Summary of the 11th international SIM conference

The 11th National SIM Conference organized by the Interim Managers Association on December 1-3, 2020 in Warsaw was, on the one hand, a place for the exchange of experiences of business practitioners and science representatives, and on the other, a space that became an inspiration for a broader confrontation with the challenges of the non-obvious situation that created by the pandemic. The main topic of the conference was management solutions that help companies go through times of change, but also support them in transformation. We spoke the language of projects and solutions.
The conference was held for the 11th time thanks to the tireless efforts and efforts of the SIM Management Board headed by Monika Buchajska-Wróbel, the energy of the association members and the event partners, including: Orange Polska, Inwenta, the Association of Employers Polska Miedź and Employers of Poland, Baker McKenzie, Abris Capital Partners, PFR TFI S.A., 4 Results.

3 days of the 11th Conference – 3 thematic blocks:
DAY 1: LESSONS FOR TRANSFORMATION
DAY 2: EUROPEAN MARKET OF INTERIM MANAGEMENT
DAY 3: INTERIM MANAGER – PARTNER IN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
And in them:

over 50 speakers from Poland and abroad,
9 case studies with clients,
4 discussion panels,
5 workshops,
5 thematic networking sessions.
During the first day of the Conference, we learned about the perspective of CEOs and directors of the Management Board on crisis management: how to introduce flexible changes in the company’s strategy, how to include constant readiness for change in the Business Continuity Plan, how to build teams for bad weather, what role cultural change plays in the company and that employee safety must always come first.
We had the opportunity to listen to interesting case studies from the following companies: ANWIS, CTDI Poland, FRIGO LOGISTICS, Axtone – an ITT company. Thanks to them, we learned how cooperation with interim managers influenced changes in management, the development of new competences and closer relations with business partners, and as a result, the recovery of companies, bringing communication in teams to a higher level and actual financial results. Thanks to Baker McKenzie, we learned about the legal aspects of restructuring.
At the end of the day, we could take part in one of two interesting workshops: the first one was about QRM Transformation, the second one was about Shadow Management in the succession processes of family businesses.

The second day of our annual Conference was the European day. During the morning panel, we learned about the similarities and differences between the instant messaging markets in Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. We would like to thank the leaders of IM associations from Great Britain – Tony Evans (IIM), Germany – Marei Strack (DDIM), Spain – Gianpiero Brozzi (AIME) and Italy – Jonathan Selby (LN) for their participation. We thank them for their valuable contributions to this morning’s panel and look forward to further collaboration in the coming year.
All panels, case studies, discussions and presentations that took place that day emphasized the paramount role of trust in any interim management project. Although trust may be perceived differently in different countries, e.g. more based on competencies in the United States and more on personal relationships in Asia, both of these factors, as well as reputation, honesty and transparency, are crucial to running successful interim management projects.
The panel devoted to the expansion of Polish companies into foreign markets formulated very detailed guidelines on the actions to be taken when preparing foreign ventures. The day ended with two lively networking sessions, which met with great interest from conference participants.

The third – last – day of the 11th International SIM Conference was devoted to the slogan Interim Manager – Partner in digital transformation.
Thanks to Orange Polska, the technological partner of the conference, we learned how the pandemic affected the digital transformation of enterprises and what challenges it entails. During the meeting with Izodom 2000 Polska, we learned about the key factors of successful digital transformation that support succession in a family business, i.e.: the openness of the company owner and trust in IM. Grow Consulting introduced us to the latest methods and digital tools of marketing and sales support. The Sharebee workshop was an extremely practical lesson in developing sales competences on the Internet, and Edyta Paul presented the SCARF model, which will make remote cooperation between the client and IM easier and more effective.

In recent months, companies have experienced the instability of the environment in which they operate more than ever in the last few decades. Many of the rules that have been developed have become outdated. When confronted with variability, uncertainty and newness, the Interim Manager’s competences meet the expectations of today’s enterprises. This is perfectly confirmed by the discussions and speeches that took place as part of this year’s 11th International SIM Conference.