NZ Public Sector Executive Assistant Congress agenda

Wellington, 27-28 November 2024

Draft agenda

Day One

08.30 REGISTRATION

09.00   Chair’s opening remarks

09.10 Leading to promote inspiration, motivation, change, and growth

  • Sharing a clear vision to map a pathway to achievement
  • Being realistic about the capacity to achieve objectives
  • Communicating your enthusiasm to inspire action
  • Aligning team aspirations with the organisation’s goals

Hikitia Ropata, Manahautu & Chair, Ati Awa Toa Hauora Partnership Board and Councillor, Greater Wellington Regional Council

09.50 Building your network to support success

  • Developing high levels of trust and reputation to enhance your personal value
  • Sharing with and learning from your network to be the ‘early adapter’
  • Strengthening your social capital and your influence through your network
  • Leveraging your network’s talents to enhance your expertise

Angie Simms, Senior Executive Assistant/ Executive Officer, AAPNZ (AdmiNZ) Wellington Group

10.40 MORNING TEA

11.10 PANEL – Leveraging high-level administrative skills to change direction

  • Knowing your ‘why’ to inform the desire for change
  • Identifying your toolbox of skills and how they will support career change
  • Evaluating your transferrable skills against desired role descriptions
  • Demonstrating your broader expertise by showcasing adaptable skills to leverage opportunities

Alison McKessar, Executive Assistant to Chief Executive Officer, Medical Sciences Secretariat

Annette Dyer, Executive Assistant to the Provost, Victoria University of Wellington

Carolyn Davies, Executive Assistant, Southland District Council

Cece Yuhoi, Senior Executive Assistant, formerly Ministry for the Environment

11.50 Understanding work design to improve efficiency

  • Identifying work demands to create a better work environment
  • Understanding different working styles to incorporate in work design
  • Designing work to encourage efficiency, collaboration, and collegiality
  • Demonstrating the value of good work design by walking the walk

John Fitzgerald, Manager – Mentally Healthy Work, WorkSafe New Zealand

12.30 LUNCH

13.30 Managing your relationship with your Executive more intentionally to become strategic

  • Adapting different communication styles and ways of working to create a ‘dream team’
  • Gaining awareness of your Executive’s goals and objectives and those of the organisation
  • Thinking like your Executive to anticipate their needs
  • Ensuring mutual success using effective communication.

Hannah Toomaga, Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive, Porirua Council

14.10 Using skills, knowledge and expertise to increase your influence to lead as an Executive Assistant

  • Building good relationships across the team to foster commitment to goals and objectives
  • Developing trust by demonstrating integrity and commitment to the team and the organisation
  • Sharing your expertise and building confidence to encourage autonomy and collaboration within the team
  • Being the First Follower or Force Multiplier to amplify power and influence

Jenny Porter, EA Executive Services Team, NZ Police

14.50 Afternoon tea

15.30 Combining confidence and knowledge to boost your assertiveness

  • Stepping out of your comfort zone to increase self-confidence
  • Understanding the part information plays in being assertive
  • Creating ‘thinking time’ strategies to push back the bulldozers
  • Asking open and investigative questions to support your capability

Katrena Friel, Australia’s Leading Success for Intrepreneurs Expert, Refresh Your Thinking

 

16.10 SENIOR EXECUTIVE PANEL – Exceeding expectations – how does my Executive Assistant do this?

  • Using two-way communication to create parameters around when to act as your Executive
  • Forward planning, problem-solving and communicating to prevent obstacles and/or create solutions
  • Building rapport to manage stakeholder relationships and improve office culture
  • Staying ahead of deadlines using productivity techniques

Nigel Corry, Chief Executive, Greater Wellington Regional Council

Russell Wood, Deputy Chief Executive, Service Delivery Operations/National Commander, Fire and Emergency NZ

Alison Cooper, Chief People Officer, Stats NZ

Jane Bryson, Dean, Wellington School of Business & Development, Victoria University of Wellington

Rex Capil, Group Manager Community Spaces and Places, Invercargill City Council

16.55 Congress photo

Close of congress day one. Please join us for

17.00 Networking drinks

 

Day Two

09.00   Chair’s opening remarks

09.10   Building a winning relationship with your Executive

  • What we were both looking for at the interview stage
  • Building that foundation of trust and support in the beginning 
  • Continuing to partner together for success
  • Working remotely and travelling – how we make it work

Jane Kelley, Chief Executive Officer, New Zealand Health Group

Vanessa Franks, Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer, New Zealand Health Group

09.55 PANEL – Thriving as an ‘exceptional’ Executive Assistant

  • Fostering strong and collaborative relationships across the organisation to building trust
  • Developing underestimated soft skills to enable greater organisational involvement
  • Finding your unique selling point
  • Developing your brand to enhance your value

Debbie Chote, EA to Chief Executive, GNS Science

Rachel Phillips, Executive Assistant to the District Director, Te Whatu Ora Tairawhiti

Gabrielle Drummond, Executive Assistant – Council Operations, Tasman District Council

10.40 Morning tea

11.10 Enhancing your strategic value using Artificial Intelligence as your ally

  • Shifting your thinking to embrace a 21st century mindset to boost productivity and performance
  • Exploring the myriad AI offerings to help you create your AI support suite
  • Humanising AI for enhanced solutions
  • Creating a personalised reference library at your fingertips
  • Keeping up as AI evolves to continuously develop your career

Mario Halouvas, CEO and Founder, Mario Halouvas Productivity Professionals

12.10 Understanding emerging technologies to improve productivity – an overview

  • Evaluating various software and apps to manage your workload
  • Streamlining expense reconciliation, capturing financial documents, and integrating tracking and reporting
  • Building visually appealing presentations, infographics, and visual content
  • Producing better engagement and outcomes through communication strategies, tailored writing styles, and rephrasing content

Mary Huffadine, Senior PA/Senior Executive Assistant, AAPNZ (AdmiNZ), Wellington Group

12.50 Lunch

13.50 PANEL – Managing time and tasks to effect efficiency and productivity in your day for you and your Executive

  • Developing routines to prioritise your ‘best time’ to set up your day to allow you to tackle your ‘hit list’
  • Creating and triaging a ‘master list’ using strategic thinking, forward vision, and your executive’s consideration to focus on the ‘urgent’
  • Planning, prioritising and being goal-focused to demonstrate a can-do attitude and initiative
  • Establishing open communication, questions, and corporate knowledge to know who and what is important to timely completion of any task

Debbie Warnock, Senior Executive Assistant, AAPNZ (AdmiNZ), Wellington Group

Kerry Norman, Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive, Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority

Cece Yuhoi, Senior Executive Assistant, formerly Ministry for the Environment

14.35 Conducting difficult conversations to encourage progress and growth

  • Understanding the person to adapt conversation tone
  • Providing feedback that encourages improvement
  • Planning discussions to allow flexibility of approach
  • Ensuring a satisfactory outcome for all participants

Speaker to be confirmed

15.15 Afternoon tea

15.45 Close of congress