The WTS-Boston Professional Development Committee has been busy continuing to offer virtual programming for the WTS community throughout the spring!

On Tuesday, May 4th the committee hosted a virtual event Mastering the Art of Negotiation hosted by Carla Moynihan of Sherin and Lodgen. Carla started out with a presentation on the basics of negotiation, some tips and tricks, and what you should know before you negotiate. The second part of the event featured two role playing exercises, featuring committee volunteers Nancy LaFarge, HNTB, and Heather Hamilton, BSC Group. These exercises showed an example negotiation between a consultant and a client and an employer and employee. Following the role-playing exercises there were two breakout sessions to discuss each scenario. These sessions led to great discussions about how to successfully negotiate.

In June, the committee presented a training session entitled I Received A Project Schedule, Now What? led by John Audi, PhD., CCM of BSC Group. The session was coordinated by Ali Mattson, HNTB, and hosted by Ali Love, STV. John shared his extensive knowledge of how to develop, maintain, and maximize the benefits of a project schedule.  The session included discussion of the advantages of crafting an accurate project schedule and an outline of the components and basic steps towards building, updating, and reading the schedule. The conversation also focused on the importance of understanding concepts such as critical path and work breakdown structure, and expert guidance on best practices and common errors to avoid.