We’re a small community of IT professionals that want to make sure our competences are up-to-date. We want to be in on the latest ways of working, technologies and advancements in the industry. Of course learning starts from the job itself: we ensure everyone at Valuemotive works on a project they are motivated to work at, and find options to expand ones existing competence. To do so, we encourage everyone to use their personal training days (3) and budget (1500€) yearly. In addition to the personal training choices, we have the option to participate in our #fridayhack sessions, on for example Flow, Sociocracy, teal and ELM, to mention a few of the latest topics. Some of the previous discussions have been hosted by external experts, but our team members also share their knowledge and curiosities.
As the remote work settled in at Valuemotive, we quickly noticed a need to have ways to connect with each other, also outside of one’s own project team. We launched our peer-mentoring program, Valueteams, in the fall of 2020 and now are well on our way to the second season.
How valueteams started in practice
Teams are formed randomly, and also in relation to the interests of the members. Teams are about 4 people, and meet every 3 weeks. One season is roughly 5 months, after which we’ll get feedback, evaluate and develop the concept and kickoff again with new employees and everyone willing to participate. In the second season some of our partnering consultants have also joined the discussions.
The feedback from these sessions have been really encouraging and also the return rate of participants from the first season was high. To kick off, we went through the formula, discussed potential topics people might be interested in discussing and divided the participants into teams. Additionally, we touched on the topics of the Johari Window and the importance of reflection in learning. Trust and confidentiality are key aspects in Valueteams for being able to share openly.
Some of the topics our team might be interested to discuss. The topic will be chosen so that it best serves the team present at a particular time. What feels most relevant at that particular time.
I’m so happy to know our team learns from each other, gets support from each other and over all, get together to improve continuously. Having a sense of community in remote work doesn’t come without an effort from — well, the community. It is worth while to make an active choice to connect with your peers, share your findings and feed your sense of curiosity and growth mindset.
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