UniPartners: Empowering Students in Consultancy

Learning to speed read and build rapport at UniPartners

“Lumina Learning’s training was very useful to me. I became much more aware of my personal qualities. On one hand I saw that I am really direct and really focused on results – but on the other hand I have in me the opposite paradox, as I am also highly cooperative. I became aware of this and realised what a strong point this is when working with colleagues and clients.”

– UniPartner Board Member, Amsterdam

UniPartners is a non-profit academic consultancy run by students. UniPartners serve their clients from ten university cities in the Netherlands, providing scientific expertise to industry in a wide range of areas. High performing students with the right skills and attitude are given a unique opportunity to prove themselves delivering consultancy to a range of businesses. To be successful, the consultants need to be able to quickly build rapport with clients to both win and deliver consultancy engagements.

Business Need

Two needs were identified. Firstly, the boards of the ten university cities needed to come together around a shared vision and ‘think outside the UniBox’. Improvements were needed in the cooperation within each board and between the different boards. Secondly, the consultants in the field needed to be able to ‘speed read’ potential clients – building a capability to quickly build rapport and win business with potential clients.

Lumina Learning Solution

A two day business event was designed in which the boards of all the UniPartners universities collaborated and set out to ‘think outside the UniBox’. To learn more about how to cooperate effectively, Lumina Learning first helped each member learn more about themselves using the unique Lumina Spark Portrait. The two days included explaining the power of perception, preferences, and colours with fifty key consultants.

Subgroups worked interactively as everybody became more aware of their preferences in different situations. This included helping everybody understand the ‘power of the paradox’ within them – how seemingly opposite personal Qualities can be integrated to good effect.

Results

Each individual board member became more aware of and had a better understanding of their own preferences. This included examining not only their Underlying and Everyday behaviour, but also their behaviour when under pressure.

Individual development plans were created and implemented over the next twelve months. Equally importantly, the consultants learned about the preferences of other board members and their clients. Developing the skill to ‘speed read’ and better connect with others enabled them to win more consulting engagements over the next year.