Executive Assistant Melbourne Congress

Congress Day One – Wednesday 20 March 2024

8.30     Registration

9.00      Opening remarks from the chair

9.10      Keynote Address

Stay tuned for details on our exciting keynote address – details to be announced shortly!

 

10.10    Leveraging networking opportunities to strengthen your organisational value

  • Moving outside your comfort zone to broaden your circle of contacts

  • Developing engaging conversation openers

  • Cultivating contacts once made

  • Deepening connections in the work world by maintaining contact

Kerryn Powell, Founder and Director, The Network Catalyst

 

10.50    Morning coffee

 

11.10    Working with your Executive as a strategic partner

  • Building great rapport with your Executive or stakeholders cultivates good relationships to support your strategic partnership

  • Tracking progress, collaborating with project teams, and providing insight to your Executive as a strategic partner

  • Being succinct, clear, and becoming a sounding board enhances communication with your strategic partner

  • Knowing the business to anticipate problems and solutions that arise

Melissa Divaris, EA to Chief Risk Officer, Cbus Super

Natalie Moore, EA to Executive Assistant to Regional Head of Australia, Global Client Solutions – Australia, IFM Investors

Steph Lillywhite, Acting Executive Officer to CISO and Deputy Commissioner Australian Taxation Office

Kaye Mercer, EA to CEO and Executive Team, Alumina Limited

 

11.55    Future-proofing the Executive Assistant role with emerging technology

  • Understanding Artificial intelligence: Friend or foe?

  • Harnessing the power of ChatGPT to work effectively and avoid the pitfalls

  • Mastering AI: Staying relevant as an Executive Assistant in the world of ChatGPT

  • Enhancing your value as an Executive Assistant by keeping your skills relevant

David Park, ELL Digital Transformation Lead, Pearson

 

12.40    Lunch

 

13.40    Panel discussion: Aligning your mindset with your Senior Executive to strengthen your strategic partnership

  • Unpacking what is required within your strategic partnership

  • Listing the skills, experiences, and values that Senior Executives seek

  • Communicating effectively to foster a great working relationship

  • Using your social skills to be CEO’s strongest ambassador

  • Implementing effective and practical decision-making

Frank Joyce, Executive Manager, Strategy and Insights, City of Whittlesea

Andrew Douglas, Managing Principal, FCW Lawyers

Thomai Veginis, Chief Procurement Officer, Procurement Division, Investment & Technology, Department of Transport and Planning

 

14.25    Delegating responsibilities to benefit everyone

  • Delegating simpler tasks creates time for focus on major projects

  • Providing clear instructions when passing on tasks

  • Recognising that delegation does not confer accountability

  • Mentoring to create opportunities to delegate

Sue Glasser, Productivity and Success Coach, Director, Paperclippo

 

15.10    Afternoon tea

 

15.30    Identifying learning and development opportunities to grow in your career

  • Understanding your strengths and passions and how you can align them to develop a rewarding career path

  • Recognising and taking advantage of opportunities to use your initiative to broaden your experience

  • Demonstrating curiosity and commitment through continuing professional development and informal learning

  • Setting a course for success by formulating KPIs that work for you and Executives to ensure continued growth

Samantha Webb, Board Secretariat, Beyond Blue

 

16.15    Translating Executive Assistant skills into project management to move upwards or across in your career

  • Creating efficiencies through coordination and multitasking

  • Remaining adaptable, agile, calm, effective to achieve results

  • Maintaining document‑management systems and being detail-oriented to maintain control

  • Tracking progress to monitor team performance, assess data and metrics, and adjusting when required

Kristi Evans, Project Manager and Executive Assistant, KSE Project Management and Richmond Food Machinery

 

17.00    End of congress day one

 

Congress day 2 – Thursday 21 March 2024

 

9.00      Opening remarks from the chair

9.10      Practising assertiveness as an Executive Assistant

  • Winning friends and influencing people by being firm but fair

  • Being proactive, not reactive in situations requiring assertiveness

  • Using your role to lead to demonstrate purpose

  • Influencing without perceived positional authority

Narrelle Matthey-Aickin, EA to Chief Risk Officer Institutional Banking, ANZ

 

9.55     Panel discussion:  Prioritising multiple tasks to effect greater efficiency in your workday

  • Identifying task and stakeholder importance to create meaningful deadlines

  • Understanding the difference between deadlines to enable prioritisation

  • Recognising whether multitasking or focus should be your strategy

  • Knowing your peak performance time to prioritise complicated and simple tasks

Amanta Giesen, Executive Assistant to Chief Executive Officer, Choice Hotels Asia-Pac

Linda Grant-Janson, Executive Assistant to Chief Operating Officer, RACQ

Abilene Roscoe, Executive Assistant to Chief Information Officer, VMIA

Charlotte Brooks, Executive Assistant, Grant Samuel

 

10.40    Morning coffee

 

11.00    Creating better time management for your Executive Assistant and Executive partnership

  • Creating strategies to making more time in your day

  • Managing your Executive’s time to focus on strategic goals

  • Making time for you and your Executive to plan short- and long-term goals

  • Diverting distractions to minimise disruption in your day

Julie De Maria, Executive Assistant/Office Manager, LOGOS Group

 

11.45    Improving your use of current technology to streamline your workflow

  • Creating shortcuts to manage Outlook like a pro

  • Discovering methodologies to manage your Calendar

  • Using OneNote as a one-stop shop to be paperless and centralise daily tasks

  • Communicating efficiently using Teams

Speaker to be confirmed

 

12.45    Lunch

 

13.45    Developing resilience strategies to manage health and wellbeing

  • Building trust to enhance confidential discussions with your Executive

  • Achieving balance in the face of emergencies

  • Fostering support networks away from work

  • Slowing your mind to manage stress, anxiety and burnout

Steph Lillywhite, Acting Executive Officer to CISO and Deputy Commissioner, Australian Taxation Office

 

14.30    Building your confidence and self-worth to realise your value

  • Knowing your ability to deliver what you bring as an Executive Assistant

  • Understanding the value of the abilities you bring as an Executive Assistant

  • Ensuring your contributions are visible to the organisation

  • Marrying your experience to opportunities that arise

Megan Green, EA to CEO, Reliance Real Estate, Page Personnel EA of the Year, 2016, Finalist, CEO Magazine EA of the Year, 2018

 

15.15    Afternoon tea

 

15.35    Panel discussion: Modelling the future Executive Assistant

  • Comparing what the modern-day Executive Assistant brings to the table versus the traditional Executive Assistant

  • Generating the capacity to be proactive, anticipate needs, and get ahead of the tasks

  • Value-adding as an Executive Assistant by being the strategic partner

  • Adapting to the rapidly changing office environment’s work practices and technology

Kathryn Moir, Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer, Red Cross Lifeblood

Dee Peterson, EA to Executive Manager, Strategy & Insights, City of Whittlesea

Linda Grant-Janson, Executive Assistant to Chief Operating Officer, RACQ

Tara Bedwell, Executive Assistant, Department of Education

Kaye Mercer, EA to CEO and Executive Team, Alumina Limited

 

16.20    End of congress day two