Three Project Managers from our Water Utilities team in Queensland joined forces with business consultants recently for the Queensland Chapter of the Project Management Institute’s Project Day of Service.
Kartikee Gupta and Tim Carleton are both part of the Chapter and had seen the event promoted in an update. Together, with Rebecca Francis, they decided to attend.
Prior to the event, participants had to provide information regarding their skills and areas of interest. On the day, they were separated into small working groups and assigned a charity or not-for-profit organisation to work with.
Rebecca Francis and Kartikee Gupta
Kartikee, who has a passion for women in the workplace, was allocated the Women’s Legal Service Queensland (WLSQ). WLSQ provides free legal assistance for women in Queensland via a dedicated network of staff and volunteers. Its particular focus is women experiencing domestic violence, embroiled in complex family law matters and/or survivors of sexual assault.
Throughout the day, Kartikee worked with the CEO and a Director of WLSQ, lawyers and a business architect to assist the organisation with streamlining their referral process. Kartikee explains, “We sat with the client who was there on the day to understand their processes, introduce process efficiencies and eliminate waste throughout their referral process. At the end of the day, we gave them a plan on a page with some low/no cost initiatives that they were able to implement straight away.”
Rebecca worked with White Cloud Foundation (WCF). The Foundation provides practical support, easy access to treatment, and early intervention programs for people living with or at risk of developing depression and anxiety. Its tele health mental services hotline requires no referral, no mental health plan and is free of charge.
Alongside her group members, Rebecca brainstormed solutions to increasing awareness and reach for one of the Foundation’s newer services. Rebecca says that the event was well done – “The opportunity to work with and help a charity was good but it was also really rewarding personally to reinforce the strength of my skills and to see how excited the charity was by what I had to offer.
“It was a great learning experience. I enjoyed being exposed to different thought streams and ways of working - everyone was a winner on the day.”
Tim assisted the Pacific Islands Council of Queensland (PCIQ), a not-for-profit community incorporated association providing a collective voice for the benefit of all Pacific Islanders. Tim, two PCIQ representatives (the current and former President) and two other project managers worked to find ways for the association to develop a self-sustaining community support service for its constituents.
“It was equal parts challenging and rewarding; trying to create a high functioning working group in a short amount of time that is focused on understanding the problem and developing a robust strategy that can be implemented. It’s a unique experience,” he says, “and one I’d recommend to anyone considering it.”
An annual event, this is the first time WSP has attended. “We’ll certainly back next year,” Kartikee enthuses. “It was honestly an amazing experience – inspiring for us and rewarding for the charity.” She elaborates, “It’s great knowing that we’ve been able to positively contribute in this way to the local community that we live in.”
WSP’s corporate social responsibility activities sit within WSP with Heart. Our team undertakes a range of voluntary and pro bono services that positively impact people and communities across Australia.
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