Managing Complexity

Stakeholder Management

Module Introduction

Stakeholders are critical people who decide the fate of a project. Project members have to work very closely with every stakeholder till the end of the project. Communicating and engaging with stakeholders is vital for project progression.

The more one engages with stakeholders to manage them, the greater the chance of uncovering potential risks, which may have otherwise gone unnoticed. The sooner these risks are identified, the better opportunity they have to mitigate them by employing the right measures.

Regardless of what the project’s outcome is, what the stakeholders feel at the end of the project is what really matters. That is why we present to you this exceptional training module. It is suitable for everyone who interacts with critical resources inside or outside of your organization.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the module, you should be able to:

  • Learn about the stakeholder theory.
  • How to make a stakeholder management plan.
  • How to identify Stakeholders and how to analyse them.
  • Strategize, prioritize, monitor and report.
  • Perform stakeholder mapping.
  • Learn about the best practices of stakeholder management.

Individual Outcomes

Participants would be able to identify and understand the needs of stakeholders by elevating trust and coordination. This is extremely important as an issue are identified proactively. It helps deliver projects on time and effectively.

Organizational Outcomes

This module will stress the importance of good stakeholder management. Your organization will benefit from better understanding, deeper engagement and realistic expectations. It will help keep your stakeholders happy which has a direct relationship with your organization’s reputation.

Power and Influence

Module Introduction

Power is often defined as the potential ability of one person to influence others to carry out orders or to do something they otherwise would not have done. Power almost always exists in organizations. Organizations operate by distributing authority and setting a stage for the exercise of power. Influence refers to the effect a person’s actions have on the attitudes, values, beliefs, or actions of others.

Power and influence is collaborative work in order to achieve desired goals. All leadership relies on the use of power to influence others and get things done. Whereas power is the capacity to cause a change in a person, influence may be thought of as the degree of actual change. To get things done in today’s organizations, we must positively influence others-direct reports, colleagues, managers, clients, and suppliers-both inside and outside the organization. In addition, the factors influencing organizations change therefore flexibility in using different influence approaches is key.

Leaders are unlikely to be successful if their approach is to simply demand things get done. Most people in professional capacities use their influence to motivate and inspire their teams and cement their authority.

Through this training, participants can learn to use practical tools to become more powerful and influential with co-workers, managers, and partners. This skill-set is useful for anyone who works with people and coursework is designed to help participants understand the psychology of why people act the way they do. Participants will complete the course with increased confidence in their ability to influence people.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the module, you should be able to:

  • Understand the definitions of power, authority and influence
  • Analyze the bases of power
  • Apply dependence as key to power
  • Evaluate contingency approaches to power
  • Apply the tactics of power
  • Remember personal qualities and skills that build power
  • Apply strategies to acquire power

Individual Outcomes

Refine present skills and recognize one’s potential to influence others’ behaviour through the use of positive power.

Organizational Outcomes

Develop leaders who can effectively drive change, build team performance and embed a strategic vision with their ability to influence team members.

Leadership Styles

Module Introduction

Leaders have a tremendous impact on an organization’s culture. They set the tone for the employees to perceive their roles. A leader’s success is measured by their ability to mould and defend the organizational culture.

Leads set the agenda, prioritize tasks, manage, lead, and delegate. Today’s workforce is evolving, technology dependent and is more diverse than ever before. To be able to lead efficiently in the ever-changing business, technical and cultural landscape, it is crucial for every leader or aspiring leader to learn the different styles of leadership.

This training will showcase how leadership styles have changed over the years, explains the various concepts and theories. It also teaches about contemporary theories and styles. This module will help the leaders understand their own style and what other styles they can incorporate.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the module, you should be able to:

  • The different kinds of leadership concepts
  • Learn about the Trait theories
  • Explore behavioural theories
  • Learn about the contingency theories
  • Study the contemporary theories
  • Understand the different Leadership styles
  • Identify your own leadership style.
  • Adopt new leadership styles.

Individual Outcomes

Participants would be strategic and intentional about their leadership style. It will enable them to adopt more styles to address different circumstances and people.  It would greatly improve employee engagement and productivity.

Organizational Outcomes

The module will enable your leaders to manage teams better and improve employee engagement. It will enhance communication and reduce staff turnover. The training will help strengthen the organization culture and nurture future leaders.

Risk Management

Module Introduction

A risk is an event with the ability to impact (inhibit, enhance or cause doubt about) the effectiveness and efficiency of the core processes of an organization. Risk can simply be considered ‘an unplanned event with unexpected consequences’.

Risk management is not about stopping risk. It is about understanding, prioritizing and controlling risk. Any business that does not understand and control risk is bound for asset destruction, compliance issues, scandal and financial collapse. Operational resiliency requires an integrated approach to risk management, particularly operational risk management, and business continuity management. Organizations operate in an environment characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, popularly known as VUCA. Additionally, events such as the Covid19 pandemic surprise.  Organizations did not have a balanced view of enterprise risk. Many enterprise risk management programs (including corporate risk management and operational risk management) have been focused on highly visible risks, such as IT security, while not paying attention to the significant, but low-likelihood risks like a pandemic. Enterprise risk management programs would become more balanced and monitor a broader array of risks that can affect the organization and its objectives. 

While providing familiarity with the broader Enterprise Risk Management framework, the module primarily focuses on the process and people dimensions of Operational Risk Management.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the module, you should be able to:

  • Understand Risk in an Organizational Context
  • Understand Risk Management Process
  • Understand Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Framework
  • Understand Operational Risk Management
  • Understand People Risks
  • Understand Process Risks
  • Apply Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) for Process Risk Management

Individual Outcomes

Participants would become familiar with risk management in an organizational context and gain an understanding of the process and people aspects of Operational Risk Management to be able to apply the understanding in preparing appropriate risk mitigation and risk response plans in the areas of process risks and people risks.

Organizational Outcomes

An organization would acquire capabilities to assess risks (identification, analysis and prioritization), develop risk treatment plans, and monitor and review process risks and people risks.

Decision Making

Module Introduction

We make several decisions every day that differ in their degree of importance. Some are easy, routine choices and some others could be life changing. The choices we make dictate the consequences we face. Decision making plays a vital role in our personal and professional life. Decision making can be defined as the process of selecting the best course of action from a pool of available alternatives in order to get the results we want. Decision making is the crux of management. An integral part of a manager’s role is to make decisions. Every management function takes place based on the decisions made by the people in charge of running the organization. Whether there is a problem to solved or an opportunity to be made use of, making good decisions is key. There is less room for confusion, complication and failure when correct decisions are taken.

Regardless of the position one holds, every person in the organization is responsible for making decisions that impact business. While some of these decisions may be simple and not require much of our thinking, some others demand a lot more attention to detail, expertise and knowledge. It then becomes vital for employees to develop and master the skills of good decision making. Some tools and processes take a more formalized approach to decision making that ensure promising results.

Problem-solving is closely tied to decision making. It requires logic, good judgement, wisdom and experience to move the organization in the direction of its goals. Managers of non-profit seeking concerns and public enterprises face the challenge of taking vital decisions on many important matters. When managers plan, advise, approve or control anything, they have to make a decision and justify their actions.

This training aims to equip participants with skills that will help them to understand decisions, analyze problems, evaluate options and make the best choices.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the module, you should be able to:

  • Understand how assumptions and biases impact decision making.
  • Analyse decision-making models that best fit your organizational structure
  • Apply this learning in day-to-day scenarios at work to make better decisions
  • Evaluate situations by asking better questions that foster innovation

Individual Outcomes

Learning from this module gives participants the confidence to handle complex situations with ease and help build managerial qualities essential for success.

Organizational Outcomes

Decision-making training will help employees understand how to make choices based on what is available and accessible. It ensures the best utilization of organizational resources and reduces wastage.

Negotiation and Advocacy

Module Introduction

Negotiation and advocacy skills are important in all areas of life. However, these skills play a more vital function in an organizational setting. The knack to negotiate effectively is highly appreciated in today’s competitive market. Businesses can go through great losses due to poor negotiation skills. They can also boost their profits with better negotiation skills. Being a good negotiator helps one to achieve their goals and it plays an important role in career development. Good negotiation skills help in every area of life be it personal or professional.

This module targets to create win-win situations which will benefit organizations, their employees and their clients. It accentuates communication, helps build mutual trust or to accept a compromise. This training introduces the participant to conflict resolution methods and various negotiation concepts that would promote better bonding among employees leading to improved communication and better decisions.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the module, you should be able to:

  • Learn the concepts of negotiation.
  • Know what the goals of negotiation are.
  • Learn about negotiation traits and behaviours.
  • Understand the negotiation process.
  • Know the different types of negotiations and styles.
  • Learn what negotiating tactics are.
  • Understand the negotiation pitfalls.

Individual Outcomes

Participants would be able to negotiate better resulting in reduced conflicts. A good negotiator is well respected and also builds a respectable workspace. It improves your relationships because both parties can agree upon something without hurting each other’s sentiments.

Organizational Outcomes

Your organization can witness more meaningful conversations by creating a channel for win-win situations. With your employees being better negotiators, they can strike the best deals. It helps maximize productivity as your employees maintain mutual respect when they negotiate instead of arguing.

Process Management

Module Introduction

Each organization has to manage a number of processes. Processes are what organizations do whenever they deliver a service or a product to customers. The way processes are designed and performed affects both the quality of service that customers perceive and the efficiency with which services are delivered. An organization can outperform another organization offering similar kinds of service if it has better processes and executes them better. This is true not only for customer-facing processes but also for internal processes, which are performed for fulfilling an internal need. Processes define how work is done, in what sequence, by whom, and to what requirements. Processes comprise steps or actions that need to occur in order for an output, outcome, or result to happen.

Processes are designed to create an outcome or result that meets certain requirements and/or expectations. The processes must be managed to achieve the requirements and expectations stipulated by the customers.  Process Management refers to aligning processes with an organization’s strategic goals, designing and implementing process architectures, establishing process measurement systems that align with organizational goals, and educating and organizing staff so that they will manage processes effectively. Process management involves defining a process, establishing responsibilities, evaluating process performance, identifying opportunities for improvement and continually improving processes.

The training program is aimed at developing a ‘process perspective’, which means understanding the organization in terms of all its individual processes and being able to define and implement processes that meet the organization’s goals.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the module, you should be able to:

  • Understand the process perspective
  • Understand the importance of process management
  • Understand the process model and process classification framework
  • Understand process maturity assessment framework
  • Understand process behaviour and causes of process variation
  • Understand process mapping
  • Apply the process mapping concepts to create relationship maps
  • Apply process mapping concepts to create cross-functional process maps
  • Apply process mapping concepts to create flow charts
  • Apply process definition concepts to create process descriptions
  • Understand the principles for improving process flow
  • Apply the concept of failure modes and effects analysis to manage process risks

Individual Outcomes

Participants would be able to create process descriptions and process maps for all identified key processes of the organization/function after completion of the training and manage processes to meet the organizational, customer and stakeholder objectives and requirements, effectively and efficiently.

Organizational Outcomes

Establishing a process management system would help the organization achieve its objectives and deliver customer and stakeholder requirements consistently and efficiently, and to improve processes on an ongoing basis.