Public Sector Executive Assistant Congress Draft Agenda

Day 1

09.10 OPENING KEYNOTE – Making smart calls when everything and everyone competes for your time

  • Navigating and managing conflicting priorities without constantly escalating
  • Making decisions with limited information and knowing when more is required
  • Managing expectations across multiple stakeholders
  • Asking questions to eliminate ambiguity in direction

10.10 Networking that feels natural and delivers impact

  • Prioritising relationships that align with business outcomes and career direction
  • Building trust and credibility without needing to “work the room”
  • Strengthening influence through consistent, low-friction connection
  • Maintaining a high-value network in a way that feels natural and sustainable

11.00 Morning tea

11.30 EA PANEL:  Redefining productivity for today’s EA when you’re ‘beyond busy’

  • Becoming outcome-oriented rather than task-focused
  • Identifying low-value work and reducing or delegating it
  • Shifting from reactive task management to proactive workflow design
  • Measuring success in impact, not activity

12.15 Sustaining excellence without burning out

  • Recognising early signs of overload and addressing the problem
  • Creating realistic boundaries in high-expectation roles
  • Aligning energy, focus, and workload
  • Building habits that support consistency, not just intensity

12.55 Lunch

13.50 Choosing and using technology that helps build digital confidence

  • Cutting through noise to identify what’s worth adopting
  • Building confidence with evolving platforms
  • Avoiding over-reliance while still leveraging automation
  • Staying relevant without chasing every new tool

Mario Halouvas, Founder and CEO, MHPP

14.45 EA – Keeping your footing when the ground is constantly shifting

  • Filtering what matters when everything is urgent
  • Responding with clarity instead of reacting to pressure
  • Building personal strength and systems that hold up in fast-moving environments
  • Turning constant change into your professional edge

15.25 Afternoon tea

15.50 EA – Managing pressure without losing perspective

  • Staying composed when stakes are high
  • Breaking down complexity into manageable action
  • Supporting executives through uncertainty
  • Maintaining perspective in demanding environments

16.20 SENIOR EXECUTIVE PANEL:  From support to copilot: Evolving the EA–executive partnership

  • Anticipating needs without overstepping
  • Creating alignment on priorities and working styles
  • Challenging constructively when needed
  • Becoming a trusted sounding board, not just a doer

Day 2

09.10 EA PANEL:  Understanding how your organisation works to build business acumen

  • Interpreting financial, operational, and strategic signals
  • Speaking the language of different departments
  • Adding value in cross-functional environments
  • Strengthening your commercial awareness

09.55 Thinking like a decision-maker: Strengthening your business lens

  • Understanding what drives executive decisions
  • Connecting daily work to organisational outcomes
  • Identifying risks before they surface
  • Contributing insights, not just information

10.40 Morning tea

11.10 Human skills that set you apart in an AI world

  • Strengthening judgement, empathy, and discretion
  • Bringing human insight where and when it matters most
  • Prioritising and balancing efficiency versus relationship-building
  • Demonstrating the ‘assistant advantage’ in a tech-driven workplace

Mario Halouvas, Founder and CEO, MHPP

12.10 EA – The EA advantage:  Navigating tension, politics, and boundaries with confidence

  • Anticipating and addressing issues before they escalate
  • Managing personalities and competing agendas
  • Setting boundaries without creating friction
  • Staying professional in politically sensitive situations

12.50 Lunch

13.50 EA PANEL:  Influencing buy-in without formal authority

  • Framing ideas so they land with impact
  • Building quiet credibility over time
  • Influencing across different levels of seniority
  • Knowing when to push and when to pause

14.30 EA to EO:  Owning your career narrative to progress on your terms

  • Defining what ‘next’ looks like for you and the steps to get there
  • Building visibility in the right way for the right reason
  • Positioning your value beyond your job title by positive action
  • Taking deliberate steps toward leadership or specialist paths

15.15 Afternoon tea

16.00 Close