Money and Happiness

During the expert session, Killian Wawoe engages the audience through methods like a live Mentimeter poll and personal anecdotes. He discusses motivation at work and the relationship between money and happiness, revealing that interpersonal support is the primary motivator for most employees. Using the Mentimeter app, he gathers opinions on various topics related to this relationship, such as why money's ability to increase happiness plateaus. Additionally, Killian shares insights into the importance of social connections and relationships in contributing to long-term life satisfaction. The interactive elements of the session encourage audience participation, allowing for valuable discussions on these important concepts.

• Understanding Motivation at Work: Recognizing that interpersonal support, autonomy, and relatedness are key factors in motivating employees beyond financial incentives is crucial for effective workplace management.
• The Importance of Connection and Autonomy: Realizing that fulfilling basic needs, fostering positive group dynamics, and investing time and energy into building strong relationships are essential components for increasing overall life satisfaction and happiness.
• Equal Pay for Equal Work and Investing in Experiences: Advocating for equal pay among team members and prioritizing experiences with others over material possessions can lead to greater happiness and positive connections within the workplace and personal relationships.

In this expert session, Killian Wawoe explores the intricacies of motivation at work and the relationship between money and happiness. He begins by discussing how humans are group animals, drawing parallels to various species, including elephants, and their survival mechanisms through groups.

Kilian shares anecdotes from his research on working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic and its connections to understanding motivation at work. He introduces factors that motivate employees, such as financial incentives, interpersonal support, making progress, and having clear goals. Using the Mentimeter app, he conducts a live poll to gather participants' opinions on which factor motivates them most during their working day.

The results reveal that interpersonal support is the most prominent motivator for employees. Wawoe emphasizes that financial incentives do play a role but are not the primary drivers of motivation in professional settings. He further discusses the significance of autonomy and relatedness in the workplace, which he explains are crucial in fostering growth, learning opportunities, and overall happiness.

Kilian shares personal experiences, including his time spent in jail, to highlight how loss of autonomy, connection, and growth can negatively impact individuals, using the analogy of being in prison. He then transitions to the topic of working from home and discusses the research findings on different generations' preferences and needs at work.

The speaker emphasizes that understanding relational dynamics within a group is essential for effective bonus systems. Using an analogy from high school, he asks participants to estimate the percentage of underperforming teachers they had. The results show a significant difference between individual and collective perception, highlighting the importance of recognizing group dynamics.

Kilian argues that it makes more sense to focus on improving the underperformers rather than differentiating employee compensation based on performance. He also introduces the concept of the "above average effect" or "Dunning-Kruger effect," which can lead individuals to overestimate their abilities and compare themselves to others in their group.

Throughout the session, the speaker shares personal stories, including his experience giving gifts to his wife after the birth of each child, emphasizing the importance of acknowledging and appreciating those close to us. He encourages the audience to remember that various aspects contribute to happiness and satisfaction beyond just money.

The expert also discusses how fulfilling basic needs is essential for overall happiness, advocates against creating disparities in income for similar tasks, and encourages investing time and energy into building strong relationships as a means of increasing happiness. The session concludes with Kilian emphasizing the importance of engaging in shared experiences to create cherished memories, allowing for a brief Q&A session before concluding the talk.

Stress In Teams

We are suddenly driven into a rapidly changing world. The uncertainty, the changes in everyone's work / life balance, the workload and the personal challenges have significantly increased the stress we encounter as individuals and in our teams. But how do you deal with stress in a team? We don't always have control over all the bad things that happen to us, but we can control how we react to them. In this session, Kilian explains how we can cope with stress and reveal techniques to control our emotions based on hard scientific evidence.