In 2008, we completed a programme for talented young employees of the European paper and packaging merchant PAPYRUS – the programme aimed to prepare its participants for their future international work as managers and leaders.

In our project report, Judith Haupt and Jan Gittinger, who were the trainers on the programme, give insight into challenges the group had to face during the programme, and aspects we learned in our first round of “Papyrus Career Talents”.

For this purpose, CONTRACT developed a one-year development programme in cooperation PAPYRUS which imparted management and leadership competence in a practical way. The participants who took part in the programme were “high potentials” from Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Latvia and Hungary, who were supported and challenged during the modules by our trainers Judith Haupt and Jan Gittinger.

Participants did not only take part in modules regarding project management, communication, conflict management, leadership and presentation skills, in which they worked in a practice-oriented way,but also worked on a one-year project that was relevant for their company. Working on these projects enabled participants to directly implement the topics of the seminar modules, and to use the tools and content to reflect on their current project processes. Many of the participants had not worked with project management tools before – and working on projects across national borders was an additional challenge which provided many obstacles! Solving a conflict is just much more difficult virtually than it is through direct contact, and the different nationalities and mentalities of participants heightened the learning curve even more.

How do I best allocate work packages if they are to be implemented in different countries? How do I define the best communication channels for our virtual team? How do I handle a conflict which is connected to different cultural imprints? How do I lead someone who is very different to me, due to cultural or just personal differences?

How do I best present to a multi-national group? These were only some of the questions that came up and were dealt with in during our seminar modules.

One of the challenges was the communication in a mutually agreed language which was a second language for everyone involved. Here we realised that the use of images and metaphors when exchanging ideas, feedbacks and situations was a success factor regarding mutual understanding within the group.

Similarly to our other international development programmes of future managers, the seminar modules took place in participants‘different countries of origin. This had participants get to know the different locations of their company, strengthened the network between the countries and prepared participants for their future work on a European level. Participants who took the role of the host in their own country experienced a positive identification with their own location as confident, constructive and open cooperation partner within the international network of the organisation.

The seminar cycle ended with a “final presentation” and thus an official handover of project results to the management team. Both project teams did not only receive an extensive and specific feedback by top management, but also had the opportunity to discuss and agree on the implementation of their results. Through the work of the project teams, both “learning projects” achieved a high relevance within the overall organisation.

In the final feedback, it became apparent that the combination of an:

• international group
• assigned projects with high relevance for the organisation and
• their embedding into a seminar cycle that is adapted to the groups’ needs

…did not only support the individual learning success of participants in an optimal way, but also resulted in a specific added value – tangible through the project results – for the organisation.