“Everyone should have mentor. I have been fortunate enough to have mentors throughout my career and by being one is a lovely way to give back to the planning industry.”
Barr Planning are proud to provide professional development with the Planning Institute of Australia mentoring program. The program provides a forum for experienced practicing planners, and recent planning graduates and students nearing graduation to develop an on-going relationship by meeting regularly and discussing matters relating to planning within an organised and supportive framework.
Principal Planner, Rebecca Boresch is a mentor in the program and enjoys supporting the young planners within the industry. “We encourage the mentees to set personal or professional goals and help guide them to resolve issues and work towards achieving their goals. Sharing experiences as a planner inspires the mentee’s and provides an opportunity of reflection for mentors. I value the experience I have had within the Mentoring Program. Everyone should have mentor. I have been fortunate enough to have mentors throughout my career and by being one is a lovely way to give back to the planning industry. This is my second time in the program, and I look forward to many more.”
Project Planner, Samuel Liu and Planner Jack Varka are currently mentees, strongly valuing their experiences, leanings and advice they have received during the program.
Jack shares that “…often at times working in an office of solely statutory planners, we all seem to have similar ideas and views of the way the certain aspects of the planning system operates and functions, and often we interpret issues in the same fashion. My mentor comes from a background of strategic planning and managing major projects such as The Metropolis of 3 Cities – Greater Sydney Regional Plan. His perspective is often ambiguous and focuses on the bigger picture compared to that of a statutory planner. His interpretation and view of certain aspects of the planning system is inspiring to me as it challenges me to look outside of my statutory planning bubble. His advice and shared experiences have helped me grow as a planner and I believe it has reflected in my day to day work at Barr Planning.”
Similarly Samuel states that the program has provided him a great opportunity to build relationships within the Planning industry… “One important lesson I’ve learnt thus far from my PIA mentor Steve has been the value of building good stakeholder relationships. Building good stakeholders relationships involves ‘putting yourself in the other person’s shoes’ and trying to see things from their perspective. Working in the planning and development industry involves navigating a complex web of relationships and competing demands and interests. As such, good planners are those who put themselves in the shoes of others to find common ground to achieve mutually aligned goals (as far as possible!). The value of ‘putting yourself in the other person’s shoes’ is a core value at Barr Planning and as such, the PIA mentoring program has really strengthened for me the importance of a collaborative approach to planning. I hope to continue to build strong stakeholder relationship skills in the years ahead which I know will be a key skill as a town planner.”
With Barr Planning valuing a continued progress of professional development, this program exposes employees to new experiences within the industry.
