2019 Conference - Cooperating in the 21st century
Click here to see a summary of our conference.
To see the video, click here. Photos below.
"Alone we go faster, together we go further"
This was the theme of the conference organised on 28 November by Igretec and Next Management. Focusing on one of the major challenges of the 21st century, the event brought together more than 80 people from the public and private sectors to define the key factors for successful cooperation. Here's a look back at a day where the key word was exchange.
As a prelude to the conference, we launched a survey on cooperation. With more than 300 respondents, the survey enabled us to target the specific subjects to be addressed in this area. To find out more about the results of our survey, click here.
Jerry Penxten opened the conference by presenting the findings of the survey, which focused in particular on the problem of operating in silos in the digital age, which is no longer in line with the expectations of customers, but also of employees, who are now calling for more meaning and autonomy. An unequivocal assessment that also underlines the fact that the awareness-raising presented by Raphaël is underway, but we still have to overcome the obstacles and resistance to change marked by, among other things, the lack of trust and the culture of competition.
Renaud Moens, Managing Director of Igretec, rounded off his presentation with an Igretec case study. Having operated in silos for 70 years, the time had come to adapt and capitalise on its multi-disciplinary expertise. To do this, Igretec, drawing on the expertise and skills of Next Managment set up a risk analysis involving its 300 employees. Faced with the results, the Management Committee defined 70 actions, divided into 8 areas, included in a Strategic Operational Plan which is intended to be progressive and participative, as evidenced by the presentation of the results to all employees through small group sessions, encouraging direct exchanges. On the road to cooperation, the first changes were not long in coming, as organisational changes favouring a project-based approach rather than a business-specific approach were implemented, while at the same time work was carried out on the corporate culture, in particular by improving cross-functional communication.
To round off the morning, Marilyn and Chantal organised the first discussions with all the participants to help them define the arguments and concrete actions needed to create awareness and the desire to cooperate differently, key elements in change management.
For the second part of the day, the emphasis was on sharing experiences with witnesses. To this end, we were delighted to welcome Christophe Scaillet (ex-Télésambre), Thierry Collard (Eiffage Development), Eric Van Sevenant (SWDE), Sylvie Marique (SPW) and Julien Fanuel (Commune de Farciennes). Through participative workshops on specific topics, each of the speakers shared his or her experience before going on to discuss and build innovative solutions with the participants. Two principles constantly guided the discussions: transforming problems into solutions and mistakes into opportunities for improvement.
The conclusions of the conference, drawn by our team, highlighted the 4 fundamentals of cooperation between human beings. This is only possible and effective if trust, respect, complementarity and solidarity are fostered between all members of the community.
Stéphanie Toussaint and Marine Keresztes from Igretec then illustrated what cooperation will look like in the future, using concrete examples that are already being applied today, such as space travel, which requires unfailing cooperation.
It was a day rich in sharing and exchange, much to the satisfaction of the participants, and ended with a drink.
