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 it!

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.

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 module, 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 module 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 module. 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!

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 I: self-presentation

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!

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 part of your job as a scientist. 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!

What a personality!

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.

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.

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!

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

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!

Female leadership

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.

Surviving academia for postdocs

As a postdoc, you are often with one leg in your current position and with the other already focusing on the next project. Also, tasks and responsibilities can be quite unclear and everybody asks for your time and contributions in for instance cooperation, teaching and co-supervision. This in-between position regularly leads to an unclear work load, a work load that is too high, or conflicts about tasks, responsibilities and even authorship. How can you shape your postdoc position and make it the best time of your life? How can you create calm, focus and concentration in your work?

In this 2-day course, we help you to look at your tasks, responsibilities and work load. We then work on shaping your ideal work conditions and relationships. What are your goals? What is it that you want to ask for? What is it that you need to say no to? How can you negotiate about roles, tasks and responsibilities?

We then discuss time management tips and mainly Deep Work (Cal Newport, 2016), to help you create concentrated undisturbed blocks of time to focus on your main tasks.

With an academic training actor you will practice skills such as How to say no?, deal with contradicting interests, and communicating your needs. The course is very interactive and you will share with – and learn a lot from – your fellow postdocs. We will fine-tune the program based on the intake forms of the participants, so as to address your individual wishes.

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!

Leadership in science

The course helps you to discover your strengths and offers possible directions for development: is leadership right for you, and how can you apply it?

Leadership demands a lot of different roles with different skill-sets. As a leader, you support and facilitate research (innovation) but you are also a people manager, a coordinator, a producer, a governor. In this active course day we help you to define your strengths and personal development wishes based on Professor Quinn’s Handbook “Becoming a master manager”. We will share experiences and tips among participants. You will build your own personal development plan – in which areas do you think you could improve and how can you do it? – based on your personal wishes.
With the help of a professional training actor, we use Situational Leadership as a framework to practice various situations within the context of leadership. You can suggest a situation you would like to practice, such as: how do I delegate?, what if my employee lacks skills?, what is the difference between coaching and teaching, and how do I apply this?

Setting up and managing cooperation in science

Once you have found interesting and willing partners to cooperate with, how do you consolidate this into a productive scientific and manageable (international) cooperation? A course for senior scientists.

In this course we discuss the definition of commitment, and map interests of the project partners involved. By analyzing and translating interests into ‘what do partners bring to the table, and what do they want in return?’, it is easier to clarify roles and responsibilities. Agreement by all partners involved about tasks and responsibilities is vital to capitalize on commitment. Risk analysis is also an important element in setting up cooperation: where lie conflicting interests among stakeholders, how do we deal with ‘secret’ scientific information and ownership and how can we prevent or circumvent such issues? Which cultural differences may play a role?

Such management tools create clarity and open the road to progress, since everyone knows exactly what is expected in terms of roles and tasks. This then translates into project planning and monitoring progress parameters. We will address the use of user committees, interactive science production, and discuss individual cases of participants, their problems, solutions and successes. The very interactive nature of this course offers the opportunity to share experiences among participants, who are also (future) scientific leaders.

Social safety for academic leaders

In order for academic leaders to tackle sensitive issues like social safety, psychological safety and trust, academic leaders need knowledge, skills, self-reflection and self-confidence. Staff and students have to feel safe enough to express ‘I feel stressed’ or ‘I feel this is not just’, ‘I do not feel heard’ or disagree with the team dynamics and criticize supervisors and leaders. Leaders themselves also need to feel safe to have such delicate conversations. What are indicators of safety and trust? How can you create an open and safe atmosphere, where there is trust? How can you display example behavior, and address good and bad behavior in your group?

We share examples, cases and experiences among participants, such as: How can you adequately handle a complaint of a PhD student about a supervisor that is your direct colleague? How can you deal with issues of diversity, gender equality and conflicts? How do you support openness about work pressure and stress? How can you effectively involve your superiors and the organization as a whole, if needed?

In this course, you define your own strengths and form a vision on your leadership and psychological safety. The expert trainers – Bruno and Bas are psychologists with more than 10 years of experience in such themes – will inform you on the science behind such themes and models such as Deep Democracy, or regarding trust or setting boundaries. With a professional and academic training actor some participants will practice how to have conversations about such complex issues.

We will fine-tune the workshops to your wishes and context by the intake forms that you fill in. Everything that you share, stays in the classroom: We are all bound by confidentiality. This is a very active course with lots of tips!

Cooperation in Science

Convincing colleagues, peers and managers of the importance and urgency of your collaborative research ideas is hard enough, but how do you strike a deal after that? How do you make it into a project? How can you involve the right people, gain and maintain commitment, and ensure results? How can you convince end-users, employers or clients? In science, this can lead to successful grants, results, collaborations, further science and more. But a lack of knowledge and skills often leads to misunderstanding or lack of commitment in scientific proposals and projects, unnecessary delays, friction, frustration, and a loss of opportunities.

Knowledge of the success factors for cooperation in science, including networking, where to find your partners, how to select the right partners, your value proposition, how to assign roles and responsibilities and how to arrange for a long-term consortium collaboration are all part of the structural aspects. Our trainer will provide you with insights and tools to develop a structured approach for the realisation of your collaboration idea.

However, such knowledge is only effective when combined with good communication skills and a proper understanding of intercultural differences. Effective communication is key in building and managing your consortium. You need to be able to propose and negotiate propositions and opportunities; build durable internal and external relationships; know how to use strategic communication in organisational politics; set up projects and define and negotiate roles and make clear agreements about tasks and commitment; prevent and manage conflict or friction; show assertive and personal leadership; actively apply stakeholder management and keep everybody on track; deal with hierarchy and personal or cultural differences. This training also offers you the opportunity to practice your own situations with a professional training actor and to work on your own consortium idea, supported by various tools, models and theories.

How can you become the driving force behind turning ideas into successful collaborative research projects? This two-day  course helps you to improve your effectiveness in cooperation in science.

Scientific Project Management

This course aims to help scientists to set up, supervise and manage research projects. How to maintain control and assure success, both in terms of project aims and people management? Participants work on their individual projects and share experiences. The course combines both methodical skills and conversation skills.

In the course we include an introduction to management roles: the Competing Values Framework (Quinn et al. 2010). We also discuss  formal and informal clarity in tasks and responsibilities. Other subjects are dealing with time, risks and crises, and managing people.

The communication skills in this training involve monitoring and managing the projects in situations with project participants or stakeholders that we simulate with an actor. In these simulations we challenge the participants to stay in charge, monitor, decide, negotiate, convince, instruct, coach, stimulate and motivate and assure commitment.

In between course days the participants work on assignments of their own choice, possibly concerning agreements with stakeholders and participants, setting up planning schemes, practicing difficult conversations or changing the risk factors.

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!

Leadership for beginners

You have just started a position that requires leadership skills, or aspire to have one in the future. Situational leadership requires insight in one’s own behaviour as well as knowledge of the team or people you aim to manage.

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.

Strategic influence

Influencing decision making in your organisation demands strategic sensitivity and thinking. Without direct power, you need a sensitive approach to the attitudes within your organisation. Who is for, who is against your plans, who can you for coalitions with and who is your downright enemy? How do you convince, connect, collaborate, exclude, avoid or embrace?

Developing this sensitivity partly depends on your stye and personality, and partly on methods to map the ‘force fields’. You will share experiences with participants and analyse and map these force fields in concrete examples. The attitudes towards you plan are based on arguments, but also on personal interests and individual affection.

Develop the skill to know what to say when, to whom and how: convince, avoid, ignore, charm, and maximise your influence in your scientific organisation!

The manager as a coach

As an academic manager you have different roles to fulfill. Management is not just about facilitating, directing and deciding. A large part is about your role as a coach to your employees. How can you help them develop and grow into content and self-relient employees? This calls for a management style that is focused on asking the right questions, listening, supporting, negotiating and motivating.

During the course we make an inventory of coaching situations from the experiences of the participants. Problem analysis, deciding between instructing, coaching, delegating, or negotiating are all important parts of coaching leadership. We practice such situations with an actor and apply various communication and management models. The course applies to both formal conversations (job evaluation interviews, personal development plan) and informal conversations in your daily work.

Supervision of PhD-students

This course helps to make your job as a supervisor of PhD students easier and more effective. Supervisors tend to find it difficult to balance effective monitoring of the progress of PhD projects with coaching of the PhD students. We offer information and interactive skills training that you can enjoy with a group of peers, thereby sharing experiences.

In The Netherlands, only some 10% of all PhD students finish within four years, and about 50% finish within 5 years. This means that 50% of the PhD students take longer than 5 years or they quit. Since most PhD projects take 4 years, exceeding the 5-year limit poses a problem for both PhD student and supervisors. Interestingly, studies on this topic in The Netherlands show that the key contributing factors to such delays are rarely the contents of the research or setbacks therein. Rather, the relationship with the supervisor and mutual expectations, planning and time management, and scientific loneliness play an important role.

During the course we discuss and practice clarifying project conditions and setting expectations, embedding the student in the organization, monitoring progress and success in an effective way, anticipating risks and dealing with setbacks. In addition, we discuss and practice various communication and leadership styles within a multi-cultural scientific context, as well as feedback and conflict management. We also look at the growth, motivation and the wellbeing of the PhD student. A professional and academic training actor supports practicing situations from the context of the individual participants. We design these situations based on your intakes form, which you are requested to fill in before the training.

How can you keep your students motivated? What do you do when students lack skills? How can you delegate more to them? How can you make feedback supportive and effective? How can you monitor and maintain a healthy workload? How can you deal with cultural differences? All of such questions will be discussed and practiced using various leadership and communication models.

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.

Communication styles in leadership

This training focuses on Communication styles in leadership. What is your style of preference, and how does it influence your effectiveness as a leader? How can you reflect on your communication style in a practical manner? How can you be a strong leader in communication? How do you deal with resistance and conflict?

We share experiences and practice individual cases within the framework of the Situational Leadership model (Hersey & Blanchard 2004). This model helps to decide what is asked of your leadership, depending on the situation and the needs of the employee. How do you deal with insecure but competent staff or students? How can you inspire a passive PhD student? How can you delegate tasks to your staff members?

We practice with a professional training actor, based on your personal context, learning goals and wishes. This active training is full of interaction and exercises.

Engaging with stakeholders

Cooperation with stakeholders and partners in scientific projects and consortia is increasingly important in today’s scientific arena. They can be scientific partners, industry, NGOs, patients, museums, government bodies, and others.

When you are dealing with stakeholders, the following questions are important:

• Which stakeholders should be involved in your project?
• How can you approach stakeholders and convince them to participate in your project?
• Which stakeholders are currently involved in your project?
• How do you keep your stakeholders committed? Who needs what kind of attention?

In this module we will focus on your specific questions concerning engaging with stakeholders and deal with them in the form of peer consultation. In small groups you exchange experience and ideas and learn from each other’s practice. Where applicable, some theory and background information will be given or we can do some exercises. Thus, the content of the module will be tailored according to the needs of the participants.

Practicing and sharing experience and advice with your peers helps you to set up projects and hold them together. Facilitating the needs of partners and stakeholders involved helps to run such projects smoothly and effectively.

How to Join the European Funding Programmes

The European Commission offers a wealth of funding opportunities for research and innovation, with Horizon Europe being the most well-known programme at the moment. However, many researchers find navigating the complex landscape of funding schemes, instruments, and conditions to be overwhelming. This complexity often discourages them from applying or participating.

In this one-day interactive course, our trainer with over 22 years of experience in European proposal development and project management will offer key insights into the European research funding landscape. You will learn how to identify the right partners, find and interpret funding calls, understand the essential components of a strong proposal, meet project obligations, and understand the organisational requirements for successful participation. By the end, you will be better equipped to navigate and engage in EU funding programmes.

This course can be fully tailored to meet the specific needs of your organisation or research group. Whether you want to raise awareness on the readiness of the organisation to participate in Europe, train a department to increase their involvement in European programmes or help individual researchers explore funding opportunities relevant to their specific research areas, the training can be adapted to your goals.

Technical Grant Writing

Writing a competitive funding proposal goes beyond having an excellent research idea – it requires the ability to describe your ideas in a clear, structured, and persuasive manner. Technical writing skills are essential to ensure your proposal stands out in a highly competitive environment. How do you effectively translate complex ideas from your mind to paper, presenting them in a way that is comprehensive, coherent, and concise? A well-written proposal not only showcases the quality of your research but also builds trust in your ability to execute it successfully.

If your proposals have ever been misunderstood by evaluators, if you are a starting researcher or if writing is not one of your strongest skills, then this personalised training is for you. Our trainer, with over 22 years of national and international grant writing experience, will guide you on how to improve your writing using your own research proposal as the foundation for hands-on learning. In three personal online sessions, you will be coached on writing a strong one-pager to attract collaborators and a compelling summary to capture the interest of evaluators.

This training can be organized for individual researchers or groups working on the same proposal.

How to Build Your Research Consortium

Collaboration in research is crucial not only for achieving your scientific goals but also for advancing your career. While working alone may allow you to move quickly, collaborating with others will take you further. But how do you go about building an effective research consortium? Understanding the key success factors – such as networking, identifying and selecting the right partners, defining your value proposition, assigning roles and responsibilities, and fostering long-term collaboration – is essential.

Drawing on over 22 years of experience in international scientific collaborations, our trainer will equip you with insights and tools to develop a structured approach for realizing your consortium idea. This hands-on two-day training will also provide you with the opportunity to work on your own consortium concept and practice how to communicate it persuasively to potential partners.

Join this course to enhance your effectiveness in scientific collaboration and become a driving force behind turning research ideas into successful, collaborative projects!

How to Develop an Impact Pathway

Funding agencies like NWO and the European Commission invest significantly in research that address major societal problems. In such funding schemes, impact is often evaluated as equally important as scientific excellence. As an applicant, you have to write a compelling and with a professional training actorsound, and that your research will deliver the right results? How can you convincingly describe which stakeholders will have to use your results to achieve societal impact?

This one-and-a-half-day interactive training will guide you step-by-step through the key components of developing an impact pathway. You will learn how to structure your narrative, define quantifiable indicators for each phase, and identify the most relevant stakeholders for your project. You will bring your own funding proposal idea to the training, applying the concepts directly through hands-on exercises, and by the end, you will have a first draft of your impact pathway tailored to your idea.

You will also have the opportunity to present your draft impact pathway to a group of stakeholders, practicing how to engage and communicate effectively. By the end of this course, you will walk away with a clear understanding of how to create a meaningful impact pathway, and a concrete outline for your next funding proposal.

How to Write and Present a Competitive Funding Proposal

In a competitive funding environment, researchers must prepare proposals that are structured, clear, and meet all the requirements of funding agencies. The proposal should not only be convincing in terms of scientific excellence, impact, and implementation, but it must also stand out from the competition. To succeed, a proposal must score highly on all evaluation criteria, often including a clear plan for how the results will be used to create societal impact. Additionally, researchers should be prepared to present their proposal effectively during an interview.

This interactive training provides a comprehensive overview of all the elements that make a proposal competitive. You will learn how to apply the Logical Framework to structure your project idea and gain insights into the importance of the various aspects of impact. The course includes practical exercises, where you will develop your own project idea and practice how to pitch.

The training is offered in two formats: a 1-day programme focused on writing and presenting a structured project idea, and an extended 2-day programme that also covers the development of a dissemination and exploitation plan (valorisation), a key component for demonstrating impact. The extended programme is particularly suited for writing proposals with a strong societal impact focus.

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 committees

This module focuses on presenting for funding committees. In the competitive world of science, the modern scientist needs such skills to get funded and acquire research projects. Who is in a funding committee, and how is presenting for such a committee different from other presentations?

You prepare and exercise presenting for funding committees. A funding committee does not only consist of experts in your field, and their questions will not be exclusively about the contents of your work. Rather, they may ask you to explain the importance and future impact of your research, as well as to convince them that you are the right person for the job. How do you sell yourself and your research all at once?

Come and find out in this very active and fun module!

We share positive feedback and look at room for improvement. Do you come across as inspiring? And are you convincing them to select you, as a professional, researcher and person? Or are you just convincing them of the quality of your research?

Another essential part is dealing with specific types of reactions and questions. A lack of understanding or misunderstanding, criticism, detailed questions, silence… we practice such scenarios with the help of a professional training actor.

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

This workshop is all about Networking as a conversation skill. An effective network increases your visibility and chances on cooperation, jobs, and professional friends. Having a large and interesting network makes you more hireable.

We distinguish between two types of network conversations: 1. You meet a stranger at for instance a conference, and want to make acquaintance and find out if you could be of professional interest to each other; 2. You know whom you are going to talk to and you have a specific goal. Both types of conversations require very different preparation and execution. We use the perspective of negotiation to practice both variations, in line with your career and acquisition strategy.

With the help of a professional training actor, we practice various elements. For instance: how to approach someone at a meeting or conference; how to break into a conversation among people; how to create interest in what you do and who you are; how to persuade someone to set up a cooperation; how to capitalise on such encounters. Your individual wishes will be taken into account with the use of intake forms.

This fun and slightly chaotic workshop will help you to increase your professional visibility and networking effectiveness!

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!

Presenting for funding committees

This course focuses on presenting for funding committees. In the competitive world of science, the modern scientist needs such skills to get funded and acquire research projects. Who is in a funding committee, and how is presenting for such a committee different from other presentations?

You prepare and exercise presenting for funding committees. A funding committee does not only consist of experts in your field, and their questions will not be exclusively about the contents of your work. Rather, they may ask you to explain the importance and future impact of your research, as well as to convince them that you are the right person for the job. How do you sell yourself and your research all at once?

Come and find out in this very active and fun course!

We share positive feedback and look at room for improvement. Do you come across as inspiring? And are you convincing them to select you, as a professional, researcher and person? Or are you just convincing them of the quality of your research?

Another essential part is dealing with specific types of reactions and questions. A lack of understanding or misunderstanding, criticism, detailed questions, silence… we practice such scenarios with the help of a professional training actor.

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

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.

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).

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.

Mediatraining

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!

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.

IMPACT conversations!

Modern scientists need to be able to communicate with non-experts about their scientific work, in order to increase their societal impact and to further their career. These non-experts may be industry, civilians, farmers, patients, policy makers, journalists or even colleagues. Targeted storytelling has a positive effect on networking, on your cooperation with multidisciplinary colleagues and on writing grants and presenting science.

In this training you will practice choosing specific messages and stories for specific target groups. The participants interview each other and help each other filter out the most important elements. We test the quality of your story using the 6 Cs. We help you embellish it with strong metaphors, one-liners and examples.
We will put our stories to work with the help of a professional training actor: How can you apply this in the interaction with the non-experts around you? How do you keep people interested? How do you avoid misinterpretation? How can you deal with various types of (stupid, loaded, steering, suggestive, political…) questions? How can you leave out nuances but still tell a truthful but concise story?

Learn how to be able to convey inspiring stories about your work to any audience!

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. 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 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!

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.

IMPACT! Communicating with non-experts

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.

Engaging with stakeholders

Cooperation with stakeholders and partners in scientific projects and consortia is increasingly important in today’s scientific arena. They can be scientific partners, industry, NGOs, patients, museums, government bodies, and others.

When you are dealing with stakeholders, the following questions are important:

• Which stakeholders should be involved in your project?
• How can you approach stakeholders and convince them to participate in your project?
• Which stakeholders are currently involved in your project?
• How do you keep your stakeholders committed? Who needs what kind of attention?

In this module we will focus on your specific questions concerning engaging with stakeholders and deal with them in the form of peer consultation. In small groups you exchange experience and ideas and learn from each other’s practice. Where applicable, some theory and background information will be given or we can do some exercises. Thus, the content of the module will be tailored according to the needs of the participants.

Practicing and sharing experience and advice with your peers helps you to set up projects and hold them together. Facilitating the needs of partners and stakeholders involved helps to run such projects smoothly and effectively.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

Surviving academia for postdocs

As a postdoc, you are often with one leg in your current position and with the other already focusing on the next project. Also, tasks and responsibilities can be quite unclear and everybody asks for your time and contributions in for instance cooperation, teaching and co-supervision. This in-between position regularly leads to an unclear work load, a work load that is too high, or conflicts about tasks, responsibilities and even authorship. How can you shape your postdoc position and make it the best time of your life? How can you create calm, focus and concentration in your work?

In this 2-day course, we help you to look at your tasks, responsibilities and work load. We then work on shaping your ideal work conditions and relationships. What are your goals? What is it that you want to ask for? What is it that you need to say no to? How can you negotiate about roles, tasks and responsibilities?

We then discuss time management tips and mainly Deep Work (Cal Newport, 2016), to help you create concentrated undisturbed blocks of time to focus on your main tasks.

With an academic training actor you will practice skills such as How to say no?, deal with contradicting interests, and communicating your needs. The course is very interactive and you will share with – and learn a lot from – your fellow postdocs. We will fine-tune the program based on the intake forms of the participants, so as to address your individual wishes.

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.

Social safety for academic leaders

In order for academic leaders to tackle sensitive issues like social safety, psychological safety and trust, academic leaders need knowledge, skills, self-reflection and self-confidence. Staff and students have to feel safe enough to express ‘I feel stressed’ or ‘I feel this is not just’, ‘I do not feel heard’ or disagree with the team dynamics and criticize supervisors and leaders. Leaders themselves also need to feel safe to have such delicate conversations. What are indicators of safety and trust? How can you create an open and safe atmosphere, where there is trust? How can you display example behavior, and address good and bad behavior in your group?

We share examples, cases and experiences among participants, such as: How can you adequately handle a complaint of a PhD student about a supervisor that is your direct colleague? How can you deal with issues of diversity, gender equality and conflicts? How do you support openness about work pressure and stress? How can you effectively involve your superiors and the organization as a whole, if needed?

In this course, you define your own strengths and form a vision on your leadership and psychological safety. The expert trainers – Bruno and Bas are psychologists with more than 10 years of experience in such themes – will inform you on the science behind such themes and models such as Deep Democracy, or regarding trust or setting boundaries. With a professional and academic training actor some participants will practice how to have conversations about such complex issues.

We will fine-tune the workshops to your wishes and context by the intake forms that you fill in. Everything that you share, stays in the classroom: We are all bound by confidentiality. This is a very active course with lots of tips!

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. 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 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!

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!

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

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.

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!

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.