Gaining team work training

CEMS Statoil skills seminar february 2013 (Photo: Hallvard Lyssand)

"The students are very enthusiastic and dedicated. It's great to be able to do this and to give them input that isn't the centre of attention on their usual curriculum," says Kjell Stautløand from Statoil. For ten years he and company colleagues have come to NHH and given skills seminars for NHH's CEMS students.

12.02.2013 - Hallvard Lyssand

The co-operation stems from the fact that both NHH and Statoil are members of the CEMS alliance.

The aim of the skills seminars is to give the students practical experience that can be useful in their professional lifes.

Last week, 14 CEMS MIM students at NHH were gathered to learn more about and practice practical problem solving and communication in work groups under the supervision of Stautland and his Statoil colleague Stig Kjøsnes.

Kjell Stautland (left) and Stig Kjøsnes both have long experience in teaching NHH's CEMS students in the fields of communication and problem solving in work groups.

The seminar alternated between short lectures, case solving in small groups and plenary discussions about the how the different groups chose to solve the cases.

One aim is to strengthen the students' consciousness when it comes to cultural and individual differences as both a challenge and a resource in team work and work groups.

"One part of this is to show the participants how people are different from each other;" Stautland explains.

With nine different nationalities among the 14 participants, the cultural diversity should be secured. This also reflects the daily realities in Statoil.

Stig Kjøsnes, who also has contributed to the CEMS assessment centre for several years, points out that Statoil applicants have an increasingly global background.

"We get more people who are born in one country, have grown up in another and are educated in third country, he says.

The 14 students who participated during this year's skills seminar had background from nine different countries.

Verena Gassner was among the participating students.

"The Skill Seminar offered valuable insight into how working in a group can be facilitated and carried out in a more efficient way," she says.

"Moreover, I discovered which role I mainly take on when being on a team, which aspects I should be aware of and what I might need to improve. Constructive feedback from both the instructors and the learning group was of great help," she adds, and concludes: "Altogether, I had a lot of fun during the two days of the seminar and definitely took away interesting insights and useful advice that will help me in the future."