Outcomes of Aalto’s kick-off workshop

A total of 170 people took part in the first kick-off Aalto University change process workshop.

The workshop, held on November 7, produced an abundance of material for further activities. The second workshop will be held on Monday, December 1, 2008.

Each workshop session began with an introductory presentation and opening speeches. Participants jotted down their personal views and insights on pieces of paper. Based on these submissions, teams of roughly six people considered common suggestions, insights, and policy definitions. These discussions generated over 600 proposal summaries.

Workshop outcomes utilized in Aalto preparations

“The results will be grouped according to the Aalto theme groups. Essentially we aimed to find common perspectives on what people at Aalto wish to achieve and what is considered important,” comments workshop leader Markku Markkula.

“The outcomes of these two kick-off workshops will provide an excellent basis for further activities. The first workshop alone produced over 4 000 individual suggestions and proposals. These included familiar, previously-mentioned suggestions, as well as new insights. We discovered several brilliant new ideas that simply need some additional refinement, as well as potential possibilities to research and develop into something unique.”

Markkula emphasizes the significance of cooperation in developing new ideas.

“Some of the outcomes will be processed immediately. Others will be analyzed more thoroughly in the upcoming months, and some of these will pave the way for new ideas for teamwork in the years to come. The current and future workshops are also excellent opportunities to get to know other individuals working at Aalto University, enabling us to create a collective cooperative culture.”