Strategic Development: Thinking, Planning, Management and Leadership Training Course

Session 1: Strategic Thinking

• Defining '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
• Qualities of an Effective Leader
• Inspiration, Impact, and Charisma in Leadership versus the 'Loner'
• Transformational Leadership

Case Study/Exercise

Session 3: Establishing a Vision

• 'Mission' Versus 'Vision'
• Reasons Strategic Plans Fail and How to Prevent Failure
• Agreeing on a Robust Vision
• The Need for Clarity and Measurability
• Securing Buy-in to the Vision

Case Study/Exercise

Session 4: Becoming Strategic

• Strategic Planning and Thinking
• Developing Techniques for Strategic Thinking
• Communication Strategies
• Identifying Critical Skills for Success

Case Study/Exercise

Major Case Study Workshop : Participants will work in small groups to develop a plan for launching a new business or strategy, following an analysis of the Current Business Environment and Influences. The plan will assess current resources and environmental 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 Areas:
  • Financial, Human Resources, Operations, Systems, and Style

Case Study/Exercise

Session 7: Motivation and Change Management

• Motivational Theory
• Practical Motivation Techniques
• 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
• Strategic Implications
  1. Identifying Stakeholders
  2. Securing Cross-Organisational Buy-in
  3. Potential Conflict Areas
  4. Countering Objections

Case Study/Exercise

Session 9: Projects and Measures of Success

• New Projects Versus Business as Usual
• The Need for KPMs (Key Performance Metrics)
• 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 Strategies
• 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 Effects
• Selling the Benefits of Change to the Organisation
• Minimising 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 delegates will role-play a manager and team member during an initial encounter. The group will then debrief in a friendly manner and discuss the dynamics.

Session 13: Dealing With People

• Management Styles
• Behavioural Styles
• Bank Cultural Style
• Bank and Management Policy Style
• Your Personal Style
• Meetings
• One-to-One Encounters
• Overcoming Resistance
• Dealing with Your Own Bosses
• Selling Issues and Challenges to Your Team

Case Study/Exercise: Your boss asks you to reallocate some responsibilities. The staff involved will not appreciate this and are nervous about the change. How will you handle this situation?

Session 14: Communication Skills

• Different Communication Styles
• Corporate/Management Style
• Oral, Written, and Electronic Communication
• Encouraging Two-Way Communication
• Encouraging Esprit de Corps
• Using 'Top-Down' Directives
• Dealing with Resistance

Case Study/Exercise: Your predecessor held weekly team meetings but chose not to chair them, selecting 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 the collegiate style of management, favoured by most management gurus, 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 Goals
• Ensuring Continuous Team Improvement
• Managing the Whole Role – Time Management and Effective Goal Setting
• Leadership 'Presence' – Projecting the Image of a Leader
• The Influence of Supervisor Behaviour – on the Team and Each Member
• The Focus of an Effective Supervisor

Case Study: You have been promoted ahead of a colleague and friend who is visibly disappointed. How should you handle this situation?

Session 17: Managing Problems

• Dealing 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 with your assessment and instructs you to manage the situation. How do you handle this seemingly impossible brief?

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 reward?

Session 19: Delegation

• The Art of Delegation
• When to Delegate
• Supervising
• Avoiding Overkill
• Monitoring
• What is Trade Finance

Case Study: You have asked your deputy to prepare the preliminary budget for your department. How do you monitor the process without infringing on their authority? At what point would you take over, and how would you handle this?

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 carry out a task. They say they are 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 of Appraisal
• Remuneration Considerations
• The Appraisal Process
• Encouragement and Guidance
• Dealing with Weaknesses

Case Study: You have been asked to select one person for promotion from two candidates and to inform both of the outcome. How do you handle the unsuccessful individual?