In the course of the workplace conference, the unwritten rules that we call workplace culture are laid out for consideration. All workplace conferences conclude with a plan of action, with deadlines and clearly allocated responsibilities. So the workplace conference is not about experts solving problems. Nor is it about conference participants simply solving problems. It is more than that.
Participants agree on ground rules for changing the systems in which they work.
The conference acts as the catalyst for that process of systemic change, and change becomes everybody's business. The success of workplace conferencing demonstrates that there is nothing so practical as a good theory. TJA has successfully intervened to deal with cases involving breached regulations, wrongful dismissal, malicious gossip, racial vilification and discrimination, sexual harassment, industrial espionage, theft, abusive supervision and safety breaches, inadequate or abusive management. These interventions have taken place in sectors ranging from mining, metalworking, civil engineering and construction, through transport, wholesaling and retailing, to television and radio, information technology, hospitals and medical research, and even church communities. It was then a logical step to consider how these deeper problems might be addressed without waiting for some specific incident to prompt a reactive outside intervention.