About me
I am an Irish electrical engineer and certified business coach living in Berlin with my Italian husband and three children. Before becoming a freelance coach and consultant, I worked more than 25 years in the corporate business world, having held executive positions in Project Management & Human Resources.
In my early career, I managed various projects from the bid phase through to project execution and closure. Later, I set up and led the first global PMO (Project Management Office) network for a major corporation. Using the PMO network as a platform to standardize processes, tools and trainings, I slowly moved more and more into the people side of project management. In latter years, I was the global head for People Development & Talent Management for an international company (40,000 employees).
Furthermore, I am an experienced and passionate trainer and facilitator, as well as being an adjunct lecturer at an international university. I coach individuals and teams. I developed and implemented a team effectiveness programme which was rated best in class in an external benchmark done with leading project management companies. I love working with people, in particular in international and diverse environments.
My goal: Enabling people and projects to reach their full potential!
an individual who would like:
- to understand your competencies in order to leverage on your strengths and develop your areas for improvement?
- to actively plan or change your career path?
- to grow into a new role, environment or culture?
- a coach or sparring partner to discuss a specific topic or issue?
a team that would like:
- to improve its effectiveness?
- to overcome tight deadlines, sub-optimal processes or constant change?
- to improve how it works virtually or cross-culturally?
- to deal with stress effectively?
- to understand and capitalize on its diversity?
an organisation that would like:
- to become more global?
- to optimise people strategies and processes?
- to have a standardized way of assessing leaders/employees in order to compare and develop them?
- to have tailored training or development programmes to support a business need?
If yes, then I can help you!
a project that would like To:
improve its financial results?
overcome tight deadlines, sub-optimal processes or constant change?
be executed optimally by a virtual or cross-cultural team?
improve the effectiveness of its team?
overcome being executed in a stressful environment?
understand and capitalise on its diversity?
a "project" organisation that would like TO:
develop a project academy*?
optimise project execution results?
become more project-based or project-driven?
work more internationally, across countries and cultures?
set up a global PMO (Project Management Office)?
develop a project management culture?
standardise, optimise or define project management processes?
design or implement training programmes or development programmes to support project execution?
*Project academy: a holistic system which facilitates world-class project capability
IF Yes, then i can help you!
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EXPERIENCE
Why do I think I can help you?
As a consultant - 25+ years BUSINESS experience in Project Management (PM) & human resources (HR).
Developed & implemented a Project Academy for a company (40,000 employees)
Developed the PM Community (approx. 5000 persons) including PM Career Paths, Pool Management & Talent Management
Developed & implemented competency assessments for approx. 500 persons
HR Business Partner for Project Management
Set up and led a global PMO (Project Management Office) - approx. 40 persons in a 30,000 employee organization including design of PM Processes, Tools & Trainings
Editor of "the pocket guide to PM" (15,000 copies printed - in 6 editions)
Designed and implemented Quality Gates for a company (20,000 employees)
Product Manager for a platform in a freight system business
Project Manager for diverse projects across project phases, from bids through project execution and closure in the rail industry
AS A Coach - 12 YEARS experience in individual & team coaching.
Coached the "A" Project Managers Pool (i.e. project managers from largest projects) for a global company
Several years of coaching individuals (executive coaching, leadership coaching, career coaching, career decisions, career/life challenges, work life balance and other diverse topics)
Team Coach for more than 50 leadership and project teams
Developed and implemented a peer to peer coaching programme (5000 person pool)
Developed and implemented a mentoring programme (for the global project management community)
AS a trainer/FaCILITATOR - trained 1500+ persons across 20+ countries.
Adjunct Lecturer for "Human Resource Management" at an international university
Workshop/Training programmes designed & implemented include:
Maintaining well-being/Stress management
Diversity Management
Conflict Management
Emotional Intelligence
Numerous Leadership Programmes
Team Effectiveness Programme (implemented on more than 120 teams)
Understanding team dynamics using Myers Briggs
Working in international or virtual teams
Knowledge Management (incl. Lessons Learned and Best Practices)
Numerous Project Management trainings
Train-the-trainer concepts designed & implemented include:
Team Coaches (trained more than 120 team coaches globally)
Competency Assessors (trained more than 100 persons globally)
Trainers (trained more than 150 trainers globally) to support various programmes such as Financial, Contractual courses
Facilitated numerous sessions such as:
Network workshops (such as PMO face to face meetings up to 40 persons)
Transformation workshops
Conventions up to 120 persons
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REFERENCES
What do people say about me?
"Christine planned and facilitated a workshop on team effectiveness for TikTok’s EU Leadership Team. Feedback from senior leadership was overwhelmingly positive; seeing huge value from her coaching.
What stood out most was Christine's willingness and commitment to understand the organization and collaborate with key stakeholders before the workshop to ensure each session was tailored to specific needs/topics, hitting the right note, learnings and outcomes.
Christine comes with a wealth of knowledge and experience which shines through. When discussing theory she brings in real world and practical examples, helping to reinforce understanding and getting content to stick. Her method of experiential learning creates momentum and engagement, which helped to identify important challenges and opportunities.
From beginning to end working with Christine was enjoyable and I look forward to collaborating with her again."
TIKTOK, Ryan Schecter, Head of Business Strategy, UK & Europe
"We meet so many people every day, but few of them leave the mark, and one of them is "Christine".
It was a privilege for me to learn "Coaching" from Christine's module during my MBA studies at Berlin International University of Applied Sciences, Berlin. Ever since then, she has become a role model for me, for her kindness and the engaging way she delivers the content.
Christine is a marvellous coach and a very motivating lecturer. She has a unique ability to observe each and every individual in the class and build a rapport that really makes the other person feel valued, and that is the heart of coaching. On top of that, Christine has a thorough command over the subject and lets students understand the basics of how to be a good coach and how to improve over time.
Christine is a valuable asset, being a coach, lecturer and above all as a wonderful human being.
I am proud to call her my Teacher."
BERLIN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY, Tehmina Faisal, MBA student
"Personally, I collaborated with Christine in different contexts, lately she supported us a a trainer, coach and facilitator in the context of Change Leadership, Leadership incl. Emotional Intelligence and Team Development for target groups from mid to senior management. Christine's vast experience as a leader in Engineering and HR shapes her unique profile as a coach and trainer and makes her one of the best partners I've had the pleasure to work with. Her work is scientifically well researched, didactically well-structured and stocked with just the right amount of tangible personal experiences and best practices."
GERMAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY Dagny Schulz, Director Personnel Development & Talent Management
“Christine is an excellent and experienced partner for the design and delivery of learning solutions in areas such as leadership development or functional development support for our business partner community. Christine brings in innovative thoughts and interventions when working with our leads on developing their leadership capabilities. She is a reliable partner who uses data and research to convince. She has the talent and capability to push people out of their comfort zone in a gentle and diplomatic way. It is a pleasure to work with Christine and to bounce ideas that turn into innovative solutions.”
ZALANDO, Julia Pietsch, Senior Specialist People Development
“Christine hosted and prepared a management workshop for my direct reports and myself. She did an outstanding job. She received only positive feedback from all participants! The agenda was a good mix of theory that prepared exercises for addressing real issues. The MBTI assessment of all participants was worked in very well and was extremely helpful for all participants to get a better understanding of each others preferences and differences and contributed a lot for us growing together becoming an even stronger team. …………She won the trust of everyone very fast, which enabled open conversations and discussions. This was the 3rd management workshop I organized as a manager and I have participated in 2 more as a management team member, all in different companies/teams and with different coaches. This one was clearly one of the best! I am very happy about the results: we grew closer as a team and built an excellent basis for reaching the next level of professionalism and efficiency…”
HACH (Danaher Corporation), Eugene van der Putten, Senior Director R&D
"Christine's own long-term experience as a business leader and working in international complex environments sets her apart from most other Leadership Coaches I have met. Her business background as well as her extremely positive energy made me chose Christine over others as a coach. Christine's knowledge of subject matter - both theory and practice - made our coaching sessions enriching and filled with thought-provoking impulses for me as a leader. She and I have worked together for about 6 months and I look forward to working with her again. I highly recommend her. ... and her Irish accent was a great bonus :) "
GERMAN AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE of the Southern US, Stefanie Ziska, former President & CEO
"Christine ...developed and implemented a tailored Leadership Training Programme for our company which she has already given for several groups over the last year. Christine is very open and flexible and can adapt to whatever group of people she is addressing. She easily manages to motivate everyone to participate and share their experiences, which makes every training she gives individual and exciting. It is very easy to work with Christine, because she is very interested in her customers, she understands their needs and is enthusiastic about her field. I am very much looking forward to working with Christine again."
ZATTOO, Verena Garo, HR Manager
"I had the privilege to work with Christine for nearly 10 years, first as a colleague and then as her boss. Throughout those years, Christine has been instrumental in the establishment and deployment of numerous processes and best practices within the Project Management field of expertise. From risk management, through project scheduling and cost control, Christine's knowledge in PM is second to none. Christine also has a unique ability to communicate and share her knowledge with others to make it easy for all to understand. What remains to be Christine's most remarkable achievement is the development and deployment of a Project Management Academy within Bombardier for PM around the world, Recognized as "best in class", Christine's Academy will serve to train PM for generation to come. Self driven and extremely professional, Christine is a sure talent that will make a difference wherever she works. I strongly recommend her."
BOMBARDIER, Marc Boucher, former board member & VP Project Management Bombardier Transportation
"I know Christine for several years and working with her has always been a great experience. However, what I could perceive working sporadically with her was nothing close to the experience of working on a sustained basis as we did in the past 2 years. She is the best person I have ever known in making people understand how to holistically develop resources. She is a bright and clear communicator with a contagious passion at what she does. She is dedicated, capable and most of all she is an amazing team builder and team player."
BOMBARDIER, Marc- Andre Raymond, former Vice-President Commercial Management Transportation
(Excerpts from some recommendations on LinkedIn)
consultancy
Design & implementation of Project Academy
Design & implementation of people development strategies/processes including Career Paths, Talent Management, Pooling etc.
Design and implementation of competency assessments for leaders or employees
Setting up a global Project Management Office (PMO)
Transforming to a Project Management organisation
Process optimisation or definition
Coaching
Individual coaching (various topics including executive coaching, leadership coaching, career coaching, career decisions, new roles, career challenges, life challenges, work life balance etc.)
Team coaching (focus on improving team effectiveness, virtual teams, understanding and capitalising on diversity, team dynamics using Myers Briggs etc.)
Design and/or Implementation of Coaching programmes (individual, team or peer-to-peer)
Design and/or implementation of Mentoring programmes
training/Workshops
Design & implementation of training programmes/workshops for individuals, teams, organizations to support business needs relating to diverse topics such as:
Leadership
Stress Management
Diversity
Conflict Management
Project Management trainings
Emotional Intelligence
Team effectiveness etc.
Others on demand
Design & implementation of train-the-trainer concepts
Design & facilitation of workshops
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DO YOU WANT TO BE ENABLED?
GET IN TOUCH WITH ME
Christine Harris, Consultant, Coach & Trainer
Prenzlauer Allee 41, 10405 Berlin
Fon: + 49 (0)172 6272599
Email: info(at)christine-harris.com