Articles

Piotr Pluta

Managing Director – Consultancy, MSc in Psycology

Piotr is an organizational psychologist. He conducts workshops and train-the-trainer courses in four languages, facilitates our international partnerships and contributes to our R&D activities.

He has been a member of Human Factors since November 2011. Since 2015 the company operates under a shared leadership of two managing directors and Piotr is the managing director focusing on the professional psychological and consultative aspects of the operation, involving teaching, client support, R&D and consultation.

He has a Master Degree in Psychology from the University of Wrocław, Poland. During his course of study he participated in the Erasmus exchange at the University of Valencia, Spain. He was also awarded with a scholarship to participate in the Industrial and Organizational Psychology graduate program at the East Carolina University, NC, USA.
 
Piotr’s work as a consultant involves running seminars based on the Diversity Icebreaker, in the areas of communication trainings, trust building, cross-cultural work and diversity management. He participates in the development and research revolving around the concept, including validation studies, cultural validation studies and codification of concept’s diversified practice.

In his master thesis, he investigated the influence of humour on persuasion and the psychology of humour is among his professional fields of interest. He has designed and runs humour seminars and workshops, during which participants experience humour and reflect on the phenomenon and its role in their organisations. Piotr is also the author of a popular science blog about the psychology of humor – www.psychologyofhumor.com.
 
He is fluent in English, Norwegian, Polish and Spanish.
 
 
Mobile  in Norway (+47) 960 49 421
Mobile in Polen (+48) 880 742 455 

E-mail: piotr@human-factors.no
 

Watch video:

TEDx 2018

Bjørn Z. Ekelund

Executive Chairman of the Board, Senior Consultant, Psychologist, spec. NPF, MBA

One of the most renowned and established experts in Norway within the fields of collaboration, team development, communication in team and management across functional roles and cultural diversities.

In more than 30 years Bjørn has been leading management consultancies and as an external consultant he has delivered more than 1000 consultants engagement in more than 20 countries.

- creator of the Diversity Icebreaker® – single most popular Norwegian training and development concept and the first one to gain global outreach and significance with more than 350 000 respondents in more than 75 countries.
 
- awarded the “Consultant of the Year 2008” prize for the Diversity Icebreaker international breakthrough.

- based on this practice he has developed a number of other validated team tools used by organisations and external consultants alike.
 
- Has published 6 books and published over 30 scientific articles. The latest book: "Unleashing the Power of Diversity - How to Open Minds for Good" is published on Routledge Publishing - one of the top 10 HR books of 2019 according to acclaimed US HR company, BambooHR.

- known internationally within his field for his high professional competence grounded in academic knowledge.

- cooperated with many of the world’s best ranked educational institutions and many international companies.
 
- involved in building conflict management competence in the Middle East (project partially funded by the Norwegian Research Council).

- has trained more than 1000 consultants in the use of international psychological assessment tools.

- inspiring lecturer and facilitator, generous in sharing his expertise.

- inspiring and credible speaker on leadership, personal development and team.

- an expert on Scandinavian culture in the global organisational context.

 
Bjørns CV
 

E-mail: bjorn.z.ekelund@human-factors.no 

Mobile phone (+ 47) 908 75 547

Harald Ekelund

Managing Director – Commerce

Harald is managing our economy and has an active role in strategic planning. 

Harald has developed the Human Factors step by step together with his brother Bjørn Z. Ekelund, since 1997.

Since Harald has academic background in economics and law, he has focused on the organization and management of the business - including finance, accounts, licenses, supplier agreements, international distribution agreements, etc. Since 2015 the company operates under a shared leadership of two managing directors and Harald is the managing director with responsibilities for the commercial tasks.

Harald is responsible for operation and developing of all digital surfaces. He is particularly focused that the company manages its intellectual capital and sales growth in line with sound ethical and economic principles, in parallel with socially useful contributions.

Harald is shareholder, a member of the Board and is preparing documents for both the Board and the General Assembly.
 

Tanja Münchausen

Adm. and marketing consultant
Tanja is responsible for communication with our clients and contributes in the areas of marketing and events organisation.

Matthieu Kollig

Associate partner

Matthieu is an associate partner of Human Factors based in Germany.

Matthieu Kollig has worked as a freelance trainer, consultant and executive coach since 2002. He has delivered services to businesses, non-governmental organisations and public administration. In his work, he has focused on providing insights that help his international clients master their challenges with cultural diversity in our society and across the globe.

 

Matthieu obtained an MA in psychology, he holds both the French and the German citizenship and he lived and worked in Belfast (GB) for two years. He is proficient in German, French and English and he speaks Spanish.

 

Until 2006, he was project-manager in the Centre for the Treatment of Victims of Torture in Cologne (Germany). Before that, he supervised an international team of trainers and consultants at the Academy for International Cooperation of the GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH) for 5 years. At that time, the Academy offered pre-departure programs for German development workers.

 

Matthieu aims at unleashing people’s potential to reach objectives that are meaningful and important to them. He considers his participants to be partners on equal terms. Their specific needs and unique experiences are the starting point for tailor-made services. Matthieu supports clients in staying focused and flexible in the face of complexity. He appreciates and values people’s coping strategies and encourages them to broaden their options.

 

https://www.globalpilots.de/en/

 

The Global Network

2000+ registered Diversity Icebreaker users in over 70 countries and a reference group of 35 experts who contribute with R&D and local adaptations.

2000+ registered Diversity Icebreaker users in over 70 countries
Leaders, HR, consultants, and facilitators who use our flagship tool – the Diversity Icebreaker – and are registered and approved as competent users in our database. They conduct over 2000 DI-workshops with over 40.000 participants in a course of a typical year.

 

International knowledge network
In addition to registered users, we have established an exclusive cooperation with approx. 35 DI users. These are practitioners with many years of experience facilitating group processes, organizational development, and teaching. Many members of this group have academic affiliations and does research. This groups aids us in further development, translations and research related to the Diversity Icebreaker. See list of members here: 

Global Partners and Collaborators