Management and Leadership

Developing a Strategic Mindset

• Traditional Classroom: 1-day
• Virtual Instructor-led: Two 3-3.5 hour sessions; Three 2-hour sessions

Target Audience

Individuals who will benefit from this course include managers, leaders, team leads, project managers, team members, and anyone looking to develop their strategic thinking and strategic decision-making skills.

Learning Objectives

• Recognize the importance and value of detailed analysis and use a variety of analysis tools.
• Appreciate the relationship between your organization’s vision and mission and its future.
• Practice putting your strategic plan into action.
• Understand the importance of developing a strategic mindset and embedding it into the corporate culture.

Course Outline

Strategic Planning Process

• Using the strategic planning process to help you make choices about the future nature and direction of your organization
• Assessing the benefits and risks of strategic planning
• Undertaking a strategic review to determine ‘where are we now?’ including stakeholder research, collaborator/competitor analysis, and understanding when and how to use analytical tools such as SWOT, PEST, and the Boston Consulting Group matrix to understand your organization and its environment

Identifying Strategic Direction

• Identifying the key strategic issues for your organization over the next few years
• Taking a fresh look at what your organization is, what it does, and why
• Recognizing how the findings of the review will impact on the organization’s strategic direction
• Clarifying mission, values, and direction of travel
• Recognizing the relationship between organization strategy and brand identity, and aligning the two

Setting Strategic Objectives

• Establishing success criteria
• Listing priority areas for action and developing objectives;
• Applying smart thinking
• Using outcomes-based tools

Implementing the Strategy

• Understanding the key factors involved in implementing strategy
• Using action planning tools such as logical frame working, action planning grids and planning wheels
• Communicating your strategic plan

Undertaking Effective Monitoring and Evaluation

• Understanding the difference between monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment
• Identifying the indicators, and how to measure their achievement
• Recognizing emergent approaches to monitoring and evaluation such as participatory, real-time, balanced scorecard

Communicating Your Strategy to the Board and Senior Management

• Overcoming objections
• Handling tough questions
• Communicating with brevity and impact

MDI2021 Course Code