A core priority for us is learning new things and continuous development. We regularly seek out opportunities to provide our team with practical experience in a wide range of different areas – that includes communication workshops with Stärkentrainer, a firm specializing in this field.
Clear and confident communication is essential for a CRO on assignment to a company. The frequently challenging process of dialogue with the shareholders and stakeholders of a company in a crisis situation goes hand in hand with its reorganization, but this is a skill which has to be learned. Together with Frank Rebmann, managing director of the Stuttgart firm Stärkentrainer, we put together a series of practical workshops for our team in order to further hone our communication skills.
Each of these workshops took place in person at our Starnberg office. Frank Rebmann prepared tailormade content which is essential for our project work. For instance, our series of advanced training workshops began with a workshop on conflict management. It goes without saying that conflicts are an inevitable part of everyday work, regardless of whether they arise internally, through reorganization projects or due to challenging situations during consulting assignments in the municipal sector. Ultimately, it is not about avoiding these conflicts. Instead, it is a question of how we deal with them constructively and together identify positive solutions.
Practical Exercises Enable a Steep Learning Curve
The effective presentation of arguments likewise entails a learning process – this was the second topic covered in our series of workshops with Stärkentrainer. Together with Frank Rebmann, our team established the factors behind a well-made argument and, conversely, things which may get in the way of a successful discussion. Once these criteria have been identified, it is possible to fine-tune an argument to achieve the desired effect. In other workshops, we also looked at how to chair a discussion in a structured and goal-focused manner and the communication skills required for successful change management.
Whatever the focus of each workshop, our team benefited particularly strongly from the many practical exercises. After all, successful communication cannot be learned at a theoretical level – it requires training and practical application. In order to effectively integrate these workshops alongside our everyday work, we staggered this series of advanced training sessions over a six-month period. We were thus able to ensure that as many of our colleagues as possible participated in these workshops and thus benefited from Frank Rebmann’s comprehensive expertise.
