The Tunto2 project, a joint project between Emergy, Aalto University and the University of Jyväskylä, studies strategy implementation through exploring emotional agency and emotional climate. VTT was one of three organizations that took part in the project. The project started in winter 2021 and the development part of the project ended in autumn 2021 whilst the research part has just been completed now.
“I have a mental checklist that I go through when facing a challenging situation or encounter”
Edgar Bohner, Vice President, Smart Energy and Built Environment at VTT was one of the leaders that participated in the program. Prior to the workshop he knew the importance of emotional aspects and felt that he wanted to increase his awareness on the topic. “I am now more conscious of my actions, and although I was already applying many of the learned skills before the training, now I am more focused and aware of how my actions and words may affect others around me” , Edgar says. “I now have a mental checklist, a list that I go through in my mind before approaching potentially challenging situations or encounters: what kind of role emotions may play in them and how I should prepare myself” , he continues.
“I have gained more awareness and understanding of psychological needs”
Edgar had changed roles just before the training and had gotten promoted from a team leader to a vice president. “Now of course I have much more responsibilities and bigger teams to lead. The start of the training came at an excellent time for me as I was already thinking to myself what kind of a leader I want to be and what it means at work. The provided set of seven psychological needs has given me great guidance and tools on how to strengthen the psychological safety in my teams. I want to make sure that they (my teams) know that their opinions matter to me”, Edgar tells. “With the training I have gained more awareness of how I, myself, come across but also how I can understand different situations even better than before”, Edgar says.
Another great outcome of the training according to Edgar is that the leaders that participated in the training have really grown more together. “For me, thanks to the training, it has strengthened my working relationships with various people”, he says.
“The people are our greatest asset”
“In addition to the actual tools and skills learned throughout the training, the indirect effects have also been just positive”, Edgar says and explains, “people really are our greatest asset and we need to continuously make an effort to acknowledge and celebrate this”, he finishes.
Blog updated on 14th Sept 2023 by changing the timeline for the research project.
