MY EXPERIENCE WITH WORKING OUT LOUD

Hi, my name is Evelyn and I have been working for Vitesco Technologies / Continental for more than 27 years – writing this, I get aware of what a long time this is! And it hasn’t been boring for a minute, as I changed my responsibilities several times.

Currently, I work as a L.E.A.N.* coach within the Sensing & Actuation business unit (a challenging and fulfilling task that I do with great passion and energy, but that’s another story).

When I was asked to write about my experiences in the Working Out Loud program, I was flattered on the one hand, and on the other hand, I thought by myself: “oh my gosh” – what am I supposed to write? I decided to just tell it like it is.

First of all, what is the Working out Loud program about? Are you going to mumble to yourself each task that you are doing at work? Of course not! Here comes the definition: “Working Out Loud is a method to build meaningful relationships aiming to benefit and learn from them, a free, guided, self-driven peer-coaching method to reach your goals via valuable relationships using modern tools & methods”.

This sounds, let’s admit it, rather dry and uninspiring, doesn’t it?

But hey, going through those 12 weeks of the program will make you experience firsthand the value of exchanging and building relationships with colleagues. It changed my own mindset from "How can I benefit from others?" to "What can I offer and how can we benefit from each other's expertise?"

But let’s start from scratch:

Originally, Working Out Loud was developed by John Stepper and has become a worldwide movement in the meantime. And when Vitesco Technologies decided to offer this program for its employees, I was all fire and flame to join. First aha experience: my boss not only allowed me to take part, but she even encouraged me to join! 

Our randomly composed circle consisted of three women and two men, very diverse in view of origin, profession, and character.

In the first session, we shared our goals with each other, a goal that could be personal or business-related. Then, in the next 12 weeks, going through the program’s guidelines (each week, another one of us moderated the session, so, there was no hierarchy), we were offered tasks and challenges to get us out of our comfort zones.

And at the end of the 12 weeks, believe it or not, each of us had reached her/his individual goal. And that only by being:

Thank you, Vitesco Technologies, for giving this great chance to every employee who is willing to grow!

*L.E.A.N. is an acronym for Lean Excellence Agile Network.
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