Do you have foreign colleagues who live and work in France, but at work… they always switch back to English?
We created French at Work for them.

A French as a Foreign Language program for non‑French‑speaking professionals who manage everyday life in French but need support to dare and perform in French in a professional context.

Goal: more confidence, more autonomy, better integration.                                                                               

Géraldine Berruto

Three years ago Ghilès Ouabadi contacted Géraldine & Richard to suggest setting up pilot co-development sessions as part of the Sorégies management community programme.

Co-development is a pedagogical tool we have used since the very beginning of our history.

For us the essential condition for the success of any co-development process is the trust established within the group. We therefore designed a programme whose primary goal was to allow participants to get to know one another, open up to differences, and learn how to give and receive feedback in a benevolent, lucid, and constructive way.
Once this climate of trust was built, the magic of co-development could unfold.

These were the beginnings of MMAPPER & Co. The groups formed three years ago are still active today, with participants continuing to help each other grow.

This programme can be implemented internally, as it was with Groupe Sorégies, and this year we are also offering inter-company sessions.

Géraldine Berruto

When I started my career, I had the chance to take part in an inspiring co-development program in England in the early 90’s called « Profit Through People ».
Ever since, I’ve been dreaming of building a similar program – one that embraces a lifelong learning culture and stands out thanks to the MMAPPER model.
As I approach my 65th birthday, I believe I’ve finally got it!

Its promise?
To be able to:
– position yourself and obtain an accurate image of yourself whenever you need it,
– build a concrete development project, set meaningful goals, and define an action plan,
in other words, be the actor of your development!

So who is it for? For everyone! Well, almost. The only prerequisite is the desire to learn and grow.

Indeed, the MMAPPER model can be applied to a wide variety of issues and situations, giving rise to diverse development projects aligned with each person’s reality and aspirations.

MMAPPER & Co – The Foundations will consist of five days dedicated to building foundations – discovering and learning to use MMAPPER, creating your own project, and understanding how to build others.

Anyone that followed this program will then be able to join the MMAPPER learning community and take part in our « MMAPPER Days ».

How is it different from Com&Co ?
– A shorter, more intense, and more impactful program
– A 100% MMAPPER program with positioning process in the Mirror pillar using a variety of tools (such as PCM, Karpman’s Drama Triangle, Emotional Intelligence, and NonViolent Communication)
– Belonging to a learning community that offers long-term support and motivation.

So are you intrigued?
Contact me to find out more.

Richard Bowcott

At this time of year, when we’re being called upon to identify language development needs for the year ahead, I’m reminded how often the word “need” gets confused with “request”.
The future learners wish to improve their English. They look through the catalogue and request an immersion course, or one-on-one sessions, or e-learning, or even conversation classes… They tick a box among the available options. Ok, so the request comes from them, they are motivated… that’s great! That already makes 2 key ingredients for successful learning.
But something’s missing.
Is it learning for the sake of learning, or learning to achieve a goal? From the very beginning, we seek to understand the why/what for before thinking about the solution. Our training programs are designed to help turn a project into reality – not only to satisfy a desire. Pleasure is indeed one of the pillars of our MMAPPER model and we see it as a key to success in any development path; however, not as the only starting point.
I want to improve my English. OK Message well received – but not fully understood yet.
To have a better understanding, we analyse the need by involving the potential learner, his/her manager, and the HR department. Then MMAPPER comes in and here are a few examples of questions we ask:

Project – What do you need to be able to do in your current or future role that you can’t do today? In which environment, with whom, how often, and what are the stakes?

Mirror – What difficulties are you facing today? Which language skills do you need to develop?

Method – How do you usually approach language learning? Which learning methods best fit your level, your learning style, and the time you’ve got to be operational?

Actor – What are you currently doing to develop your language skills? What else could you do?

Pleasure – Do you enjoy communicating in English? Do you feel excited about following a program?

Effort – What do you think will require the most effort in your English learning process? Are you ready to invest personal time outside of training sessions?

Risk – What kind of situations are challenging for you in English today? Do you dare to step out of your comfort zone?

Once the evaluation is done, the need analysed and validated by all stakeholders, we’ll be ready to suggest a tailored learning solution that ensures long-lasting results. And then… The World is Your Oyster!

Jane Le Goff

Ten years ago, Richard and Pierre Paineau – then Director of the Fenwick Linde factory in Cenon (Vienne) – were setting up connection days with all the managers. Pierre would call them ON days rather than OFF days…

Since then, we’ve managed to instill this practice into many teams  – a kind of  healthy routine that more and more participants now consider essential. These days, often rich in emotion, allow people to reconnect on a human level and collective intelligence to emerge. As our friend Jérôme Lefeuvre says: “Our emotions are not the problem. They are the solution.”

So what are connection days actually for?

• To integrate new team members with care
• To take a step out, share the vision and the project with the team, and take them further together
• To work collectively on important topics that require reflection—such as defining a delegation framework
• To bring to the table “things that niggle”, and learn how to say things to each other in a way that can be heard and is constructive.

Disconnect to reconnect with MMAPPER—because taking time is the best way to save it!

Géraldine Berruto

Listening comprehension… ouch!

I don’t understand a word of it! They’re speaking too fast, they have a thick accent, they’re swallowing most of their words, they’re jumping from topic to topic…

Sound familiar?

And what if you tried HEARING before trying to UNDERSTAND?

Think of your ears as tools. Wouldn’t it be amazing to learn to use them more effectively – so listening becomes more natural and less exhausting?

At ImpaQt, in the METHOD pillar of MMAPPER, we’ve created a step-by-step process to guide learners through this:

STEP 1: WARM-UP – Tune in, don’t overthink it, just let the sounds sink in. Listening as relaxed as possible helps you capture the whole picture. I’ve heard that classical music is known for « opening » your ear.

Step 2: SENSORY – Voices, background noise, breathing, silences, repetitions. What sounds did you pick up on and when? Train your ear to distinguish sounds and the “music” of the language.

STEP 3: PERCEPTION – Use your experience, logic, imagination, creativity and brainstorm ideas about what you’re hearing.

Step 4: CONTEXT – Now ask yourself: What do I know so far? Who? When? Where? Why? How?

The objective being to develop more natural listening, regular work over a period of time is key to getting solid progress.

Each step chips in to the final result. Start with the global picture before diving into details.

Start with what you already know and save your energy to focus on what you need most.

So, are you ready?

Open your ears wide!

Jane Le Goff

What a joy it has been to dive back into the CD-Rom ‘Learning to Listen’ that I created in 2003 and this time with the help of Jean-Marc Dollinger, Thomas Delafosse and the ImpaQt team of language learning experts.

I was delighted to discover that it still rings true as a product and remains very useful and innovative in its approach.
Taking the time to think about how we learn is often pushed to one side with a tendency to do and to engage; we often see learners listening to the target language without asking themselves why and how they are listening. That’s where ‘Learning to Listen’ kicks in.

Richard Bowcott

When we take drama, music, singing or dancing lessons… the show is the culmination of one’s work. It enables us to highlight personal and collective investment and to share a message, a story, an emotion with an audience. Everything has to be coordinated coherently and fluidly with the added capacity to manage last minute hick-ups to achieve the desired goal.

The applause, an indicator of success, enables us to savour it, and criticism – as long as it be benevolent, lucid and constructive – helps us to continue to learn and grow.

We at ImpaQt have the same approach.

The successful communication of a message involves multiple elements: rhythm, intonation, pronunciation, the choice of words, spontaneity, the tone of voice and paralinguistics such as gesture and posture… Each of these aspects is worked on individually and collectively during our sessions and throughout our programs. The performance is the opportunity to bring all the pieces of the puzzle together to obtain an effective global result.

It is also the opportunity to put into practice the work done in a real-life situation (ACTOR), to test the knowledge and know-how assimilated in an interactive context (RISK) and to benchmark the performance with feedback from the audience.

Is the professional objective attained? (PROJECT)

Is the learner satisfied? (PLEASURE)

Has the work put in paid off? (EFFORT)

What improvements could be made? (MIRROR)

How to go about it? (METHOD)

The curtains rise with MMAPPER!

Jane Le Goff

Common points:

• The prerequisite: a minimum B2 level where language is no longer a barrier.
• Intra-company or inter-company group programs.
• A challenge : a professional situation outside your comfort zone for Effective Communication, a public presentation for Pitch Up.
• MMAPPER as a tool for positioning and defining personalized objectives.

The differences:

• Areas of expertise:

Language : the final stage of our English language development program, which takes you from B2 to C1 level.
Communication : a public speaking program in English.

• The needs:

Effective Communication: Fine-tune your English language skills, nuance your messages and gain agility. Manage “complex” communication situations and exchanges with native speakers.Pitch Up: Boost your presentation skills in an international context. Make an impactful pitch or presentation in English.

• The target audience:

Effective Communication: People who use English on an almost daily basis and have to deal with complex communication situations and/or contacts with native speakers.
Pitch Up: People who need to improve their presentation skills and make presentations in English in an international context.

• The length:

Effective Communication: an 8-day programme.
Pitch Up: a 3-day program.

During the 3rd quarter of 2023, Richard Géraldine worked on the development of key questions that will enable an individual to position himself. They have also integrated the notion of “bonus” questions that will enable each individual to take the lead in positioning themselves according to their current reality.

In contrast to this innovative questionnaire, existing positioning tools offer a “photo” of the self, the danger of which is that it is perceived as an immutable truth.

For us, self-knowledge is a journey over time. And the only person who can ultimately position himself is the person himself, taking into account a diversity of self-views.

This represents a total change of prism, a “pathfinder” approach where the pawns can move as the reflection progresses.

In short, our positioning application project is progressing well, and the journey is exciting.

And we’ll soon be ready to launch a pre-test phase to test the background so that we can submit a solid specification to programming experts. Are you interested in taking part in this pre-test phase?