The Oxford Advanced Management & Leadership Programme

Course details

This workshop introduces the principle of strategy and develops an effective process for developing strategy at all levels in an organisation. This workshop will also focus on the critical roles of team leader and middle manager in harnessing their team's potential, and introduces and practices techniques for moving the team to peak performance.

Key highlights of the course are:

• Business analysis
• Strategic team working
• Strategic presentation skills
• Identification and use of team members' talents and preferences
• Structuring the team for peak effectiveness
• Creating and communicating a compelling vision
• Motivating and developing your team
• Managing performance and conflict

The seminar is split into two modules:

• MODULE I - Strategy & Strategic Planning
• MODULE II -Leading High Performing Teams

Each module is structured and can be taken as a stand-alone course; however, delegates will maximise their benefits by taking Module 1 and 2 back-to-back as a two-week seminar.

Objectives

By the end of this programme you will be able to:

• To define and to demystify the concepts of 'strategy' and 'strategic plans', but also to demystify the strategic process - as part of 'Helicopter Thinking'
• To break the strategy process down step-by-step, providing a practical toolkit for managers for each key stage
• To illustrate it through some well chosen and highly stimulating case studies - and to distil the lessons from this
• To apply it to your own area of management responsibility - through planning the analysis, option generation, choice, implementation and measurement phases of strategy
• To put this within the overall context of the organisation and of the change and influencing process generally
• To give you a lot more confidence in managing your role strategically within your organisation
• To understand your role as a manager and a leader
• To establish clear objectives and standards of performance for your team and to manage and use conflict and challenge

Training Methodology

The seminar uses a range of approaches to learning, including experiential group activities, individual exercises, mini-case studies, role plays and syndicate discussions. Formal inputs are used to introduce underpinning theory. A key part of the learning process is sharing the differing experiences participants bring, as well as experimenting with novel - and sometimes challenging - techniques.

Organisational Impact

• Much better decision-taking and time and resource allocation - leading to better organisational and individual performance
• Use of a well proven planning process
• More effective implementation

Fully functional teams are at the heart of organisational performance. Leaders at all levels who can effectively structure, integrate and motivate their teams are better able to focus on longer-term organisational and customer needs.

Personal Impact

• Increasing career flexibility (vertically and horizontally)
• Accelerated thinking speed and problem resolution for all difficult dilemmas
• Far greater motivation and proactivity
• Exposed to a range of perspectives on teams and the leadership function, sharing examples of best practice and together solving real and simulated team performance issues.
• Practice new and sometimes challenging techniques will build flexibility and confidence in harnessing the power of the team.

Participants will be exposed to a range of perspectives on teams and the leadership function, sharing examples of best practice and together solving real and simulated team performance issues. Practising new and sometimes challenging techniques will build flexibility and confidence in harnessing the power of the team.

SEMINAR OUTLINE 

Module I

Strategy and Strategic Planning

DAY 1

Strategic Thinking and Business Analysis

• What are strategy and strategic planning?
• Why are strategy and strategic planning important?
• What are the main conceptual frameworks?
• External analysis - understanding and analyzing business attractiveness - macroenvironmental factors, growth drivers, competitive forces, market dynamics
• Benchmarking your own strategic position/competitor analysis
• Analyzing customers
• "Thinking backwards from the customer"
• Mini-case on importance of external analysis

DAY 2

Internal analysis and fusion of analyses into strategic options

• The interface of external and internal analysis
• Internal analysis: financial
• Internal analysis; non-financial
• The concept and practicalities of the "balanced scorecard"
• Diagnosing strategic problems and opportunities
• Fusion of analyses into strategic choices - SWOT and the strategy matrix
• Case examples of strategic choice
• Mini-case on importance of internal analysis

DAY 3

Strategic plans and the relevance of alliances and joint ventures

• Review of the tools used so far
• The content of a strategy: avoiding "paralysis by analysis"
• Putting a strategic plan together - the 5-page framework
• A real-life example of a business strategy/strategic plan
• Strategies for alliances and joint ventures
• Example of best practice in alliances and joint ventures
• Introduction and briefing for the main case study
• First-phase group work on the main case study

DAY 4

Global strategy, teambuilding and the management of internal communication

• The essence of globalization and global strategy
• Globalization - the strategic dimension
• Globalization - the organizational dimension
• Globalization - the human dimension
• How to build and manage a strategic planning team
• Communicating strategy through the organization
• Gaining your team's commitment and buy-in to the strategy
• Second-phase work on the main case study

DAY 5

Strategic implementation and getting the value out of strategy

• Final-phase work on the main case study
• Group presentations of the main case study
• Effective execution - converting strategic analysis and planning into action
• Linking strategy with operational objectives
• Implementation - getting practical things done
• Strategic planning of your own career
• Creating tomorrow's organization out of today's organization
• Conclusion - the corporate and individual value of strategic thinking

Module II

Leading High Performing Teams

DAY 6

Teams and their Leaders

• Teams, leaders and managers
• Key leadership tasks
• Influence, authority and power
• Leadership styles and style flexibility
• Self-awareness
• Emotional intelligence and rapport

DAY 7

Vision, Direction & Alignment

• Creating a shared vision
• Aims, objectives and goal alignment
• Developing meaningful objectives and indicators
• Divergent approaches to problem-solving
• Communicating a compelling vision
• Delivering challenging messages

DAY 8

Team Dynamics

• Team development
• The sociology of the team
• Characteristics of high-performing teams
• Balancing team roles
• Non-traditional team structures
• Delegation and empowerment

DAY 9

Developing the Team

• Learning and competence
• Building a coherent team
• Self-managing teams and their challenges
• Coaching, mentoring and self-directed learning
• Feedback and appraisal
• Leveraging team strengths for peak performance

DAY 10

Performance & Conflict Management

• Defining performance
• Approaches to measuring team and individual performance
• Performance through the eyes of the customer
• Performance management: science or art?
• Conflict as a catalyst for team development
• Dealing with challenging interpersonal relations