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 has taken 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 is due to be finished in 2023.
Sami Kazi, Research Team Leader at VTT, was one of the hundreds of participants in Tunto2 project and he says he took with him many insights and tools from the project.
“I feel I have been able to reconnect with myself on different levels. I have learned to stay calmer than before and I have started to use the seven psychological elements in different situations to understand better what is really going on”
He says that as all the leaders at VTT were invited to take part in the project, he was able to share his feelings and experience with his colleagues. “You share the challenges and you know you aren’t alone on this journey. One of the biggest highlights of this training was the peer support and sharing my own experience and feelings with my colleagues. It has certainly brought us closer together in the work context and connected us in ways that maybe weren’t so feasible before.”
Sami continues to say that he has already seen the implementation of some of the practical tools in the working environment. “The workshops we had in the project gave us such valuable information, suggestions and recommendations on how to approach different situations in working life. They were also so useful as the examples were very relatable and thus made the tools quite easy to implement in our working life.”
“For me as a leader, it is important to bring in positive energy and pass this onto my colleagues and my team as much as possible”
Recovery can be even more important than the work load
Sami says that he has always been emotionally quite connected and prior to the project, he already knew many ways to help himself. He continues to say that the workshops reinforced the importance of recovery. “It is not necessarily the size of the workload but the recovery afterwards that really counts”, Sami says.
“It is also important to be able to understand emotions behind different situations. If I suddenly feel energized, I try to understand the reason for it and dwell on the feeling a little bit, marinate in the positivity. This also works when I feel low – to understand my own emotions and how they affect how I feel and how to deal with them”, Sami concludes.
