Brigitta Kuipers is a coach and facilitator who has supported Works Councils (Ondernemingsraden), Works Council members and secretaries for many years. In her practice, MindSonar is a key instrument she uses to make team dynamics, decision criteria and communication patterns visible in a concrete, actionable way. She often combines MindSonar insights with practical improvement frameworks such as the Participation Ladder and the PDCA cycle to help Works Councils strengthen their impact and effectiveness.

Below, Brigitta shares a recent MindSonar case that illustrates how the same team can feel highly effective internally, yet struggle to achieve “equal footing” in a different context.

“On this occasion, I had the opportunity to administer a MindSonar assessment with a team that, internally, works together very effectively. Their main challenge, however, lay in their interactions with their counterpart during formal discussions. That counterpart was not included in the assessment, but the MindSonar results nevertheless provided the team with valuable insight.

I added two additional questions:
• How would you rate collaboration within the team on a scale of 1–10 (10 = excellent)?
• How would you rate the degree of equality in your conversations with your counterpart (the Director) on a scale of 1–10?

I incorporated these scores into the MindSonar team profile analysis. Internal collaboration averaged 8/10. The perceived equality in conversations with the Director averaged 6.3/10 — indicating clear scope for improvement.

When we mapped similarities and differences in values and mindsets, the debrief confirmed why the team functions well internally: they are strongly aligned on values and their thinking styles complement one another effectively.
(Diagram by Guus Hustinx and Anneke Durlinger, from Voorbij je eigen wijze: effectief communiceren met metaprogramma’s in professionele relaties.)

So why did the intended outcome – a conversation with the Director on an equal footing – still feel difficult to achieve in practice?

Reviewing the profile, the group recognised that the pattern of their drives made perfect sense for their internal meetings, which are largely focused on collaboration and learning — i.e., meetings without the Director. Yet they completed the MindSonar in the context of meetings with the Director: someone with whom, legally, they should be able to speak “as equals”, but with whom they did not experience that equality at the time.

In this context, equality sometimes requires a firmer stance on behalf of the group: asking follow-up questions when an initial answer is not sufficiently clear, and being willing to state explicitly when you disagree.

The profile helped them see that, in meetings with the Director, they could work more from the “power” drive, and somewhat less from “together” and “order” (the agreements, procedures, and formalities that typically shape these consultations).”