As many of you will already know, Harris Black is a member of the Brentnalls Affiliation. The affiliation is a network of like-minded, independent Chartered Accounting firms across Australia and New Zealand. Member firms are in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Hamilton VIC, Perth and Auckland NZ. Harris Black has been part of this dynamic group of professionals for over 20 years. Each of the firms in the affiliation have a similar passion for improving client service and striving for best practice in all areas of business. In particular we are all very focused on helping our clients achieve their goals, develop their businesses and ultimately grow their wealth. The affiliation meets bi-annually, traditionally in different locations in Australia with past conferences also being held in Singapore and Queenstown N.Z.
Our most recent 2 day conference was again held virtually. Whilst we all miss seeing each other in person our virtual conference held via Zoom still afforded us with the opportunity to share experiences and continue to promote our commitment to the affiliation. Directors, Associates and Managers from Harris Black attended.
Day 1 gave us time to do some virtual networking with breakout rooms created to encourage discussions with new employees and old. Then we started the firm presentations, which saw each firm present on their COVID-19 experiences, successes and learning, and key growth areas from the last 12 months. It’s a great way to encourage reflection on key aspects of our businesses. Question/heckling time at the end of each presentation gave it a feel like we were together in spirit. Brendan Power presented on behalf of Harris Black and did us proud. Some might say that it was even the best presentation of the conference! Granted we could be biased..
Thursday night saw the team from Harris Black come together for a lovely dinner at Alchemy at Eagle St Pier.
Day 2 saw us catch up with the remaining firms’ presentations and hear from them about their experiences through what was an incredibly challenging time to be in business. Chris Mandzufus, from Brentnalls WA, then lead the team through a Business & Leadership Reset. We reviewed the attributes of a good leader and in groups reflected on how, as individuals we could grow and learn for the benefit of ourselves and our firms.
This was a great forum for sharing our experiences from the last 12 months and we look forward at what we would like to achieve in the future. If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that we can be adaptable to change and even through adversity we can support one another to be successful!