Deliver impact in different assignments & roles 

My first assignment was at Aluminium Duffel. At the beginning, the main goal was to reduce the workload of the employees through automation and reporting. I introduced tools that made this possible, like PowerQuery & PowerBI, and I am writing an advisory report about processes that could be further automated. I’m also working on developing a mass balance tool that can help us respond quickly to customer requirements. It’s really exciting because this is quite new in the aliminium industry. I see my main impact as being an advocate for data and its power within the company. Several people approach me with questions about the possibilities of data, and it makes me feel like I’ve planted some seeds. Seeds that will hopefully grow into a strong automation of their work and smarter use of insights based on data. It has been a real eye-opener for me in terms of business: start with small initiatives to initiate change and use communication skills to persuade others. 

During my first assignment at D’Ieteren Volkswagen, I had the privilege of working closely with the director, the sales pricing planning manager, the field operation manager, and the fleet manager. The mission focused on data, which was new to me, but it turned out to be a fantastic chance to learn and grow. I tackled multiple tasks: sales forecasting, setting objectives, financial margin and ratio calculations, dealership network management, delivery logistics, and customer satisfaction, among others. Through this experience, I developed a more proactive approach to problem-solving and improved my communication skills in addressing issues. Even though my data skills were still a work in progress, I do believe my contributions made an impact. 

Moving on to my second assignment, I supported Johnson & Johnson in the implementation of a new cold chain system. As a PMO, I was mainly responsible to support the project manager. A role that gave me visibility and a chance to peek into the pharmaceutical world. 

When I applied for the change management traineeship at Euroclear, I was a bit scared that it would be more like an internship, following people. But this is not the case. They really try to challenge me. For example, my role as a scrum master. In the beginning, I mainly cooperated and followed other scrum masters, but now I really have my own team. Clearly seeing my impact each time I facilitate a meeting for example.

Together with other consultants, our main goal was to improve the relationship between the planning department and Quality Control across 16 sites worldwide. My main responsibilities included giving regular updates to stakeholders, KPI’s and data validation. This project offered me the opportunity to travel to Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands. I loved the autonomy, close relationships with stakeholders and it definitely boosted my personal growth.  

In my last assignment, I was part of the clinical laboratory sciences department at GSK. As a program manager, my role consisted of two parts: project management and issue management. My responsibilities? Facilitation & organization of workshops, roadmap & Gantt chart creation, alignment between multiple departments, issue logging, … This wide variety of tasks and responsibilities combined with my wonderful colleagues, make this my favorite project so far.  

I am currently working on the development of user stories based on the business needs. This means I analyze the current code to see if we can reuse parts, what we need to adapt and if those adaptation will impact other components. As you can see, some experience with coding comes in handy, yes. But it is more than that! I am in contact with the business a lot, so communication skills and a healthy interest in the business aspect are useful too. I feel like my responsibilities are growing and the content of my job comes closer to the role of an IT analyst. 

When you start working for a client, you are the new kid in town. But you also have a new, unbiased perspective. During my assignment, I quickly noticed that they spend a lot of money on market data. A huge data stream, but not always used efficiently. I gathered and transformed all these data from various sources into one dashboard. And by visualizing them, we could also analyze them. I used existing data and existing ways of working. But I combined them into something new. And I even didn’t have to invent the wheel. 

This way, I could make a real contribution to the business. I used my fresh perspective to see what was available. I analyzed what could be improved. All I had to do next was to pluck up the courage to present my findings and propose my plan. Guess what… It worked! The result? I left a happy , better customer. And maybe somehow even left the world a (slightly) better place.