Holland Innovative is taking the next step in Project Management to serve our customers even better.

With the expansion of their role within the project management competence, Karel Kalma and Erik Hutten are committed to broadening and integrating knowledge and the further development of the PM Masterclass.

Senior project managers Erik Hutten and Karel Kalma have had new positions within Holland Innovative (HI) since April 1, 2022. Whereas previously they were working full-time at their customers, they can now be found one day a week at HI itself. Kalma as scientific director and Hutten as competence manager. Kalma has also started working as a trainer at the PM Masterclass.Partnership

"Together we are now responsible for the discipline of project management," Kalma says. In doing so, Hutten will focus more on the current group of project managers: "I look at how they are doing, what they need, and what competencies need to be developed."

Kalma will be a bit more concerned with the content of the PM Masterclass, as well as the vision and strategy for the future. "I see it more as a partnership rather than a strict division of labor," Kalma said.

The right match

The group of project managers currently consists of about 25 people. "The team is growing rapidly," says Hutten. "We are constantly recruiting new people. We also conduct the interviews with potential candidates ourselves, individually or together with the management." Because the team is made up entirely of professionals, the focus is not just on developing basic competencies.

Hutten: "It's about making the best possible use of the competencies already present within the team towards the client. By finding a good match, we can serve the customers optimally. At the same time, we want to combine the strengths of the different people within HI much more." Hutten believes it is important that project managers are assigned to assignments they enjoy. "Often it goes together. If you're good at something and you've developed a competency well, you usually enjoy doing it as well. In that, we really have to try to find a match."

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Integral approach

Kalma adds: "From our team, we are going to give more attention to caring for our club of project managers at clients. The knowledge gained from this will be taken along toward the development of project management competencies. In doing so, we are going for an integral approach. We include all competency areas within HI."

In this way, the client gains more insight into the various competencies and qualities present. "If the customer gets stuck during a project, we can then bring in a particular competency from within HI temporarily or for a longer period of time," Kalma explains. "It is precisely in order to be able to make that link and cover that integral part that I am looking, together with Erik and the other competence leads, at how we can strengthen this. There is an awful lot of knowledge available, in a very broad field. We want to be able to make optimal use of that."

PM Masterclass

In addition to integrating project management with other competency areas, the PM Masterclass will also develop in other directions. The four-day course is currently focused primarily on developing leadership skills. These courses take place within HI or at the client's own premises. "We now have three trainers. We want to keep expanding that group," Kalma says. "That gives even more opportunities to offer the courses. Moreover, the development of the group ensures that we can better respond to market demand."

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Wider range

He continues: "That is also where the link between Erik and me comes back. From the internal organization, we want to better understand the wishes and questions from the market and include them in the development of the PM Masterclass training courses." Moreover, by further expanding the PM Masterclass in different directions, other products within the project management competence can be offered. "An example is entry-level training for young project managers or people with aspirations in that direction. Or a product for the more experienced project managers who would like depth."

Larger target group

"In its current form, the PM Masterclass focuses on a specific target group. So we want to make that target group broader, both at the bottom and at the top," Hutten clarifies.

In that context, Kalma is also investigating the possibility of developing a product for program managers. "That would be specifically intended as support for senior managers. It would be nice if we could set up a discussion platform in the process where, for example, current developments in the market are discussed."

Strengthening the knowledge and experience from within the organization. Expanding the PM Masterclass. Attracting experienced trainers. Integrating the project management competence with other competence areas. Combining the strengths of the various people within HI to serve customers even better. In short, there is a lot of work to do for Hutten and Kalma. However, they are by no means discouraged by the challenges ahead: "Holland Innovative will only get better and stronger!"

By strengthening our Project Management compenteces, Holland Innovative can serve its customers even better. Curious how we can help your organization? Book a free call with one of our specialists.