Getting better all the time
Tebodin serves clients as a business partner through a global network of local offices. To assure we can live up to this vision, a basic requirement is professionalism. This can mean different things to different people, but most colleagues would agree on its goal: getting better all the time.
Knowledge management
Professionalism starts with knowing your business, but in the end it is more about attitude than about knowledge, according to Aad van der Sanden, Discipline Specialist. ‘Tebodin professionals generally prefer actions to words. This company is about taking the initiative and doing it together. There is a down-to-earth approach to problem solving, and this means first of all that solutions are more important than where they came from. There are no personal kingdoms or isolated pockets of knowledge anywhere. The professional attitude is one of global networking: you need to know how to ask the right questions and where to go for the answers. The next step is to organize the information, mobilize additional knowledge and share it with colleagues. Sharing our knowledge is our power and keeps us in business.’
Commitment
Mariusz Jasicki, project manager in Warsaw, Poland, thinks professionalism is also about acknowledging that things can always be better. ‘With the support of your colleagues, you can demonstrate your commitment to improve products and services. There is room for the implementation of new ideas to achieve this. Delivering on all your promises and agreements, being accountable at all times, is also an important element of professionalism.’
Consistent quality
On the issue of professionalism, most important to Office Director Taco Boerstra is consistent quality in the whole network. ‘In order to reach the same level for our clients everywhere, it is essential to standardize working methods and share best practices and lessons learned. We share them in digital manuals for each technical discipline. Every office contributes to the manuals’ maintenance by proposing improvements, and every discipline discusses the relevant subjects in a regular Technical Discipline Consultation Meeting or TDCM. We’ve recently had knowledge sharing days on specific subjects, including high voltage installations, explosion safety and process control. Specialists in these disciplines update each other on the latest developments. This is our way to reach top quality in everything we do, no matter where we do it.’