🌟 My Journey in the University of Mannheim Business School - Fakultät BWL Gap Year 🌟 concluded with a 3-month internship at SET Management Consulting. Transitioning from a hierarchy-driven automotive giant to an agile growing consulting start-up was a cultural shock – a ginormous one! 🚀
Here's my food for thoughts:🧠
1) It's often discussed why #agile is important or when it should be implemented, but this was the first time I actually saw it in action or, more accurately, was part of this approach🛠️. And I’m not only talking about client projects, although most of them are indeed led this way, but also how tasks are distributed within the company.
It is very clear from day one: you do the best you can and you seek feedback☝️You take the feedback and get a next take on a problem. The feedback loops are not only for finishing touches but also for some basic groundwork that needs constant adjustment. The result is: #Value along the way, not just at the end. You can address the #needs more appropriately, and it fosters #communication and relationships with co-workers.
Simply put: the top 3 agile benefits in action!💡
2) The #learningcurve is steep📈 For me especially, since I joined the company with almost no knowledge of controlling and left knowing the ins and outs of profit centers, organizational structures, and value flows in SAP systems😎 But I am not a standalone example.
Here, with the #start-up spirit - everyone does everything. It sounds messy, but in the end, it turns employees into versatile professionals, not machines performing one repetitive task excellently over and over. It makes them struggle and #LEARN in situations they’ve never experienced before. It’s hard for a growing business to #manageknowledge effectively. It’s easy to take the path of least resistance and divide up tasks to avoid risks associated with someone’s lack of proficiency that leads to a production-line-approach, or use outdated e-learnings that everyone just clicks through👀. But creating a #space, #time, and #environment where a #mentor can spend HOURS with a completely green intern discussing topics or case studies (here a big thank you to my amazing mentor - Marc Deplewski), where the whole company gathers for an intern challenge, or where #keylearnings from foreign projects are shared daily – now that’s a #challenge to maintain as the organization grows in complexity. 🎯
I truly believe some of the big organizations could take a step back and learn from young, small companies and their start-up spirit. Because cutting corners while growing is not the way to sustain growth in knowledge and overall efficient #humancapital. 💼🌱