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Seminar Sessions

Seminar Sessions at Project Forum

Project Forum brings together project and delivery practitioners to share practical, research-informed ideas, real-world experiences, and approaches that can be applied immediately at work.

Two seminar zones. Dozens of practical ideas.

Across the day, our seminar zones feature 45-minute sessions packed with insight, experience, and honest lessons from the world of projects and delivery.

Alongside these, speakers may also run informal Birds of a Feather sessions — a chance to dive deeper, share experiences, and learn from each other.

Zone 1 Zone 2

Zone One

Controls / Portfolios / Imposters / Change / Business Cases / ePMO

See the full session details

Zone One Timetable

No need to book, just turn up and take a seat. First session kicks off at 09.30am

Time Session Title Speaker In a nutshell..
9.30 - 10.15 Project Controls in the 21st Century, how PMO’s can supercharge a brighter future Simon Taylor Explores how modern project controls are evolving, what it means for PMs and PMOs, and how a more connected approach improves real project outcomes.
10.30 - 11.15 Project Portfolio Management – What, Why, & How? Steve Jenner Cuts through portfolio management jargon to show how better investment decisions and practical techniques drive real strategic outcomes.
11.30 - 12.15 Understanding and Overcoming Imposter (Syndrome) Phenomenon Dr Kate Atkin Explores imposter feelings at work and shares practical ways to build confidence and support others to overcome them.
13.00 - 13.45 Project teams are critical to achieving business change Melanie Franklin Shows how involving users early reduces resistance to change and helps projects deliver real-world results faster.
14.00 - 14.45 From Green Book to Green Light: Better Business Cases Mark Williams Explores how project managers can lead Better Business Cases and use automation to reduce manual effort while improving investment decisions.
15.00 - 15.45 The Five Essential Services of the Enterprise PMO (ePMO) Eileen J Roden Explores how ePMO services go beyond reporting to shape better decisions and enable stronger delivery outcomes across the organisation.

Project Controls in the 21st Century, how PMO’s can supercharge a brighter future

Simon Taylor

Time

9:30 - 10:15

Details

On the back of the recent publication by the Association for Project Management and the Controls & Skills Authority Simon Taylor looks at the driving principles that led to the creation of Project Controls in the 21st Century, what it means for PMO’s and how real life projects will benefit…

Your Takeaways from the Session

Your Takeaways from the Session

  • The most critical missing components from project professionals and organisations that need to be rectified
  • Thoughts on how PMO’s can enable the organisational transformation needed to move beyond project failure
  • Honest reflection on past experiences and how wellbeing must be the bedrock of successful change.

About Your Speaker

About Simon

Simon began his project journey in industrial design and then project management before focusing on the planning profession. He was Head of Planning at Transport for London, High Speed 2 & PMO Director at Network Rail. He leads on technology and data at th3rdcurve.

Simon is a published author…

Full Info

Project Portfolio Management – What, Why, & How?

Join Expert - Steve Jenner

Time

10.30 - 11.15

Details

Project portfolio management exists to answer a simple question: are we investing in the right things, in the right way, to get the results the organisation actually needs?

This session cuts through the jargon and gets to the heart of why portfolio management matters - not just for senior leaders,…

Your Takeaways from the Session

Your Takeaways from the Session

  • An understanding of the objectives and scope of project portfolio management.
  • Insights into the key techniques that represent the difference that makes the difference.
  • Ideas on how to apply these techniques in your own organisation.

About Your Speaker

About Steve

Steve Jenner is an author, practitioner and trainer working primarily in the areas of project portfolio management & benefits management. He is the author of, and chief examiner for, APMG’s Managing Benefits™ (3rd edition, 2024) and Managing Portfolios™ (2024). He was also co-author of the OGC/Axelos, Management of Portfolios.

…

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Understanding and Overcoming Imposter (Syndrome) Phenomenon

Join expert - Kate Atkin

Time

11:30 - 12:15

Details

Do you experience a nagging doubt that you could be ‘found out’ or perhaps you put your success down to luck or timing?

Have you ever noticed a need to be perfect and fear making mistakes because they ‘prove’ you are not up to the job?

Would you like to feel more…

Your Takeaways from the Session

Your Takeaways from the Session

  • identify your own imposter feelings and the difference between that and normal self-doubt
  • gain an understanding of the common causes/triggers of the imposter phenomenon
  • begin to challenge your own imposter thoughts
  • how to support others

About Your Speaker

Dr Kate Atkin is an inspirational speaker, training consultant and author. With over 25 years of experience as a facilitator, Kate has worked with many clients on business, management and communication issues. A highly skilled listener, her style is both supportive and challenging.

Kate comes from a farming background…

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Project teams are critical to achieving business change

Meet Expert - Melanie Franklin

Time

13.00 - 13.45

Details

As the pace of change increases, this talk makes a clear case for why project managers play a crucial role in achieving change. It shows that most resistance isn’t about attitude or mindset, but about the brain worrying how much effort and disruption a change will cause. When users are…

Your Takeaways from the Session

Your Takeaways from the Session

  • Brain-smart understanding of blockers to user involvement in your projects
  • List of most effective activities to engage users and create a “one team” culture
  • Example project plan demonstrating alignment between project and change activities

About Your Speaker

About Melanie

  • Acknowledged as a thought leader in transformational change, through authorship of 10 books, and practical consulting for global organisations including the United Nations, utility and telecoms, global consultancies, universities, health services and central government functions in the US, Europe, and the Middle East.
  • Founder of ChangeabilityPro™, an online…
Full Info

From Green Book to Green Light: Better Business Cases

Mark Williams

Time

14:00 - 14:45

Details

This session will provide an overview of HM Treasury’s Better Business Cases and Green Book approach.

This is the structured, evidence based, collaborative, decision-making approach used by Public Servants across UK Central Government, the NHS and increasingly Local Government. Also, this approach is used by Overseas Governments and organisations…

Your Takeaways from the Session

Your Takeaways

  • An overview of HM Treasury’s Better Business Case and Green Book approach;
  • An understanding of the unpinning principles;
  • Insights on the roles that Project Managers play here;
  • Some practical examples of things that have gone well, and some that have not;
  • An introduction to the 5CS…

About Your Speaker

About Mark

Mark has held senior roles in a Big4 firm and a Global Consultancy as well as working in HM Treasury and Cabinet Office. He started in public services audit then moved into advisory / consulting where he has worked extensively with public services and also organisations…

Full Info

The Five Essential Services of the Enterprise PMO (ePMO)

Eileen Roden

Time

15:00 - 15:45

Details

Enterprise PMOs (ePMO) are often associated with standards, reporting and oversight - but their real value lies in the services they provide to shape better decisions across the organisation.

This session explores five essential EPMO services that consistently strengthen delivery performance across portfolios: governance design, strategic alignment, independent assurance, benefits management…

Your Takeaways from the Session

Your Takeaways from the Session

  • A clear understanding of the five core EPMO services and the value each provides
  • Insight into common challenges PMOs face when establishing enterprise-level services
  • Practical success factors that help EPMO services embed and deliver real impact

About Your Speaker

About Eileen

Eileen J. Roden is an internationally recognised PMO expert, author and co-founder of the House of PMO. She has supported thousands of PMO professionals across public and private sectors, helping organisations strengthen governance, alignment, assurance and learning across their change portfolios.

Known for her practical, people-centred approach, Eileen focuses on…

Full Info

Zone Two

AI / Space / Resource Mgmt / Strategy / Change Management

See the full session details

Time Session Title Speaker In a nutshell..
9.30 - 10.15 AI in the Room: What Every Project Manager Needs to Know James Garner and Yoshi Soornack A practical look at how AI is changing project management, with tools, skills and real-world applications PMs can start using now.
10.30 - 11.15 It’s not rocket science, but it is complicated… Julie Black Explores how space missions are delivered and what project professionals can learn from large-scale global collaboration.
11.30 - 12.15 Executing Strategy While Future-Proofing Your Workforce Greg Bailey Shows how aligning talent, AI and capacity planning with strategy improves value delivery, agility and workforce planning.
13.00 - 13.45 When Success Fails: Turning Activity into Strategic Impact Susan Tuttle Explores how better coordination across portfolios, programmes and projects turns delivery into real strategic impact.
14.00 - 14.45 Human Centric Delivery in a Data Driven World: AI, Capacity, and Burnout Neil Derbyshire Explores how to use data and AI responsibly to protect people, improve decisions, and support sustainable delivery
15.00 - 15.45 Too Much, Too Fast, Too Vague: Practical ways to cut overload and improve decision-making in delivery teams Tracey Holland Explores what happens when delivery teams become overloaded, urgency starts driving decisions and the real priorities are less clear than people think

AI in the Room: What Every Project Manager Needs to Know Right Now

James Garner and Yoshi Soornack

Time

09.30 - 10.15

Details

AI is already reshaping how projects are planned, tracked and delivered - but most PMs are still figuring out where to start. In this session, James Garner and Yoshi Soornack cut through the noise to give a practical, honest view of what AI means for project management today. From tools…

Your Takeaways from the Session

Your Takeaways from the Session

  • It’s influencing how projects are planned, monitored, and managed right now – not some future scenario PMs can ignore.
  • There are AI tools PMs can begin using immediately to support planning, reporting, and analysis rather than trying to overhaul everything at once.
  • In an AI-supported…

About Your Speaker

About James and Yoshi

James Garner is the founder of Project Flux and a recognised voice on the impact of AI and data in project delivery. With a background in quantity surveying and data analytics, he now focuses on digital transformation and the use of AI to improve how complex projects…

Full Info

It’s not rocket science, but it is complicated…

Julie Black

Time

10:30 - 11:15

Details

We have all watched space mission launches, and seen wonderful pictures sent back from instruments such as the James Webb Telescope.

But how do these missions get delivered, and what can we learn from the global collaboration needed to get from an idea to a new understanding about our universe.

With stories…

Your Takeaways from the Session

Your Takeaways from the Session

  • An understanding of the UK’s contribution to a range of space science and exploration missions.
  • Practical ideas which challenge attendees to think about how they apply standard or generic PPM methodology

About Your Speaker

About Julie

Julie Black is the Director for Space Science and Exploration at the UK Space Agency, leading delivery of UK contributions to missions in collaboration with ESA, NASA and other agencies.

A delivery and change specialist, with a particular interest in systems thinking for portfolio management, Julie began her career…

Full Info

Executing Strategy While Future-Proofing Your Workforce

Meet the Expert - Greg Bailey

Time

11.30 - 12.15

Details

Aligning talent and AI with strategic roadmap priorities drives business outcomes.

Explore how transparently planning skills capacity, AI, budget, and value across your digital initiatives improves IT value flow, coordinates delivery, and enables a data-driven approach to future-proofing your workforce.

Attendees will learn how organizations have improved value delivery, business…

Your Takeaways from the Session

Your Key Takeaways

  • Skills, not funding or tools, are the biggest barrier to strategy execution and workforce readiness
  • Planning work by skill — across agile, waterfall, or hybrid roadmaps— unlocks faster, more effective delivery.
  • A unified, skills-based planning model, including planning AI as a skill, drives better portfolio outcomes and…

About Your Speaker

About Greg


Greg Bailey brings over 25 years of Enterprise Software Experience in a variety of industries in the Resource Management and Project and Portfolio Management market and currently serves as Vice President at ProSymmetry. At ProSymmetry, Greg oversees Tempus Resource global sales and works to ensure a successful transition and…

Full Info

When Success Fails: Turning Activity into Strategic Impact

Susan Tuttle

Time

13.00 - 13.45

Details

Projects succeed. Budgets are met. Timelines are achieved. Governance reports are green.
And yet strategy still fails.
Why?

Delivery excellence on its own is not enough. A project can be well managed and still produce something the organisation does not need. A transformation programme can reshape structures, systems and technology yet steer the…

Your Takeaways from the Session

Your Takeaways

  • Why projects can succeed while strategy still fails
  • How misalignment and hidden risk build across project, programme and portfolio levels
  • Questions and practical shifts that strengthen coordination and escalation
  • A clearer view of how integrated governance protects strategic value

About Your Speaker

About Susan

Susan Tuttle is Senior PRINCE2 Product Architect at PeopleCert and author of PRINCE2® Project Management In Action. She is responsible for shaping the future of PRINCE2, advancing it as a practical framework for modern, adaptive delivery.

Drawing on her experiences across financial services, global technology leadership, and entrepreneurship, Susan brings…

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Human Centric Delivery in a Data Driven World: AI, Capacity, and Burnout

Neil Derbyshire

Time

14.00 - 14.45

Details

AI, predictive analytics and automation are reshaping how work is planned and executed in 2026 – but many project professionals are still drowning in admin, competing priorities, and stakeholder noise. This session explores how to use data and AI responsibly to protect people, improve decisions, and support sustainable delivery, rather…

Your Takeaways from the Session

Key Takeaways

  • Clear, jargon free examples of AI use cases that genuinely reduce project admin, rather than replace professionals.
  • A practical checklist for sustainable capacity management: spotting over commitment, protecting critical skills, and avoiding “hero culture”.
  • Techniques for using leading indicators to intervene early before projects and people fail.
  • Conversation…

About Your Speaker

About Neil

Neil Derbyshire is an Enterprise Executive at Planview, he's an experienced PPM executive with over 25 years experience of helping organizations improve portfolio visibility, prioritization, and execution across complex enterprise environments. Brings deep knowledge of project and portfolio management solutions, with expertise in aligning strategy to delivery, strengthening governance,…

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Too Much, Too Fast, Too Vague: Practical ways to cut overload and improve decision-making in delivery teams

Tracey Holland

Time

15:00 - 15:45

Details

Projects rarely drift because people don’t care. More often, teams are carrying too much, moving too fast and working with far too much vagueness.

This practical session explores what happens when delivery teams become overloaded, urgency starts driving decisions and the real priorities are less clear than people think. Drawing on…

Your Takeaways from the Session

Your Takeaways

  • How to spot the difference between genuine priority and noise
  • A practical way to identify the ‘sand’ filling up team capacity
  • Better ways to improve clarity, ownership and momentum in delivery teams
  • Simple tools for saying no, slowing panic and making better decisions under pressure

About Your Speaker

About Tracey

Tracey Holland is the founder of Reforge Change and has spent more than 30 years helping teams and organisations navigate messy, complicated change. She specialises in making change more doable by improving clarity, decision-making and the way people work together under pressure.

With a practical, no-jargon approach, Tracey brings together…

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