Our mission

IPG is Belgium’s largest contact center. More than that, they are an expert in managing customer relations.

For their centers in Hasselt, Antwerp and Brussels they wished to offer external support for 25 managers (22 Team Coaches & 3 Team Managers), whose teams give technical and commercial support for one of their key customers. Previous trainings around leadership, social skills, behavioural preferences etc. for the coaches had not led to visible results on the work floor. Their teams still found it difficult to reach the targeted KPI’s.

The goal for Indra Partners was to help the coaches grow up to their maximum potential and improve the results (KPI’s) of their teams.

Our approach

Over a 6 months time span, we offered 7 interventions through a blend of observation of the coaches, individual coaching  and group sessions. Indra Partners ensured a pragmatic, targeted approach and individual feedback and advice that Team Coaches and Team Managers could put into practice from day one.

During the group sessions we taught the team coaches practical methods and techniques to strengthen their core coaching skills. We paid special attention to skills needed in coaching team members who found it hard to evolve or who offered resistance to change. The coaches practiced the methods through interactive exercises and role play. A toolkit provided with each group session offered additional material and practical tips so that coaches could continue to use the new skills.

During the individual coaching sessions we zoomed in on the strengths and weaknesses of each coach and on the members of his/her team. A team mapping for each coach served as a reality check regarding their team and highlighted where the bottlenecks and opportunities appeared. We taught them how they could get faster results thanks to a structured approach. For this approach, we gave them practical tools, such as a stepping-stone action plan with crystal clear targets.

In a 6 month time span we managed to increase the results of the entire team. The client expressed that they noticed a significant improvement. Participants of this track expressed their appreciation of our interventions and indicated that they would like to continue our trainings in the future.

Our mission

Securitas wished to evolve from a “directive” leadership style to a more “coaching” style. The company wanted to stimulate a culture of open feedback and create a positive team spirit.

With this in mind, the HR department developed a new competence model for all leaders while translating each competency to concrete behaviours.
Securitas wanted to solidify this new leadership style by offering an effective program for all new leaders.To ensure that this program would meet expectations, a number of experienced managers were invited to join the program as well.

Securitas organised two paralel programs, one for the Operational Teams and one for the IT Department, each one with participants from three groups of leaders : Management Trainees, Post Superiors and (Assistant) Branch Managers.

Our approach

When developing the leadership program for Securitas, we used their new competence model as our base line. The program consisted of 6 one-day modules, spread out over a 6 month time frame. In each module, we explored one ore more of the Securitas competencies while each module built on what had been learned in the previous session.

At the end of each module, participants received an assignment, allowing them to put the new insights into practice in their daily work.At the start of the following module, each participant shared with the group how (s)he had experienced the assignment.

Throughout the entire program we used peer coaching and inter-vision techniques as a way to translate new-found knowledge into action.Sharing real life experiences during the sessions did prove to be a powerful way to learn fast. This is one of the reasons why we opted to combine new and experienced managers in the same group.

Securitas’s context was the basis for everything we did, including putting methods and techniques into practice. We invited participants to practice on their own real-life cases as well as using those that we had prepared in advance.

We offered additional support through toolkits with practical information, checklists and so on. Participants highly appreciated our pragmatic, hands-on approach as was the opportunity to reflect about the role of a leader at Securitas.

At the end of the program, all participants were equipped with the same ‘backpack’ of methods and techniques that allowed them to decide for themselves how and when they would use the tools that they had been given.

Our mission

Levanto is a company that belongs to the “social economy” sector. It offers disadvantaged groups an opportunity to gain a meaningful role in society thanks to sustainable employment. For Levanto’s “Bike Management” team, we developed a half day workshop with as main goals :

• increasing the motivation of each individual coworker
• lowering the number of short absences thanks to this increased motivation
• enhancing the collaboration within the team
• increasing the quality of work thanks to this enhanced collaboration.

Our approach

During the first part of this workshop, we used a game approach. The game allowed the participants to experience a number of elements of good team work :

• Each team member has an important task and bares responsibility
• Each team member’s contribution counts
• If one person is absent or can’t contribute fully, it has an impact on the entire team.

We took this awareness as a basis for the 2nd part of the workshop during which they built their Team Manifesto together. In this Manifesto they made concrete agreements as to what makes them proud as a team and how they could work together to offer quality work. The team decided who would ensure that the Manifesto would be adhered to and what they would need from each other and from their manager to turn the Manifesto into a daily reality.

Another specificity in this team was the their multicultural nature. Deep believes and values varied a great deal and gave way to tension within the team. Although Diversity and Inclusion was not part of our assignment, it became an important aspect of the workshop. Through ad-hoc intervision and through discussing values, believes and individual needs, we managed to create a new mutual understanding amongst team members.

Addressing the underlying cultural dimensions and ensuring commitments with clear responsibility formed a solid basis for sustainable result, despite the limited duration of this workshop.

Our mission

When Telenet decided to adopt the “agile way of working” throughout the company, they made sure that their employees received the necessary support through a tailor-made programme.

Initial evaluations of this programme showed that a lot of employees needed a basic introduction, a first “live” acquaintance, with the agile principles.

To this end, and on a very short-term notice, Telenet was looking for a partner who was able to help them guide the already developed program for groups of up to 150 participants with varying backgrounds and experience.

Our approach

This workshop offered participants a very interactive programme with a minimum of theory and a maximum of practical exercises.

Various learning methods were applied : learning through play, visualising ideas through drawing, round table discussions. With each exercise, we made the link to “agile” and what this could mean concretely in their day-to-day environment.

Because the groups were very large, participants were split up in smaller groups of max 12 people at a table. Each table had their own co-facilitator. These were internal Telenet Scrum Masters.

Partners facilitated the big picture of the day : we ensured the exercises ran smoothly, we explained the theory and guided the co-facilitators and their tables through a dynamic and smooth course of the day.

In general, we managed all that had to happen
in the large room for all the tables simultaneously while managing the energy of the room.

Prior to the start of this programme, we also gave a “train-the-trainer” session for the co-facilitators. Their experience varied widely as well but most of them were totally to quite new to facilitation.

The participants of this workshop appreciated the dynamic approach, the fun yet structured course of the day, our animation style and the space they received to share concerns with each other and to receive initial answers to their questions.

Our mission

Melexis is an innovative technological company . As a result, its project managers possess a highly specialised technical background.

Melexis asked us to help with their “Global Communication Excellence Program”.This is a 3 year long program that puts a strong emphasis on “influencing skills”.

Our approach

To develop these skills, we made sure that the program fit closely in the Melexis strategy and we opted for a mixed approach.

Indra Partners developed and delivered a one day training for all “global project managers” and “project leaders”.We also developed 2 follow up sessions to be led by an internal Melexis facilitator.

During the one day training we put the focus on three big themes :

• How can I bring a clear message : style, overall structure, and structure of the argumentation.
• How can I create involvement by communicating in a convincing way : communication styles, active listening, influencing others.
• How do I support my arguments with non-verbal communication.

To maximise the impact of the day, we developed exercises based on real business cases that we received from the Head of Program Management and of the L&D manager.

Additionally, all participants received an extensive toolkit with relevant background material.

The two half-day follow-up sessions are rolled out in the various Melexis locations separately. Each session dives deeper into a specific topic out of the ‘global workshop’.

We created a detailed toolkit for the Melexis facilitators :

• all slides with detailed presenter’s notes and referential material such as video’s, articles, presentations en extra background information.
• a “facilitator’s guide” that allows them to facilitate each session in a fully independent manner.

Our mission

IE-net Youth is a prominent Flemish engineering alumni organisation. Each year, they organise an educational week-end event for their members. Traditionally, a variety of speakers would offer short sessions about different topics, including soft skills. While these sessions were appreciated, the IE-net Youth members felt that an overall connection between the topics was missing, leaving them with fragmented learnings to take home.

That is why the organisers decided to dedicate this year’s weekend to one topic : communication skills, viewed from different angles. They also insisted on using a more original approach and that is how they thought about a business game.

The game needed to offer a match between soft skills, business accumen and technical know-how. As an extra challenge, the members of IE-net Youth had graduated in a number of engineering disciplines. The idea of a real-life mobility situation in a Chinese town, offered a technical challenge that all engineering disciplines could relate to. From there on, we worked closely with the IE -net Youth group to develop the actual game.

Our approach

Indra Partners’s role was to develop soft skill learnings based on the framework of this business game. It comprised various modules with specific learning targets whilst each model was immediately followed up by a debriefing. The result was a natural flow and a logical build upin which each part strengthened the previous one. In this way, the clear connection between the modules became obvious.

Communication skills were at the heart of this weekend. We also put an important emphasis on teamwork, leadership, presentation and convincing skills. All of these skills were woven into the various assignments throughout the game and the immediate debrief sessions after each assignment referred to concrete behaviour that we then linked to useful models and techniques.

We offered an extensive toolkit with useful tips and deeper background information on the models that we used during the week-end.

Participants were enthusiastic about our approach. They said they had learned much more than expected while they still had a fun and intellectually exciting time.

In 2019 ie-net asked us to develop a similar approach for a weekend that would look at communication skills from different angles. By opting for one central theme, they wanted to align the different parts to increase the impact of the weekend. They were also looking for a more dynamic approach and that is why they chose a business game.

In this game soft-skills, technical challenges and a business problem had to be combined with each other. Because the members of IE-net Jongeren come from different disciplines, it was important that the game remained sufficiently open. A real mobility situation in China offered sufficient technical challenges to be able to captivate engineers with different specializations.

Our mission

Ferm (KVLV-Vrouwen met Vaart) is the largest women organisation in Belgium. A new strategic vision strived for the ability to keep its trusted identity whilst increasing its ability to evolve with new societal changes. An organisational restructure was necessary to help make this vision a reality.

Our approach

With this in mind, KVLV asked Indra Partners to facilitate a process in which both staff members and volunteers could exchange ideas and propose the new structure from within.

Indra Partners accompanied this change by organising various workshops. We offered a framework through our know-how of existing and new organisational models so that the workshops had a solid structure as we wished to guarantee tangible output.

We facilitated each meeting, intervened when necessary and gave inspiring examples of other organisations who had gone through a similar change. We used specific techniques to ensure that each point of view could be heard while the common interests remained on top of the agenda.

Intermittent reporting allowed the KVLV management team to follow which progress had been made, from the initial ideas till the final proposal for a new structure. We presented this proposal to the national steering committee. Their agreement led to the current preparation for the roll out of the new structure based on the principles of a network-organisation.

With the workshops we managed to :

• Create a sense of urgency to change.
• Give an answer to the question “Why do we need to change and what problems will be resolved through it ?”
• Define a network-organisation that allows KVLV to realise its vision and strategy.
• Find the right balance between far-reaching renewal and keeping those elements of the “old” structure that remain valuable.
• Generate positive energy (hope, trust, optimism and enthusiasm) around the proposed new network-organisation.