In the spirit of connection and shared growth, the annual Accace Circle Forum 2025 once again brought together professionals from partner BPO and consultancy companies across the EMEA region. Hosted from October 8th to 10th, 2025, this year’s edition took place in Milan, Italy, in partnership with our valued Accace Circle member LDP.
The three-day event served as a meaningful space for discussion, collaboration and reflection around this year’s central theme – Company Self-Care: Thrive Within, Shine Beyond.
A new perspective on growth
Building on last year’s focus on talent, the 2025 forum took a deeper, inward look at what enables organizations to grow sustainably. The idea of “company self-care” encouraged participants to examine how internal clarity, boundaries and empathy form the foundation of healthy operations and strong partnerships.
As things move faster and get more complicated and client demand keeps rising, companies can easily overlook their own needs. But we can only do well and succeed outside if we first make sure our own processes and boundaries, are healthy inside.
Day 1: A warm welcome in Milan
The forum opened on Wednesday evening with a casual networking event at LDP Headquarters. The welcome drinks set a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, helping participants reconnect and meet new members of the community.
Day 2: Building healthy foundations
Thursday’s full-day program at Capitol Hotel Milan centred on the operational and structural side of company self-care – setting clear expectations and maintaining healthy client relationships.
The morning began with the official opening and a community overview, followed by the presentation The foundation of self-care: Clear service scope, clear expectations of Petr Mandát, from the Project and Account Management team of Accace Circle. Participants explored how defining scope goes beyond contract terms to become an act of organizational self-care. They discussed the impact of clear SLAs, integration mapping and service blueprints on smoother delivery and healthier teams.
In the first workshop, Scoping together, participants worked on a fictional tender brief to practice defining scope boundaries and identifying hidden risks. The session culminated in the creation of a shared “Business-as-Usual” blueprint – a practical outcome that highlighted how clarity at the start of any collaboration drives success later on.
After lunch, Jana Dolečková from the Project and Account Management team of Accace Circle led the second session, Healthy boundaries, healthier business: Managing client requests with clarity. Her presentation encouraged teams to see boundaries not as limitations, but as enablers of balanced workloads and sustainable delivery.
In the second workshop, From request to response, participants simulated real-life client situations where scope creep and extra requests often appear. Through open discussion and reflection, they learned how to recognize when to adapt, when to say no and how to communicate both with empathy and confidence.
At the end of the day, participants took a bus tour around Milan, seeing both famous sights and some lesser-known spots. The tour gave everyone a chance to relax, chat and enjoy the city together. Afterward, the group had a lively dinner with classic Milanese cuisine, where people shared stories and built stronger connections. The informal evening helped everyone continue conversations and finish the day on a positive note.
Day 3: The human side of communication
Friday’s program took place at LDP Headquarters and turned the focus toward emotional intelligence and communication. The community members from LDP opened the day with a fun welcome session, then Katarína Fábriová from the Project and Account Management team of Accace Circle continued with a presentation on The Art of Handling Difficult Situations: Saying the Hard Things, the Right Way. She guided participants through tools for adaptive communication, feedback delivery and finding the right balance between automation and human touch.
The final workshop, Hard talks, soft skills, transformed theory into practice through role-playing exercises. Participants handled challenging client and team scenarios, practiced reframing issues into learning opportunities and explored how emotional intelligence can turn difficult moments into stronger partnerships.
The forum concluded with a collaborative knowledge-sharing session and closing lunch, leaving participants inspired to bring new tools, awareness and empathy back to their organizations.
Reflections and takeaways
Throughout the event, one message stood out clearly: sustainable success begins within. The discussions revealed how small shifts in clarity, boundaries and communication can transform team well-being and client satisfaction alike.
Participants emphasized that the health of internal processes (from clearly defined scopes to balanced workloads) directly affects the quality of service and collaboration across the entire Accace Circle community.
The feedback collected after the forum reflected this shared realization:
“The sessions were insightful and well-balanced between theory and practice. I especially valued the focus on healthy boundaries and emotional intelligence.”
“It was extremely valuable to gain insight into how similar topics are approached in other countries. It was interesting to see how different the requirements can be across nations, yet how similar some of the challenges are.”
“All sessions and workshops were prepared and presented perfectly and from the practical point of view. That’s great to be able to share common issues and different approaches with colleagues and partners and also through the workshop to get more understanding on the specifics of the project management work.”
“The networking events were a great opportunity to exchange ideas and build meaningful connections. I appreciated the open and collaborative atmosphere.”
A community that grows together
The 2025 Accace Circle Forum once again demonstrated that collaboration and knowledge-sharing are the strongest drivers of progress. While we explored demanding topics, the event also offered moments of laughter, connection and friendship – the very essence of the Accace Circle spirit.
We left Milan re-energized, inspired and reminded that when we take care of what’s inside, everything outside flows naturally.
