I recently had an inspiring conversation with Susanne Sachse, head of the HR department of a large company that operates throughout Germany. Together with a colleague, she attended one of our Gefühlsmonster seminars in November 2018 and has since gradually introduced Gefühlsmonsters into the company.
Her key message in the interview: with an open attitude and a desire for new things, the Gefühlsmonsters can make your own work flourish.
She said in the interview:
The Gefühlsmonsters have
- Improved communication in the company
- Empowered some employees to resolve tensions themselves in a timely manner
- Provided other employees who take part in internal mediation training with a valuable tool to facilitate their resolution work
- Provided internal trainers with a tool that enabled them to promptly assess the relevance of issues mentioned by participants and whether they needed to be addressed immediately
- Made managers curious to use the Gefühlsmonsters for their own work
The Gefühlsmonsters are now being used in their company in these areas:
- Team events (introductory and feedback rounds)
- Internal mediation training
- Mediation between employees
- Training mediators to continue using the Gefühlsmonster® Cards independently for quick clarification (mediators receive a Gefühlsmonster set for regular use in their work together, feedback is that they get to the point very quickly with the cards, they are enthusiastic about this possibility!)
- Team developments
- Trainer days (within a three-day cycle there is a 3-hour introduction for the trainers to the use of the Gefühlsmonsters for counseling sessions and team events – the topic is taken up again in the next event. Experience: with trainer competence, the methods can be implemented immediately. Feedback from trainers: Gefühlsmonsters are helpful when participants approach them with problems. They make it easier to quickly assess which of the topics should be included in the event and which should not).
- Qualification of experts without training experience for the moderation of internal training courses. After an introduction to suitable methods from the Gefühlsmonster repertoire, this introduction is built upon in each of the subsequent events; the experts are closely supervised during their first own events and thus feel relatively confident in their new role.
- Team rounds to introduce changes to the company strategy
In my interviewee’s opinion, what are the prerequisites for using the Gefühlsmonster method profitably?
- First gain your own experience of using the cards
- Openness to new things
- Have the courage to do things differently
- The ability to assess in different situations whether the use of the cards makes sense here
She concluded by saying:
My day at Gefühlsmonster headquarters was well worth it! Supervisors and other employees who learn about the cards want to use them themselves. My colleague who leads the internal mediation training is flourishing in her role with the help of this new tool.
The Gefühlsmonsters are incredibly valuable for the transformation process that our company, like many others, is undergoing.