Team-building, managerial professionalism and competence, business operations and cultural sensitivity.  These topics formed the theme of CIEO’s recent Summit Conference held over 3 days (May 11-13) at Huizhou’s Double-Moon Bay Resort, a very rewarding session for the 50-plus CIEO management team members who were in attendance.

The first item on the conference itinerary saw all attendees invited to participate in activities jointly hosted by Simon Chen (Agile Kindergarten principal) and Mark Emptage (Vice Director of English Education).  The activities were designed to develop our team’s sense of trust, collaboration, communication and creativity.  It’s a massive competitive edge for any enterprise to have a strong team and it’s our management team that gives us our wings.  The successful activities of the first day laid a solid foundation for the following two.

Haley Lang, CIEO General Manager introduced the objectives of the conference with all attendees grouped by department to conduct investigative discussions.  Focusing on topics in the areas of integrating resources to promote development, building a top-tier, quality private school, SWOT analysis of our brand, these upbeat discussions yielded many workable strategies which were subsequently presented by group leaders.  

Director of English Education, Paul Kozyn, hosted a workshop aimed at the whole picture of CIEO’s operations in examining the decision making processes of the CIEO management team.  Focused on some common issues which we see in CIEO-operated kindergartens, schools and training centers, his presentation was entitled, “Hypothetical Managerial Decisions.”  A cross-cultural discussion on theoretical case studies, the session was run as a brain-storming session and investigation into how culture and environment affect practical ideas and solutions.

CEO of CIEO, Winnie Chen, attaches great importance to the professionalism and competence of CIEO managers.  According to her, professionalism in fact includes four aspects: passion for education, compliance with CIEO regulations, strong understanding of CIEO’s management model and proper understanding and integration of Chinese and western cultures.  Among these four, compliance with CIEO regulations was the most important, drawing her emphasis. With respect to developing CIEO managers’ with high competence, Ms. Winnie outlined the “Six C’s”; planning & collaboration, communication, learning & creation, team construction, execution capacity and combination application of new technology.

Winnie’s speech showed clear leadership and provided direction for our assembled managers, ultimately laying the blueprint for CIEO’s future development.  CIEO’s mission is to pursue, in perpetuity, an expanded capacity for offering qualified, recognized international education.

On May 13, a tailor-made workshop for CIEO on cultural sensitivity was given by speakers from Sino-Associates. With over 200 international educators and over 800 experienced Chinese teachers, CIEO is devoted to building a?family-like?culture for all staff. The main presenter shared with attendees on how to communicate and integrate effectively with people of different nationalities, languages and backgrounds.

CIEO’s Summit Conference concluded and results were fruitful.  We appreciate the efforts of all involved and aim to stick to our philosophies, incorporating what we’ve learned into our devotion.  We pledge to continue to offer our students, and families and communities with outstanding, trustworthy educational options.