Good morning from the University of Derby, UK

Submitted by René Meijer
in
Member Bios
Hi everyone, I've been lurking here for a while and I thought it would be polite to introduce myself. My name is René Meijer, and I currently manage a team of e-learning developers in the University of Derby. I moved to England 3 years ago, after having lived in Holland for most of my life before that. My 2 jobs in England were the first ones where my role was that of a line manager (I did have some prior project management experience). I found it tremendously challenging being an inexperienced manager in a new culture. I started listening to the MT podcasts hoping to get some ideas and support. I must say MT has been excellent. I am enjoying my job so much more now because I have the feeling that I know what I'm doing, that I'm on the ball in stead of constantly chasing it. It has also had a noticeable effect on my team, my peers and my boss, who have all commented on my improved performance. So thanks a million to Mark and Mike, you have allowed me to create a new and better job for myself! I hope to be able to contribute to these forums. My main areas of expertise are in the areas of learning and technology. The areas I feel I need to develop in are business and finance (things like writing business cases, measuring productivity and value added in a service environment) as I have no background in that whatsoever. I think that's it from me for now. cheers, René
Submitted by Will Duke on Thursday August 9th, 2007 10:42 am

Welcome Renee! It's awesome to hear that M&M have helped you be successful. But as they themselves love to say, you deserve the credit. You did it.

As for contributing, just do it. Don't worry about whether you're qualified or not. That sure hasn't stopped me! I find that I am learning a lot by actively thinking about issues I don't normally deal with. Then, I post my thoughts. People respond, and I learn. Hopefully everyone else does as well.

So, dive in!

Submitted by Dave Fleet on Thursday August 9th, 2007 2:06 pm

Welcome to the forums Renee!

I'll second Will's comments. However much value you get from the forums, you'll find it goes up exponentially when you start actively participating.

Great to have you here!

Submitted by Matt Beckwith on Friday August 10th, 2007 3:08 am

Hello René and welcome to the forums. Manager Tools has a way of re-energizing people and their work. I, too, truly began to love my work again when I came across this great resource almost two years ago.

The same can be said of the forums. There are many, many brilliant and wonderful folks here just waiting to answer / solve / debate any management question / concern / problem / issue.

Welcome, again!

Submitted by Lou Florence on Saturday August 11th, 2007 1:27 am

Welcome René!

Delighted that you have benefited so much from M&M's offerings. As many can tell you, there is tremendous development possible here for a willing student.

I hope you find the boards beneficial as well -- many helpful people and a lifetime's worth of management experiences at your fingertips!

Regards,
Lou

Submitted by Mark Horstman on Saturday September 22nd, 2007 1:28 am

Welcome, Rene!

Glad you're with us, and that you're getting value from our work. This is a great community, and we look forward to your adding to our lives as well.

It's a privilege to serve you.

Mark

Submitted by Karthik B on Friday December 14th, 2007 8:39 pm

Welcome Rene.

Just feel free to post your thoughts and the thread then takes self propagation with its own twists and turns and you would enjoy. So much so I enjoy them as much as reading fiction/non fiction novel. The value additions learning from this forum is enormous. I am not sure whether there is any other forum with 18,993 members(!!!) which is as active and diverse as this one within the manager community in the world.

Karthik.

Submitted by Julia Havener on Saturday December 15th, 2007 7:13 pm

Welcome, Rene!

Just wade right into the forums - it would seem I occassionally get things right, but as far as I'm concerned I'm here to learn...that's best done by participating!