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We have a pretty amazing crew of consultants. They are passionate about their job and are constantly improving their technical skills to be ahead of the market. But to really make a lasting impact, soft skills are equally important. That’s why in 2023, we introduce the Boost Your Impact program: an 8-step journey our entire team will follow.

Technical + social skills = success

Diederik Wyffels (Managing Partner): “Our consultants have a ton of technical knowledge on which they are strongly focused. But the value of a consultant is also measured by his or her soft skills. How do you make decisions and communicate them to all kinds of people in the project team? How well do you speak in public? How do you handle conflict situations? There are numerous soft skills needed in a consultancy environment. And that’s exactly what we want to improve with this Boost Your Impact program.”

“As a team, we will follow this program over the course of this year. Some of our employees are very enthusiastic about it, others are more in doubt… Which makes sense: it’s scary to open up and it can be intimidating to face some of your working points. But that’s the beauty of completing this journey as a team! It’s like bungee jumping: as one group it’s less scary and the more experienced ones get you motivated. And luckily, everyone is on board. 😉”

“It’s not only about the impact on others, but also on yourself.”

So why this idea?

Diederik: “There are several reasons why we wanted to set up a program like this. I regularly talk to everyone in the team and I frequently get feedback on these kinds of challenges. Sometimes, consultants are frustrated because a client’s business owner doesn’t want to understand their message, even though they try really hard to explain. Or a project that doesn’t run smoothly, because communication is bad. In the past, I’ve seen consultants quit a project because of these issues, and that’s very sad to watch. 

So, hearing these issues got us thinking. How can we facilitate that you can communicate your message in a way that everyone can understand? Business owner, co-developers, project managers, CIO’s, …” 

“Also, a decent portion of self-knowledge and soft skills is always an asset for a stronger mental health, which prevents or at least reduces burnouts. Getting to know your challenges, setting boundaries and communicating clearly, … They’re all skills that help you manage (work) life better, be more successful and have a bigger impact. Which in the ends contributes to a feeling of accomplishment.” 

Professional crew, professional training

As this is completely new to 45Degrees, we asked the help of Anja Moortgat, executive coach, author and founder of curious. 

“Anja is the main contractor for this program. I told her my ideas, and she worked out the entire program for us. The first version was spot on! For every step, she looks for the best trainer or coach to guide us. We also both agreed on the more extensive timing of the program: we’ll be working on this for almost a year so it reaches maximum results. 

From insights to practice and preach

And finally: the program! Our Boost Your Impact program consists of 8 steps: 

1. Personal assessment 
   Everyone already filled out a personal assessment through “Insights Discovery”, one of the leading psychometric tools. 

2. Deadline 
   Important part of the process if you want to engage your entire team. 😉 

3. Discovery day 
   We’ll focus a full day on the results of our assessments! What do these results mean? How can you use these insights – not only for your own personal development but also for interpersonal relationships. 

4. Short intervision 
   We’ll share a first update with each other in a short session, to follow up on the first impressions of our ‘discovery day’. 

5. Off-site 3 days 
   With all these insights, we’ll go on a little trip and really get into it, guided by professionals and specifically trained actors for advanced role-playing. 

6. Recap day 
   After the summer, we’ll do a recap day. Not only on the off-site, but also to check in on how it’s going. With the exercises, the implementation of all this knowledge and training in our day-to-day job and life beyond it. 

7. Written communication workshop 
   I’ve asked specifically for a session on written communication! At a past job, I took a creative workshop in which we analyzed a long email from our CEO. All sentences were broken down, storytelling was analyzed and rewritten in a way that everyone understood the content of the message. This workshop was so valuable, fun and eye-opening, I know this is worthwhile doing! 

8. Impact Challenge 
   It’s still a mystery to us, but we’ll end with an impact challenge! I guess, to check how far we will have come and the impact this long program will have had. 

“During this entire process, we will get to know each other much better, and also ourselves. So it’s definitely a team building at the same time. I’m really looking forward to it, together with the entire team. It will be a unique experience for all of us and will bring us more insights and skills.” 

Keep an eye out on our social media for updates! 😉