#AIPM2019 Top Highlights Part 2: The Concurrents

Last week, I posted my first article with my top takeouts from the Australian Institute for Project Management (AIPM) National Conference in Melbourne from 20-22 October. I was one of the speakers, and I decided to break up my jewels of insight from the other 61 speakers into three sections:

1. The Keynotes
2. The Concurrents
3. The Workshops

This is the second article in that series, and so this is: The Concurrents.

What is a Concurrent?

The Keynote sessions are done in the main auditorium to all conference delegates. The Concurrents, on the other hand, are smaller breakouts where delegates can select the stream and topic they are interested in and see a range of speakers specialising in those areas. #AIPM2019 had 3 streams under its umbrella theme of "Revolution":

• Strategy to Execution
• Evolution
• Digitisation

I spoke under the Digitisation stream on the topic of Job Hackathons for teams impacted by job losses caused by technology, such as automation and artificial intelligence (AI). But more on that later.

My point is that until human cloning is invented, it's impossible to go to EVERY concurrent session. Much like programs must be prioritised in portfolios, and projects must be prioritised in programs, and requirements and tasks must be prioritised in projects (see what I did there?), delegates had to prioritise their interests and select the sessions that they would find most value in. So below you get only a narrow slice of breadth and depth of streams, sessions and speakers. And as always with a light layer of Lata over the top.

The Concurrents - Monday 21 October

#1 Georgie Drury - Springday

From start up to scale up: Behind the scenes of riding the rollercoaster of scaling a global technology company

Georgie's concurrent session was a bare and brave history of how she transformed her holistic wellbeing digital platform from B2C to B2B, and all the challenges that came with massive year-on-year growth of corporate clients and users that turned her into an "accidental project manager".

I loved Georgie's comment that the CEO of a start up focuses on the 3 C's: cash, clients, and culture. And harnessing the power of partnerships to scale up, which we're just starting to do with Passion Pioneers.

I was actually surprised to see that the Deloitte Human Capital Trends 2019 report found:

84% of C-Suite rated wellbeing as a strategic priority 

And human capital (including absenteeism and presenteeism) to start to be included on more businesses' balance sheets. This obviously warmed my heart, given our Passion Pioneers' Reimagine You Program is all about supporting your people's mental, emotional and social wellbeing with career coaching and confidence at the time they need it most: restructures.

But what I loved most was the data-driven, slow-seeding, gamified offering of the Springday app itself. Why? Because it puts employee wellbeing back in the place it should be - employees' own hands.

As employers, it's up to individual employees to make the small tweaks and changes that will improve their holistic wellbeing. You're being generous providing the platform; they need to be accountable in actually opting in and using it. Don't rob your staff of the opportunity to own their own lives and their own future - empower them to step into the driver's seat of personal change.

For more on Springday: https://corporate.myspringday.com.au/

#2 Terri Dentry - NTT (formerly Dimension Data + other brands)

Team culture in project delivery in in the digital workplace

Terri's concurrent session was a strategic conversation about the importance of team culture. I loved Terri's idea that:

The more you work together, the more time you'll have.

Which is pretty much saying - the whole is greater than the sum of its parts! Teamwork is the glue that holds projects together and it takes intentional effort, BUT it can be learned.

Terri introduced me to a new concept I hadn't come across called "fluid leadership" - where the person who knows the most about what needs to happen at that particular time takes the leadership hat. And this dovetailed nicely with the idea of "shared decision-making" - coming in with different views of what is the best decision, and discussing to agree how to move forward. Even if not everyone agrees, at least you've had the discussion and given everyone a chance to air their thoughts. And if you need more time or info to arrive at the best decision, that's ok too. But always remember - the final decision rests with the client!

For more on NTT: https://www.ntt.com/en/index.html

#3 Panel discussion

Valentina Deeble - Jacobs

Gina Meibusch - Art of Mentoring

Frank Aldred - Trann Investments

Revolutionising our thinking: What can we gain from diversity of thought?

It seemed fitting that a concurrent session on diversity of thought should have diversity of speakers. Whether planned or not, each represented a particular generation between Gen Y / Millennials (Valentina), Gen X (Gina), and Baby Boomers (Frank).

I've been long awaiting the retirement of Baby Boomers, but not for the reasons you think and I do need to caveat that statement. I believe Baby Boomers need to start moving out C-Suite and Boards to make way for the ever-patient Gen Xers who have mostly been stuck in middle management... perhaps two decades too long. This is stopping up the pipeline of talent behind Gen Xers, and causing career progression frustration. No wonder so many Gen Y are starting side hustles!

I believe Baby Boomers should absolutely still work if they want to. And indeed, I implore them to do so (I even wrote an article about it!), so that we generations after them don't need to foot the bill of their retirement. But they can do so in a really different way and add so much new value. They can be shifting from positions of power and authority, to positions of influence and mentorship. They can consult with their skills. They can leave legacies with their leadership. Which is not about doing, delivering and deciding: it's about sharing, coaching, and building up the generations after them to become the custodians of our economic and environmental futures.

If you don't believe this is a problem, the panel shared recent research that showed that more than half of people surveyed had no idea what their organisation was doing to retain the knowledge of Baby Boomers (aged 55+) exiting the business shortly. Like, seriously?

In Change Management, we wax lyrical about the importance of embedding and sustainability of a single change. So if you aren't doing that for the future of your entire business, I fear deeply the damage that will be done not only to your profits, but also to the morale and confidence of those in whose hands you leave your business.

Alright, Lata to come down off her intergenerational diversity soapbox. The other key takeouts from this panel were:

• Recognising that there's as much diversity within each generational group, as there is between the groups
• The concept of reverse mentoring - the reciprocal and respectful sharing of the right stuff from older generations (experience and knowledge) with the good stuff of younger generations (best practice learnt at uni, attitude, mindset, hope)
• Projects without people are easy! (I hear ya!)
• "Organisations are very good at business as usual, but not with change as usual." (absolute gold!)

For more on Jacobs: https://artofmentoring.net/

For more on Art of Mentoring: https://artofmentoring.net/

Aw snap, this article became a fair bit longer than expected and I've only gotten through the first day of Concurrent sessions! I know you probably need to get back to what you were actually doing before you clicked on this link. So let me love you and leave you for now... and next Thursday will come Part 2 - "Part B" of The Concurrents.

Lata Hamilton is the Founder and Head Coach of Passion Pioneers. Stay tuned for next week's second instalment top takeouts of the Concurrent Sessions. And head across to our website to discover how we can support your next workshop, training or conference as a speaker or facilitator.