Started out with a meeting in Utrecht 10 AM with two of our contact persons. Moved fluidly into the next meeting with a senior consultant who’s not a very active social media user. He had some very interesting perspectives and we gained a lot of knowledge from a new point of view. We continued our Wednesday journey in R’dam at Laurens place. Creating more solid frames and focus on which social media tools we will implement. It was a crazy, idea shooting day, which lasted till 11PM. Tough ride, but profitable.

Today started very frustrating. Geert received a call from the “boss”, who expressed his concerns and ideas. Geert formulated it into 24 points we chose to dig deeper into. It created some frustration suddenly having to deal with new input, when ready to move. But we turned the frustrations into a more result oriented work pace, which actually worked out. We now stand with a concept that’s tangible and just need adjustments to fit in to our bigger view of what the assignment entails.

We still feel a strong time pressure in the assignment, since the implementation is such a big part and there are several factors we can’t control. But that’s also a fascinating aspect of a job like this. You can prepare to perfection, but in the end it’s out of your hands.

Geert and I went early to KPN this morning to interview Jessica, a junior consultant for Ordina who was on assignment.  She very graciously answered all our questions about her take on things in the company, the team and how projects work.  Since our project revolves around improving communication in Ordina, several of our questions were of course about that, but since none of us have worked for a company this size, we had to satisfy our curiosity on other things as well.

Back in Rotterdam, Thijs was preparing a process to collect all our ideas and information we had collected this past week.  As a group we decided that Geert and I are the ones doing the interviews and Thijs will be the objective listener giving feedback and asking for clarity.  So far it has worked quite well (as Geert and I both tend to be vague sometimes), so it was decided to continue with Thijs as facilitator and organize the process for today.

He decided on a creativity tool focusing on the four elements: fire, water, air, and earth (and ether), which represent respectively: passion, emotion, thoughts, and facts (and overview).  Focusing on each element in turn, we wrote down observations, feelings, thoughts, etc. and placed them into the proper categories.  After plenty of food (no carbs for Thijs), espresso, and runs around the observation deck, we got all the information down on paper.  It then turned into a process of clustering, shaking out the important ideas, then further refining down the things that were both important and relevant.  Quite a long day, but we all felt really great at the end.   

Feels good to be productive, but for sure can’t beat a ride on the motorcycle

Lauren

To change we need to understand. What is a given to us might very well be a no-go at a company like Ordina. We need to understand the internal structure and how that affect attitudes, decisions etc.

   Playful

Our assignments is about involving, motivating, including and exploring internally in Ordina. They’ve already tried several times to stimulate a motivational and sharing culture without success. We need to bring what they lack and to do that; we also need to be it ourselves.

   Risk-taking

We need to stand out, take the leap and hope to make a difference. Ordina need a safety net, we don’t. We have to go for it fully, not focusing on the chance of failing, just acknowledging it’s there.

   Empowering

We would like to foster cooperation and personal responsibility within Ordina. We feel there’s a need and will from the employees to do so, but no functioning channel to use.

Before we did anything else, clarifying personal learning goals and criteria was necessary.   Each of our approaches were very different.  All of us just want to try things we’ve never done before, but I would also very much like to get more experience on moving from idea to product, managing client expectations, and learn how to get to the core of a need in the company then give a result that satisfies that need.  Geert wants to be able to clearly communicate to client how we handle our process, to go for it without worrying if it is perfect, and listen to gut feelings.  Thijs wants to take on roles he hasn’t before (ie contact person, organization, creating actionable steps), improve extrovert idea generating skills and staying true to his values while still satisfying the client’s needs.  After a lovely lunch and long walk (and some jumping on a blow up couch along the way) we then talked a bit about group culture and dynamics and planned the rest of the afternoon, which included setting up interviews, research, and a meeting with one of the directors.  

Our first priority was to get our purpose clear.  Though we had a meeting yesterday with our three initial contact people, the meeting with one of the directors in the company this evening clarified expectations quite a bit.  Basically, they would like to use internet/computer tools available to improve communications both for individuals within consulting teams and between the teams themselves.  Right now, there is not much sharing of knowledge and the left hand has no idea what the right is doing.  The challenge is in changing people’s attitudes.  Among other things, Ordina can be competitive and hierarchical.  There has to be a need if people are going to share their information. 

It is obvious the three of us are not very structured on our own, so it will be a challenge to keep organization.  Thijs has taken up starting this blog, making shared google documents and calendars as well as being the contact person.  Geert called several people within the organization to set up interview times, and I started a bit of research on types of social media and tried to synthesize information on project design into simple actionable steps.

I am really looking forward to working hard on this project and being in a group with Thijs and Geert.  I have also never worked with such a big company before (over 5000 employees!) and excited to learn more about that as well.  They have different organizational styles within the company, but overall pretty damn structured.  It will be interesting to see how our Kaos fits in…

All for now.  

Lauren

3 funky talents from KaosPilots Netherlands have moved to Utrecht and the Dutch Goliath of consulting, Ordina.  

Mission? Creating an online connectivity platform which will stimulate a feeling of togetherness and empowerment for the 800 consultants within the company, and open it to a transformation towards an external tool which Ordina can use with and sell to clients.

Tuesday morning was the launch of the 4 week project, meeting up with our 3 contact persons, discussing the project, the visions and the expectations. Common ground was found and the 3 KP’ers will now aim at taking social media to a new level, incorporating them into business practices.

The first 4 meetings are booked and 12 more requests sent out by email. The Pilots has certainly taken off…