LEVERAGING SPECIALISTS: HOW TO GET THE BEST OUT OF YOUR EXPERTS
Today’s biggest challenges demand teams of diverse specialists working together. When done well, these collaborations are game-changing. When done poorly, they’re expensive delays waiting to happen.
Join experienced practitioners as they share battle-tested strategies for getting the best from every expert on your team – whether they’re policy advisors, researchers, clinicians, or community leaders.
You’ll discover:
- The hidden obstacles that derail expert collaborations and how to avoid them
- Practical techniques for working effectively with different specialist types
- How to structure projects for seamless expert integration from start to finish
- Methods for building high-performing multidisciplinary teams
- Insights from professionals who consistently deliver complex, expert-led projects
If you’re leading complex projects, managing specialist teams, or finding yourself constantly coordinating between different experts across government, NGOs, or private organisations – this session is for you.
Meet the experts:
Dr Pounamu Jade Aikman is the director of Mana Pounamu Consulting, a kaupapa Māori scholar with expertise in te ao Māori, including kaupapa Māori research methods and fluency in te reo Māori.
Dr Jacinta Cording is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Canterbury, specialising in offender rehabilitation and risk assessment for family violence and sexual violence.
Dave Grimmond is an independent consulting economist based in Wellington, specialising in economic forecasting, policy analysis, and project assessment including cost-benefit analysis and social returns on investment.
Jaqui Ngawaka is a Senior Consultant at Allen + Clarke who specialises in strengthening tangata whenua–tangata Tiriti relationships and applying Te Ao Māori wisdom to organisational development.
About the Experts
Priscilia Martin specialises in bringing together diverse experts to solve complex problems. As a medical doctor turned strategic advisor, she’s navigated between clinical, policy, and business specialists across health services and organisational change, most recently leading innovative workforce initiatives at the Ministry of Health.
Sean Stack has mastered the art of working between diverse knowledge systems and stakeholder groups. His Waitangi Tribunal experience across multiple inquiries gives him deep insight into coordinating legal experts, historians, community representatives, and policy specialists to deliver outcomes that respect both Treaty obligations and practical implementation needs.
Downloadable Resource
Slides - Leveraging Specialists: How to get the best out of your experts
The complete presentation covering proven frameworks for effective specialist collaboration, common pitfalls to avoid, and practical strategies for managing multidisciplinary teams from project initiation to successful delivery.Coming up
WEBINAR | Survey Success Secrets: Responses + Answers + Insights
Date: Thursday 25 September 2025 | 12:10-12:55 p.m. NZST | 10:10-10:55 a.m. AEST
Months of planning and thousands spent, but what you get are dismal response rates, and survey questions that are of no help or are too complicated when you come to write them up. Sound familiar?
Whether you're running satisfaction surveys, evaluating the impact of your work, or gathering insights for complex policy consultations, the same fundamental mistakes typically keep organisations from getting information they can use.
Join Allen + Clarke's survey experts as they reveal the tips & tricks that transform data mud-puddles into decision-making goldmines. We'll share eight of our best tips to maximise response rates and give unambiguous insights for you to act on.
