How to negotiate and find a solution: an interactive lecture was held for the participants of the Minsk Shift

At the city competition “Minsk shift – 2026” on November 12, the educational stage started. The first class was held at the Academy of Management under the President of Belarus. The young people took part in the interactive lecture “Project Team: Management and Decision-Making”, the correspondent of the Minsk-Novosti agency reports.

District qualifying rounds were completed, during which young people presented initiatives in various fields - from education and science to culture, sports and the urban environment. Now participants will undergo a course of training sessions aimed at developing the skills necessary for the implementation of projects.

The first lecture was held by senior lecturer of the Department of Personnel Policy and Management Psychology of the Institute of Civil Service Tatiana Malosteva. Instead of the traditional format with notes, young people were invited to actively engage in the discussion, perform practical tasks and try various ways of making collective decisions.

- This is an interactive lecture. We work in the format of practical tasks, and by the end of the lesson, the participants will take with them specific techniques: what you need to know and what to pay attention to when you work in a team on a certain project, said Malosteva.

At the beginning of the meeting, the teacher offered to recall situations from her own experience: did you have to make a team decision, which later regretted, whether young people faced the fact that the team chose a certain option of action, but did not implement it. Participants discussed the causes of such situations and shared their assumptions.

Special attention was paid to the differences between the working group and the team, the distribution of responsibilities and responsibilities.

- A team is not the same as a team. In the working group, each participant has their own area of work and a specific task. In the team, everyone is working on a common cause. If the responsibility in the working group is personal, then in the team it is mutual: everyone is responsible for achieving a common goal, the teacher explained.

Youth also got acquainted with various tools of collective decision-making, including brainstorming, multivoting and consensus. Participants not only learned about the principles of their application, but also tried to use these methods in practice. Working in small groups, they learned to argue their position, listen to interlocutors and find a common solution.

One of the tasks was to analyze the project case. Participants were asked to present a situation where they need to make an important decision for the team, which affects the presentation of the project. It was necessary to choose one of the four proposed options for action, discuss it in pairs, explain the reasons for your decision, determine the criteria for choosing and formulate the first step to get out of the situation. Thus, the participants were able to test in practice how important it is not only to propose a solution, but also to agree on joint actions.

Among the participants of the educational stage is a student of the Minsk State Energy College Arsen Komar. At the contest “Minsk shift – 2026” he presented the project “Coding code”, dedicated to the promotion of traditional Belarusian values through advertising.

The lecture helped to learn how to make various decisions that may arise during the project, as well as interact with the team and other organizations. I think the educational stage of the Minsk Shift is very useful and interesting for each of us. Now I need experience, so I try to absorb new knowledge in order to further apply them in practice, the young man said.

An employee of the company "Peleng" Karina Aleshkevich presented her project. Its initiative involves the use of complex optical surfaces to lighten optical systems and reduce their dimensions. During the lecture, the girl carefully followed the discussion and recorded important moments for herself.

- I think that such lectures are useful because it is very important to develop communication skills and the ability to communicate with people. For example, I have a quiet voice, so it can be difficult for me to speak in front of an audience, especially when I’m nervous. At such moments, the voice can fail. Therefore, it is important for me to learn to express my thoughts more confidently and convey them to others, the girl shared.

Photo by Diana Shabala