In a faculty, everything revolves around cooperation, but how do you make sure that colleagues feel truly heard? Tom Breugelmans, dean of the Faculty of Applied Engineering, was inspired by the radio: a daily check-in as a way to connect. Getting together every morning wasn’t feasible, but the idea stuck. The result? Informal coffee meetings between the dean and the senior academic staff (ZAP) members of the faculty, one-on-one and by appointment only. The initiative has been a success for several years now.
Why coffee moments?
“When you become a dean, you notice that the barrier to starting a conversation becomes higher. Colleagues usually only make an appointment with me when something urgent comes up. I want to bring down that barrier, because you can never communicate enough. I always see the same colleagues at formal consultative bodies such as the faculty board. Younger ZAP members are less likely to be seen at faculty board meetings or in the corridors, which means they sometimes miss crucial information. How’s a project progressing? How are decisions made? And why is a certain policy being changed? Coffee moments provide an informal setting to discuss these questions.”
How often do you organise these coffee moments?
“My secretary suggests 20 to 30 possible moments each semester for ZAP staff to choose from. Twice a week, mainly during teaching weeks, half an hour is reserved for a chat over a cup of coffee. Not a coffee drinker? No problem. We also serve tea, and even biscuits. And some colleagues bring their own drinks (laughs).“
What do you talk about?
“Anything and everything. How things are going, what they enjoy doing, what they’re worried about. If there are no specific topics, I ask about current issues or possible stress factors.”
“I also provide feedback about what’s going on within the faculty. A concrete example is the recent revision of the ZAP criteria. During the coffee moments, I noticed that this was a hot topic. I therefore decided to organise a faculty information session to make sure everyone was properly informed and any concerns were addressed.”
Could this work in other faculties?
“With 36 senior academic staff and 2 teaching staff (OP3), the Faculty of Applied Engineering is relatively small. That makes the coffee moments feasible. In larger faculties this would be more time-consuming, but the essence remains the same: lowering barriers and keeping the conversation open.“
“The physical location also plays a role. The Dean’s Office of Applied Engineering is located in Building T on Campus Groenenborger. Most colleagues are spread out over the campus, with a large portion working in Building Z. As a result, there’s less spontaneous contact in Building T.”
An inspiration for other managers?
“I’m not the only one who focuses on informal connections. Rector Herwig Leirs has also adopted a different approach. Under his predecessor, Herman Van Goethem, Executive Board meetings continued to be held online after COVID. Leirs reintroduced face-to-face meetings, followed by an informal coffee moment. This extra space for dialogue turns out to be valuable. These kinds of informal conversations work because they create space for open communication without a set agenda.”
Small effort, big impact
Breugelmans’ coffee moments show that a simple step can have a big effect. By lowering barriers and encouraging conversations, an open culture is created in which employees feel heard. Recommended? Absolutely – provided it fits within the structure of your organisation.