A summary of the 11th International SIM conference
“From Crisis to Success and Effective Management in Times of Change”
The recent conference of the Polish Interim Managers Association was a forum of debate on the challenges posed by the pandemic. What management solutions can help companies to get through changing times and transformation?
The conference comprised presentations, discussion panels, workshops, case studies and themed networking sessions. Contributions came from over fifty Polish and foreign speakers: entrepreneurs, experts in various fields, lawyers, representatives of European organizations and interim managers.
Day one “Lessons for transformation times”.
The CEO’s and board members shared their experiences and recommendations about new management competencies needed in a crisis, the introduction of flexibility into long-term strategies as well as building change-resistant teams. The discussions showed that in Poland, as elsewhere in the world, priority was given to ensuring employee safety.
Day two “The European interim management market”.
There was an exchange of views about similarities and differences between IM markets in Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Poland. Polish interim managers were particularly interested in how the profession is promoted in other countries, what are the main trends in types of projects and how the latter is acquired. There was also a fascinating discussion on the characteristics of projects carried out abroad, which is particularly relevant because of the foreign expansion of Polish companies.
Day three “The interim manager as a partner in digital transformation”.
The last day of the conference was devoted to the hot topic of digital transformation. Interim managers together with their clients presented some projects carried out in this field and shared observations on the key factors leading to their successful completion. A lot of time was also devoted to forecasting upcoming challenges that digitalization is bringing to businesses.
The participants were very interested in a workshop on the new specialization of shadow manager, as well as in networking sessions on IM projects in a foreign country, legal aspects of transformation, business digitalization and – last but not least – women’s achievements in interim management.
A recurrent theme throughout the conference was the critical role of trust in every interim management project. It was made clear that while trust can be conceived and built in different ways in different cultures, for instance, based more on competence in the USA and more on personal relations in Asia, both these factors paired with an impeccable reputation, honesty and transparency play a key role in the successful completion of temporary management projects.