Learning Leadership and Management Skills

For the third time, SystemsX.ch organized a Postdoc workshop on leadership and management skills. The two-day course in Muri bei Bern addressed the human aspects of doing science, in order to influence and support both the present scientific work and future careers of the participating  postdocs. The workshop was run by hfp consulting, a company which exclusively focuses on training and coaching life scientists.

The goals of the course were for participants to improve their communication and collaboration skills, develop awareness of leading with or without being in charge, and to be able to reach their career goals more efficiently.

For Joachim Moser von Filseck from the University of Geneva, it was a good way to learn how to work more efficiently: “I really enjoyed this course, as it was a very welcome change from scientific routine on one hand, but on the other hand also addressed increasing efficiency in the lab. Many of the concepts we worked on there can be directly used on a daily basis: Unambiguous, clear communication leads to fewer unnecessary e-mails and discussions, defining goals and milestones make progress in research quantifiable, and learning to prioritize certain tasks can free up time for other tasks. So the course really helped me understand what I have to change to make my work more efficient.”