| Date: | 10 May 2018 |
| Where: | Birmingham |
Making Project Workshops (and Meetings) Work
How can we connect authentically with others on projects? How can we show up wholeheartedly for project meetings so that our stakeholders leave them with a smile? When so many of us work far away from others in our teams, how do we form strong connections and communicate deeply when we only meet on conference calls or virtual sessions? In our fast paced world of work, where multi-tasking is the norm, how do we engage people when they are likely to be distracted and pulled away by everything else that is happening around them? While this session will be lots of fun, Penny is deadly serious. Without leadership and engagement, project leaders might as well go home. Tricky projects need far more than processes, and project workshops and meetings are a great place to focus your energy. Penny will touch on: leadership, mind-set, identity, facilitation, risk, change, culture, creativity and lots more. She’s likely to draw live graphics and invite you to join in a simulation of virtual problem solving. Her hope is that you’ll leave reinvigorated to tackle your tricky projects and engage your stakeholders and team, wherever they are based.
Dr Penny Pullan works with people in multinational organisations who are grappling with tricky projects: uncertain, with ambiguous requirements, stakeholders who need to be engaged and teams dispersed around the world. When they work with Penny, clients notice that communication, collaboration, and confidence grow and change doesn't seem quite as tricky as before. Penny's latest book is 'Virtual Leadership: Practical strategies for getting the most out of virtual teams and virtual work'. Writing it involved immersing herself in the work of virtual projects, listening to countless stories of success or, all too often, just muddling through. Her next book is entitled: ‘Making Workshops Work’ and will be published in late 2018. Penny tweets at @pennypullan.
Digital Transformation
People should be at the centre of any digital transformation whether they are customers, colleagues or employees of partner organisations. If this isn't the case, any amount of technology, clever tools and methodologies will, at best, fail to fulfil their potential and, at worst, fail altogether.
I focus on the workers and what digital transformation can offer to make them and their organisation successful.
I will share a few stories and help you to explore:
- the importance of people taking (small) risks to drive organisational learning
- gaining competitive advantage from relentless focus on understanding the customer need
- establishing a culture of trust and transparency by leading from the top
- placing the resources and expertise with those best able to understand the customer's needs
Alex Papworth has worked with a variety of blue chip companies and startups. He is a committed business problem solver and is always seeking better ways of solving problems. He has often found solutions are found by exploring the problem and recognizing that there is no best solution. He is exploring the vague world of digital transformation and discovering what gives organisations the ability to be successful in this fast moving, unpredictable world where the customer is king.
He also spends time helping social entrepeneurs using the same problem solving tools. He finds this helpful for proposing solutions when he identifies similar structural and behaviour patterns across sectors.
Comments
To join the discussion, please sign in.