Personal Insights: Looking back on 10 years of acondas – Interview with Caroline
10 years of acondas – 10 years of team spirit, development, freedom and openness. We asked our employees how they perceive acondas. This time you’ll hear about the experiences of Caroline.
Hello Caroline, you joined acondas 10 years ago. At that time, our consultancy had just recently been founded and you were one of the first employees. That must have been an exciting time. How do you think acondas has developed since then?
That’s right. My start at acondas was very exciting, both in terms of our projects and our company. I started with one other colleague at the time. Today, we are a team of 35 consultants with big growth ambitions.
Looking back, we have developed a lot: We started as an implementation consultancy and initially mainly provided project management task support in customer projects. Shortly thereafter, we consolidated our methodological competencies in employee and customer trainings and offered these trainings to clients. We also established new classical and later agile ways of working. In recent years, we have evolved into one of the leading strategy implementation consultancies and deepened our expertise in the three strategic implementation fields of transaction, transformation and value creation.
What makes acondas so successful from your point of view?
In our industry, success depends first and foremost on people. We are very proud to have such a dynamic and motivated team at acondas. We work conceptually and methodically at a very high level. At the same time, we maintain a healthy sense of pragmatism in implementing our projects.
To date, we have successfully completed more than 300 customer projects. This is another source of further and continuous development. Currently, we work internally in four functional teams and two knowledge teams on various technical and methodological topics. We apply the knowledge we gain to our daily project work and thus help our customers to achieve their individual project and implementation goals.
You mentioned that colleagues are essential to acondas’ success. How do you think the working atmosphere has developed over the past 10 years?
Basically, not much has changed in the working atmosphere. From the very beginning, our team has been very collegial. We maintain an open, friendly and trusting relationship with each other. Several times a year, we hold team-building events with colleagues from all locations, which further promote team spirit.
The one thing that has changed since the company was founded is that we have written down what makes us tick: Our acondas values reflect the principles we have lived by since our founding.
What do the acondas values mean to you?
Our values relate to our internal cooperation. They promote team cohesion, ensure a good working atmosphere and thus shape our behavior. They are therefore an essential part of our corporate culture, the “acondas DNA”.
In addition, our professional principles help us in our work with customers. They support us in challenging situations by setting behavioral criteria, replacing rules and signaling desired behavior.
Let’s move on from the professional principles to your project experience. Which project has been the most exciting for you so far?
In the past 10 years, I have had the privilege of accompanying many exciting projects. Basically, I really enjoy supporting customers in their change projects.
In order for companies to secure their future and competitiveness, organizational and cultural change is indispensable for many companies. However, this need for change also represents a very complex challenge for many companies and their employees.
Change often creates uncertainty, excessive demands and frustration for many of those affected. Empowering these people to accept and implement the desired changes in their everyday business life is very appealing to me. That’s why I have chosen to focus on change management. acondas has supported me in this endeavor and enabled me to obtain a special certification as a change manager.
Ten years as a consultant in a management consultancy is a long time. What do you like most about your work at acondas?
I supervise new projects regularly and therefore constantly face new challenges. This variety, the experience I gather and the knowledge I gain make my work as a consultant special. I am also proud to be part of this team at acondas. I look forward to working with my colleagues every day and am thrilled by the creative solutions we come up with.
Thank you very much for the interview, Caroline!
