Summing up the recipe for success
Speakers
Mike Weston-Burt and Simon Wallace
Panellists: Oliver Kirby-Johnson, Dr Alexander Budzier, Dr Sarah Coleman, Mike Weston-Burt and Simon Wallace
Agenda
6:30pm - Introductions and announcements
6:40pm - Talk commences
8:00pm - Talk concludes with (optional) post-event networking
9:00pm - Building closes
About the Spring School
The 2025 Spring School focuses on avoiding project disasters.
Success requires much more than simply applying methodology - it requires knowledge, skills, leadership, governance and maybe good luck (or should we say risk management).
There is also the question of what to do when things are going wrong. Could you rescue the situation? Or, ultimately, should you kill it now to cut the losses?
Synopsis
People are at the heart of every project. Building IT systems might sound fact-based and logical, but the human components are often the most important and hardest aspects to control. In this session we explore the many ways in which people are essential to success: whether they are the team members, the organisation’s leadership, stakeholders, other departments, users, suppliers, customers or the general public. We will discuss sponsorship, governance, leadership, high-performing teams, understanding the business needs, change management, and resistance to change. We will look at the understanding and soft skills you need to help the human aspects of your project be a success.
The talk will be followed by an interactive panel discussion with all the speakers.
About the speakers
Mike Weston-Burt
After almost 40 years with Big 4 Consultancies, Mike brings a huge wealth of learning & training experience to help businesses small and large with their training needs on a freelance basis. He's trained over 40,000 colleagues across 5 continents. Current hot topics include: Web3/AI/Prompt Engineering, Professional skills (presenting, interviewing, storytelling, teams, questioning, problem solving etc), Innovation/Creativity and Facilitation skills. His first love has aways been Project Management training and has run PM courses for over 25 years.
Simon Wallace LL.B MBCS CITP CMC
Simon first started managing IT projects some 46 years ago. During his 22 years at KPMG, he worked at over 100 client organisations. His work included several major change programmes such as the financial control systems of the European Parliament and Commission, projects for major global banks, replacing the IT systems for a European airline, and the Government’s Health Reform Programme.
Internally, Simon led on the development and delivery of methodology and training for IT Implementation, and headed up KPMG Consulting’s quality and risk management team, which was responsible for processes, standards, quality controls and internal policing. He devised and led mandatory training for partners and senior managers. Simon has also worked for other consultancies and was Head of Management Consulting for Turner and Townsend and a council member of the Management Consultancies Association.
Other sessions you may be interested in as part of the Spring School
Week 1 - Route to Success
Week 2 - How to avoid transformation disasters
Week 3 - The Role of Governance in Project Success
Ticket costs:
(Prices stated are inclusive of VAT and fees)
BCS members: £48.00
APM members: £91.80
Non-members: £108.00
Students / Unwaged: £24.00
All tickets include access to all four Spring School sessions.
Refunds/Cancellations:
A refund, excluding fees, will be issued if a cancellation request is received within 14 days of the booking date or by noon on Thursday, 27 February 2025; otherwise, name substitutions will be allowed after this date.
Our events are for adults aged 16 years and over.
BCS is a membership organisation. If you enjoy this event, please consider joining BCS. You’ll be very welcome. You’ll receive access to many exclusive career development tools, an introduction to a thriving professional community and also help us Make IT Good For Society. Join BCS today: https://www.bcs.org/membership/events
If you are attending in person, please familiarise yourself with the Visitor Instructions for the BCS London Office.
Please note, if you have any accessibility needs, please let us know via groups@bcs.uk and we’ll work with you to make suitable arrangements.
For overseas delegates who wish to attend the event, please note that BCS does not issue invitation letters.
This event is brought to you by: Project Management specialist group (PROMS-G)
