Course Outline
Session 1: Strategic Thinking
- Understanding the concept of 'Strategic'
- Three Core Areas of Corporate Strategy
- Process, Content, and Context
- Processes linking the three core areas
Session 2: The Challenges of Leadership
- Distinctions between management and leadership
- Leadership theories
- Expectations of leaders and their staff
- Identifying key leadership traits
- Attributes of effective leaders
- Inspiration, impact, and charisma in leadership versus the "loner" approach
- Transformational leadership
Case Study/Exercise
Session 3: Establishing a Vision
- 'Mission' versus 'Vision'
- Reasons for strategic plan failure and strategies to avoid it
- Agreeing on a robust vision
- The need for clarity and measurability
- Gaining buy-in for the vision
Case Study/Exercise
Session 4: Becoming Strategic
- Strategic planning and thinking
- Developing techniques for strategic thought
- Communication strategies
- Identifying critical skills for success
Case study/Exercise
Major Case Study Workshop : Participants will work in small groups to formulate a plan for launching a new business or business strategy after analyzing the Current Business Environment and Influences. The plan should assess resources in the Current Business Environment and Influences against the established vision.
Session 5: Analysing the Current Business Environment and Influences
- External Environments
- The General Environment
- Key Influencing Factors
- Business Product/Service Cycles
- Customer Analysis
Case Study/Exercise
Session 6: Analysis of Resources
Analysing the Organisation
- The holistic approach
- Silo Issues
- Cross Organisational Assessment
-
Assessment:
- Financial, Human Resources, Operations, Systems, Style
Case Study/Exercise
Session 7: Motivation and Change Management
- Motivational theory
- Practical motivation techniques
- The role of money as a motivator
- Change agents
- Resistance to change
- The DREC curve
- Approaches to change management
Case Study/Exercise
Session 8: Establishing the Strategy
- Turning 'Vision into Reality'
- Creation of Strategic Movement
- Developing Strategic Options
-
Strategy Implications
- Identifying Stakeholders
- Cross Organisational Buy-in
- Potential conflict areas
- Countering Objections
Case Study/Exercise
Session 9: Projects and Measures of Success
- New Projects versus Business as Usual
- The need for KPMs
- Measurement approaches
- Using the Scorecard Approach
- Key business drivers and traceability
- Hard and Soft Measures
- Establishing a metrics framework
- Project Tracking
- Risk reporting
Case Study/Exercise
Session 10: The Implementation Process
- Resource allocation, strategic planning, and control
- Planning tools
- Objectives
- Tasks
- Communications
- Resource Allocation
- Resource characteristics
- Building the team
- Projects versus 'Business as Usual'
Case Study/Exercise
Session 11: Managing the Strategic Change including Conflict Management
- The necessity of conflict – is it healthy
- Conflict as a problem
- Causes of conflict
- Managing, mitigating, and/or avoiding conflict
- The impact of change and managing its effects
- Selling the benefits of change to the organisation
- Minimizing the downside
- Keeping the plan on track
Case Study/Exercise
Session 12: Assessing Your Team
- Preparatory work
- Personnel files
- Work Records
- Feedback from other colleagues
- Meetings
- Discussion groups and Forums
Case Study/Exercise: Two participants will role-play a manager and a team member during an initial encounter. The group will then de-brief in a constructive manner and discuss the interaction.
Session 13: Dealing With People
- Management styles
- Behavioural styles
- Organizational cultural style
- Organizational and management policy style
- Your personal style
- Meetings
- One-to-one encounters
- Overcoming resistance
- Dealing with superiors
- Presenting issues and challenges to your team
Case Study/Exercise: Your superior asks you to reallocate some responsibilities. The staff involved are resistant and anxious about the change. How do you manage this situation?
Session 14: Communication Skills
- Different styles
- Corporate/Management style
- Oral, written, and electronic communication
- Encouraging two-way communication
- Fostering team spirit
- Using "Top down" directives
- Dealing with resistance
Case Study/Exercise: Your predecessor held weekly team meetings but did not chair them, appointing a senior employee instead. Do you agree with this approach? Would you change it? If so, how?
Session 15: Management styles
- Textbook definitions
- Your preferred style
- Your institution's style and your boss's style
- What works best for your department
- What works best for the team
Case Study/Exercise: Do you believe that the collegiate style of management, favored by most management experts, is the most effective?
Session 16: The Role of a Manager
- The transition from team member to supervisor
- The role in ensuring the team achieves its goals
- Ensuring continuous team improvement
- Managing the overall role – time management and effective goal setting
- Leadership 'Presence' – projecting the image of a leader
- The influence of supervisor behavior on the team and individual members
- The focus of an effective supervisor
Case Study: You have been promoted ahead of a colleague and friend who is clearly disappointed. How should you handle this situation?
Session 17: Managing Problems
- Handling issues informally, semi-formally, and formally
- Methods of problem-solving
- Enlisting help and guidance
- Resolution
- Referral
Case Study/Exercise: Your staff are underperforming due to excessive workload. Your boss disagrees and instructs you to manage the situation. How do you handle this difficult directive?
Session 18: Motivation
- Basic motivating factors
- Creating the right environment
- Carrot/stick approach
- Nurturing
- Patronage
Case Study/Exercise: How would you persuade your team to work on a weekend without offering extra compensation?
Session 19: Delegation
- The art of delegation
- When to delegate
- Supervising
- Avoiding overkill
- Monitoring
- Understanding trade finance
Case Study: You have asked your deputy to prepare the preliminary budget for your department. How do you monitor the process without causing offense? When would you intervene, and how would you handle it?
Session 20: Conflict and Resolution
- Main causes of conflict
- Resolution methods
- Involving management
- Dealing with challenges to your authority
- Formal procedures
Case Study: You ask a junior employee to perform a task. They claim to be too busy, but you insist. They refuse again, publicly. How should you handle this direct challenge to your authority?
Session 21: Staff appraisals
- Importance of appraisals
- Objectives
- Remuneration considerations
- Appraisal process
- Encouragement and guidance
- Addressing weaknesses
Case Study: You have been asked to select one person for promotion from two candidates and inform both of the outcome. How do you manage the situation with the unsuccessful individual?
Testimonials (2)
training and feedback
Jochen Jung - Bachem
Course - DZM – delegating tasks and motivating employees
Promoting the interaction between people.
