Successful kick-off in Berlin

With a two-day kick-off meeting in Berlin, the EU-funded project SWOPS(structural change oriented personnel strategy) has taken momentum under the flag of BPW Club Berlin e.V. Within the period from 9 to 11 February 2015, the swops project consortium came together at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Berlin-Charlottenburg, to agree on the next steps in the project.

(Computer-aided translation)

For the BPW Club Berlin eV as promoters were Cornelia F. Kramer (1st Chair BPW Club Berlin eV), Clarissa Diana Wilke (Board BPW Club Berlin, Head of AG Communication & Public Affairs), Andréa Hestermann (Board BPW Club Berlin, Head AG Mentoring and International AG) and Angela Schneider-Bodien (swops Project Manager) on site. Other participants of the kick-offs were Sigrid Wölfing (Managing Director of the French employers ‘combination CERGE, Centre Européen de Ressources of Groupements d’ Employeurs, Poitiers) and Damien Fouché and Cyrielle Berger (consultants / interior CRGE, Centre de Ressources pour les Groupement d’Employeurs, Poitou-Charentes) and Caroline Mair (Consultant, InterRecherche BE). Also present were the project leaders of the Swedish consulting company for the SME sector, Tillväxt MOTALA Agneta Larsson and Kristina Stridh and Dr. Thomas Rau, Managing Director of RKW GmbH, innovation and rationalization center, which is responsible for the content objectives and results.

The project duration is designed for two years starting signal was 15 July 2014. As part of the warm-ups on 9 February 2015, the top floor of the Tulip Towers, the project partners had the opportunity to know each other and their own expectations and wishes of the formulate project. Angelika Menze, Managing Director of the DWK (German-Polish Business Council, Poznan / Poland), explained this with regret the withdrawal of the Polish partner from the project. The main reason for this she called the non-EU-compliant structures of small and medium-sized companies in Poland and presented at the same time the prospect that the German-Polish economic circle will indeed no longer continue to be the Project as a practice partner, but as a strategic partner.

The next day, the project team also came to work meeting together in the rooms of the hotel to discuss the outlined expectations the previous day in detail and content to clarify upcoming operations and the respective procedure in the project. After a brief welcome by Cornelia F. Kramer, Dr. Thomas Rau from the planned course of the project. Following Clarissa Diana Wilke presented the communication goals of swops and explained rules, EU policies and effective networking strategies with a view to the most effective dissemination of project results at home and abroad.

While Thomas Rau morning presented the results of the actual analysis from Sweden, France, Poland and Germany, he presented the afternoon the results from the working groups after they had collected the necessary from the perspective of each country aspects for the development of advisory guidelines. Additional contents of the kick-offs were basic agreements and the methodological approach in advising SMEs in France and Sweden. In addition, the project participants exchanged the scoreboard in the SME acquisition.

Conclude the work meetings made a dinner in the Lavanderia Vecchia in Berlin-Neukölln. In order for the project team extended their workday to talk informally on. The second day and thus the completion of kick-offs, which ended by 16 clock, was dominated by the further cooperation, the feedback and the final balance of mutual expectations. With the aim to implement the next work packages is successful, the partners agreed to provide a benefit presentation and the consulting model by RKW Berlin.

In addition, there was an opportunity to agree concretely in individual discussions with those in charge of the project sponsor teams on topics such as billing practices or the content of supplies for the swops online presence. Facing the exit of the German-Polish economic circle of the project of BPW Club Berlin eV is looking for a new partner for the project adequate swops.