectations of the results. During this course, we will share tips and tricks on successful grant-writing skills and show you how reviewers look at your work. We will also discuss the requirements of specific funding agencies like NWO and ERC.

In this training you will receive feedback on your own – previously written or prepared – grant application texts. You will learn how to write your proposal convincingly by clearly stating the problem you will work on and showing a future solution. We will discuss how to make your text easy to read. Reviewing each other’s texts is also part of the course day. We will take your individual wishes into account by using an intake form. This course aims at beginner to advanced level grant writers. Write better, get funded!

Presentation Skills

This training comes in three flavours. Presentation of Research offers tricks & tools to present your scientific work in an impressive and clear way. This training may also be used as a preparation to a congress presentation or poster presentation.

Selling the Massage focuses on a presentation in which you want to convince the audience. Maybe you need to convince the audience to honour your research proposal with a grant (for example, the NWO’s Veni, Vidi or Vici scholarships). Maybe you need to convince people to buy your product. Or you would like to convince them of your controversial views in e public lecture.

The third training, Speaking to Laymen, deals with the presentation of your scientific work for a non-scientific audience, such as patients, policy makers or groups of civilians.

In all of these courses we bring out the best in you, so that you are able to speak with charisma, authority, empathy and conviction. We will make sure that you are liked, believed, and trusted. In the courses we work on the preparation (including dealing with stress and nervousness), charisma, and the contents and structure of your story. We share advice and experiences among the participants.

This way you will learn to present and convince, whilst enjoying doing it!

Introduction to Selling Science

In this introduction we discuss all aspects of the process called valorisation. This contains two objectives:

1. Making sure society uses your knowledge. This can be done by lectures to non-experts, cooperating with museums, but also by spreading your knowlegde and news in the news media.

2. Making money from your research. Starting a business, or selling patents or products or knowledge and advise, or services.

Both can go hand in hand, but they do not have to. In this course you will see various steps you can take to get your knowledge and results ‘out there’, and all the skills needed to do that. Some of them require reflection on what you mean to society, what your news is, why your service or product could be useful and for whom. But there are also tools like market and network analysis, and skills like convincing, selling, advising, selling, managing, marketing.

Strategic networking

Effective networking needs a strategy. Who should be in my network? Who could help me with the next step in my career? How can I grow my network in the right direction? These strategic questions go hand in hand with a career strategy.

In this module you will determine your career strategy in rough strokes. If you pursue a position at a certain institute, your network needs a different approach than when you want your next job to find you. And if you, like many, are open to different career options we’ll help you think about your values, qualities and even happiness to develop a fitting network strategy. Together we’ll figure out who is interesting for your network today, also if your career is still very unclear.

You’ll learn how to decide who to add to your network, how to develop a career strategy, how to deal with the uncertainty in your career and create a path to grow your current network. It’s good to notice that this is a strategy module. We will not be practicing the network conversations themselves.

By sharing with your peers in this fun and active module, you will inspire each other to rethink your career path and network strategy.

Personal Branding

You may have a clear view of your career ambitions, or you have designed a career strategy in the course Career Strategy. Personal branding adds everything you need to present yourself in a way that is consistent with your career strategy. Your self-presentation influences how people remember you, why they call you, and whether they select you or not. Such skills are important in network conversations, communication with project partners, policy makers, scientific presentations, and when presenting before funding agency committees. In any of such interactions, you need to have a clear and concise message that presents your qualities and unique value. Most scientists pay insufficient attention to this, leaving others to perceive you as unfocused or unclear.

In this course day we start from your desired image, in terms of values and competencies. We discuss and check how you act and present yourself in various forms of professional communication, and look for inconsistencies. We practice your brand pitch, which paints a coherent picture of your skills, research and value. Who are you and what can you offer? This has an effect on your business cards and website(s), emails, flyers and other materials, but also on how you communicate to for instance funding agencies. We practice how you can make your pitch elements work for you in interpersonal communication. Your individual wishes will be taken into account with the use of intake forms. Strengthen the contents and consistency of your self-presentation and make sure you stand out!

References:
Dr. Phil Dee, 2006: ‘Building a successful career in scientific research’
Gulfo Adele: ‘Personal Branding: It’s not about self-promotion, it is a leadership imperative’. Huffington Post, 2013

Professional negotiation

Negotiating is a skill that we all apply every day, even without knowing it. These skills are therefore widely applicable. Finding a compromise is not always the ideal solution, though we seem programmed to go for it too easily. What can we do to get thet maximum out of a negotiation, both for yourself as well as for your conversation partner? How can we get the optimum, and maintain a good relationship at the same time? The basic principles are the same, whether we deal with negotiations regarding salary or when we decide which movie to go to in the cinema with our partners.

Negotiation is about knowing what you can give and ask for (currency), exchanging wishes and needs rather than positions, dilemma’s or stale mates. It is therefore not so much about winning as it is about asking questions and showing respect for your conversation partner.

We explore various negotiation strategies in situations handed to us by the participants from their own context. A test gives us insight in the natural negotiation qualities of the participants and their pitfalls. In cases with an actor we then try these styles and strategies.

After this training you will find it easier to stand up for yourself and get what you really want, as you wil have tools to negotiate while maintaining a good relationship with everyone.

Mediatraining

with actor

Making your work understandable to others than peer scientists is becoming increasingly important. Not only because the media play an important role in the imagebuilding of your work environment and are crucial for public education, but also because inter-. multi- and transdisciplinary research demand clear communication among people of various backgrounds. How do you explain your conclusions to a journalist, a policy maker, a patient, or a representative of civil communities?

The participants learn to prepare for an interview with the news media (radio, TV or newspaper) and a presentation for ‘laymen’. With an actor, the participants practice how to make their message understandable to a broad audience, how to present a core message, how to deal with difficult questions or downright attacks, and how to deal with ethical or societal questions. In a realistic setting you will convince the actor (reporter, patient, layman) and the audience of the importance of your message, whilst keeping in charge over the conversation.

Never again will you be lost for words!

Maximize creativity!

Science is a creative profession, and scientists are generally very creative and innovative in their work. But some commonly used techniques have been proven ineffective. Even though creativity is crucial for innovative research, applications, and to get research proposals granted. In this workshop we will focus on enhancing your creative process by making use of science based techniques, such as zapstorm, brainwriting or deviators. We will help you try such techniques and apply them to your own context. Also, we will look at myths about creativity, and check what is counter-creative according to scientific research. This probably changes your view on your creative effectiveness!

Learn how to stimulate creative thinking and innovation! The trainer is a psychologist in creativity and innovation techniques. He uses techniques based on recent scientific research, such as Kaufman & Sternberg (2010), Rex Jung (2013), and De Vos (2013).

IMPACT! Communicating with non-experts

The modern scientist needs to be able to communicate with non-experts about his or her scientific work, in order to increase their societal impact. These non-experts may be civilians, farmers, patients, policy makers, journalists or others. A specific message, using understandable language and colourful examples, presents an appealing vision of the future of your research and its meaning to society. This frame of mind even has a positive effect on your cooperation with multidisciplinary colleagues and on writing grants and presenting for funding agency committees.

This is not a conflict!

Yes it is!

No it isn’t!

Dealing with conflicts is not easy for anyone. What creates a conflict? How can they be prevented? How can we deal with them? Is avoiding the matter always a good solution?

In conflict situations it is important to focus on the needs of others and to be able to apply various conflict management strategies. Right when you need it the most, it becomes difficult to really listen to what the other is saying and to ask exploratory questions. Especially when your mind rages with emotions. How do you protect your own boundaries? What is it that the other person really wants from you? How can you have them understand and acknowledge your needs? How can we translate that to the ingredients for a calm and reasonable conversation? A conflict is nothing more than a negotiation gone wrong.

In the training we practice various conflict situations and apply different conflict management strategies. A test helps to discover your natural style of conflict management. We translate your qualities and pitfalls to a case with the actor in which you will learn effective ways to get what you want and still keep the peace. Both realistic as well as absurd and fun situations help to gain insight in the practice of conflict management.

Media training

This inspiring training helps you to communicate convincingly with the news media. The knowledge and skills gained form this training can be widely applied: in speaking with non-experts, dealing with the press, making research results public, and for effective communication in a multi-, inter-, and trans-disciplinary cooperation. These aren’t just essentials skills for any modern scientist, it is also a lot of fun to do! Many ex-participants have presented their work in the local and national news and in educative TV programmes. Other ex-participants have reported they gained fruitful network contacts and even got job offers when applying what they had learned during the training.

What do you do when a journalist calls you? How do you prepare for such an interview, be it live or before publication? What would a journalist find interesting about your work? How do you make sure you get published or broadcasted in the news media? And when you succeed, how do you then maintain any control over what is published about you and your research? The participants help each other to create individual pitches containing a specific message about your research, plan, prize or result. Professional training actors help you practise such skills, with different types of journalists.

In the morning we discuss experiences and theory. In the afternoon we practice different situations with a professional actor. Based on intake forms we adapt the cases to you individual context and wishes.

How to TEDx

Do you want to present and captivate your audience the way they do in TEDx lectures? Come and practice how to find the heart of your story, build up suspense, make your story personal and appealing, and leave your audience in awe!

In this training we will help you to analyse your main message to your audience and bring out the best of it. We help you structure a storyline that helps the audience focus, and offer you techniques from storytelling that make a lecture more personally appealing to members of the audience. How can you apply metaphors and examples? How can you make your story shine?

You can apply these skills in presentations for scientists and the general public, in network conversations, in your contacts with non-experts, and in for instance promotion videos.

Cooperation in science

Working in a changing scientific environment, with a variety of different scientific colleagues, puts specific strain on your social intelligence and cooperation skills. How can you influence others effectively? How can you create commitment? How can you become a pleasant but effective colleague? How can you deal with difficult people and situations? We look at the science behind influencing people, communication styles, making clear agreements, convincing, creating commitment, giving feedback and conflict management. In this interactive training we help you to find ways to get what you want while being a team player!

We discuss your strengths and share difficult scenarios. Based on several science-based models for interpersonal communication, conflict and feedback, we practice a variety of skills. We will bring the knowledge of scientists such as Robert Cialdini, Pacelle van Goethem, Kerry Patterson, Manon Bongers and others to the test.

One of our professional training actors will help you practice certain types of people and situations. With playful games and serious conversation exercise you can investigate your own styles and new solutions. Based on the wishes of the individual participants we can add tests to examine your styles, flexibility and effectiveness.

Become a master communicator and team player!

Dealing with supervisors

The most common question among PhD students is definitely: how do I deal with my supervisor(s) and promotor(s)? What do they expect from me? Can I say no? How do I keep them all happy? Where is the line between their suggestions and my independent decisions in the research? How much autonomy do I have? In this training you learn how you can make you relationship with your supervisor fruitful and effective. This relationship is essential for the speed and succes of your PhD research.

First we’ll give you some information about the roles of supervisors and promotors, and make you aware of the questions you need to have answers to first as a PhD. By sharing with the other participants and with the help of actors, you’ll get advice on how to handle some situations. Negotiate? Say no? Decide for yourself? Mediate between supervisors? We’ll show you how!

This is a workshop every PhD student should do, since your supervisors are the most important, most appreciated people during your PhD project. This is why we have been teaching this course for 10 years now.

Performance management: How to give feedback

As a leader, we want our employees to grow and perform optimally. Feedback is a tool to help them reflect on their behaviour. Sometimes we want them to take your feedback into consideration; sometimes we want them to simply do what you tell them to do (or not to do). But we always want to maintain a good relationship. E = Q * A: The Effect (E) of your communication equals the Quality (Q) of your message times the Acceptance (A) by the receiver.

In this module we discuss the various goals in feedback, depending on the situation. Using a 4-step feedback model, we practice giving feedback in situations suggested by the participants. With the help of a professional and academic training actor, we display the various options and practice feedback behaviour. How can you address performance, behaviour, needs and emotions in a way that the receiver accepts, and that leads to changed behaviour? What do we do when the response is quite emotional? How you we deal with resistance and ‘yes, but…’?

This module is an excellent inspiration for effective feedback skills for leaders of all experience levels.

Conversation skills

Talk, talk, talk. Conversation in many forms is crucial in order to understand, support, influence and convince people. Everyone knows situations in which your (non-) verbal communication does not always have the required effect. How do you give feedback that is acceptable to others? How do you deal with criticism yourself? How do you convince, influence, negotiate, and fight constructively? How do you bring bad news, how can you gain commitment, how do you motivate and support? There are a million different goals you may have that require adequate (non-) verbal skills.

In this training it is all about the participant’s wishes. It is an introduction to conversation skills. The intake forms, filled in by the participants beforehand, are the guideline to the training.  A case is especially devised for each particpant. We apply practical communication theory to different situations. With the help of an actor we simulate these cases and share advice and experiences with each other.

Optimizing the relationship with your supervisor

The most common question among PhD students is: how can I make the most out of the relationship with my supervisor(s)? What do they expect from me? How do I keep them all happy? Where is the line between their suggestions and my independent decisions in the research? How much freedom do I have? Can I say no? How do I discuss and negotiate? How do I deal with feedback or progress meetings? How do I deal with disagreement, friction or conflict? Learn how to make the relationship with your supervisors fruitful and effective. This is a key factor that has great influence on your progress, success and happiness during your PhD!

We want you to finish your PhD without unnecessary delays, with great results, while you have the time of your life! However, PhDs without proper training tend to have difficulty communicating effectively with their supervisors. Cultural differences may also play a role for foreign PhD students. In The Netherlands, the relationship with your supervisors is probably very different from what you may expect in your home country.

During this interactive lecture we showcase a number of elements that we normally discuss and practice in full courses. With the help of a professional training actor, we practice different types of supervisors and difficult situations. Convincing, saying no, giving and receiving feedback, negotiating and conflict management are all techniques that you can practice. This fun and interactive lecture is a great way to get some quick tips!

Personal Branding

You may have a clear view of your career ambitions, or you have designed a career strategy in the course Career Strategy. Personal branding adds everything you need to present yourself in a way that is consistent with your career strategy. Your self-presentation influences how people remember you, why they call you, and whether they select you or not. Such skills are important in network conversations, communication with project partners, policy makers, scientific presentations, and when presenting before funding agency committees. In any of such interactions, you need to have a clear and concise message that presents your qualities and unique value. Most scientists pay insufficient attention to this, leaving others to perceive you as unfocused or unclear.

In this course day we start from your desired image, in terms of values and competencies. We discuss and check how you act and present yourself in various forms of professional communication, and look for inconsistencies. We practice your brand pitch, which paints a coherent picture of your skills, research and value. Who are you and what can you offer? This has an effect on your business cards and website(s), emails, flyers and other materials, but also on how you communicate to for instance funding agencies. We practice how you can make your pitch elements work for you in interpersonal communication. Your individual wishes will be taken into account with the use of intake forms. Strengthen the contents and consistency of your self-presentation and make sure you stand out!

Presenting science

A good presentation technique is an essential instrument for every successful researcher. Presentations, in addition to publications, form an important tool in order to propagate insights and research results. Moreover, presentations are important in the quest to find partners and funds for further research. This does not solely confine itself to the academic world but also outside of it. Researchers are also increasingly asked to present their work or expert opinion before general non-scholared audiences.

In this workshop we enhance presentation skills by sharing feedback from both the participants and the trainer. We discuss the structure and contents of the presentation. The participants are trained in formulating their core message and how to get it across. Personal style, how to tell a captivating story, the art of convincing, dealing with resistance and answering questions are all part of the workshop.

With various exercises revolving around presentation technique, this is an active workshop. This one-day course will end with a final presentation by each participant, aimed at an audience at choice.

Dealing with criticism

It isn’t easy to handle criticism. People who give you negative feedback may want to help you get better in your work, or may want you to change your behavior. They may not say it in a way that you can accept, or you may feel attacked or hurt. How can you listen to what they have to say, find out exactly what they mean, and not be emotional about it?

In this workshop we look at situations that you suggest to us, and analyze what makes them difficult for you to handle. What do you do when you only receive negative feedback from someone? What if you don’t understand what they mean? What if you disagree? What will you do with their advice or critique? And why do you react so strongly to it? What assumptions did you make? What are you afraid of? How do you rebut it?

With the help of an actor and a number of reflection and feedback models we help you to listen to negative feedback, understand it, and how not to let it affect you so deeply. Also, we focus on how to make people give you contructive feedback, as well as positive feedback. Feedback is more about them, than it is about you. But you can learn from it! Become a stronger and greater person by doing this workshop!