Business Management, Planning & Strategy

This course is designed for newly appointed managers and practising managers who have had no formal management training. The course looks at the 3 management roles, the 11 competencies of successful managers, management styles, learning styles, continuous development, communication, assertiveness, time management, delegation, coaching and managing performance.

Designed for medium sized organisations and Strategic Business Units of larger organisations, the course gives participants an understanding of strategy and how to approach the formulation of Business Strategy. Topics include: The nature and language of Strategy. Differences between Corporate, Business and Operational Strategy. Emergent and Prescriptive Processes. Analysing the business environment. Looking inwards and outwards. Core Competencies. Competitive Forces. Analysing Resources. Vision, Mission and Objectives. Creating sustainable competitive advantage. The Strategy Clock. Bases of Competitive Advantage.

This course enables business managers to save valuable time in producing their business plans. In addressing the practical issues of planning, delegates are provided with templates and spreadsheets to facilitate the planning process. Topics include: The purpose of a business plan. What time period should it cover and what should it include? How the plan links to business strategy. Critical Success Factors. Key Performance Indicators. The Marketing component. The Finance component. The Sales plan. Resource implications. Presenting the Plan.

With a greater understanding of business, the Executive PA can make a more valuable contribution to the activities of the board and the senior management team. This course examines the Role of the modern Executive PA, the Business Environment, Marketing, Management and Finance. As well as enabling improved performance, this course provides an excellent opportunity to explore career progression options.

Designed for business managers, owner managers, and non-finance directors, the course gives delegates a solid grounding in finance. Delegates will learn how their day-to-day and longer-term decisions can affect and improve, the financial performance of their organisation. The course will enable directors in particular, to make a more valuable contribution to the financial decisions of the board. Topics include: Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss, Cash Flow; assessing performance using Financial ratios and models; Costing and Pricing methods; fixed, variable, direct and indirect costs; absorption costing, marginal and relevant costing. Investment/Project Appraisal techniques including Discounted Cash Flow, Internal Rate of Return and NPV. The contemporary issues of Activity-based Costing and Balanced Score-card are also examined.

Essential Management Skills (3 days)

Business Skills for the Executive PA (2 days)

Developing the Business Plan (2 days)

Formulating Business Strategy (2 days)

Finance for Business Managers and Directors (2 days)

Effective team working increases productivity and employee satisfaction. This course for team leaders, examines the issues of Team working, Leadership and Performance Management brought together, with the aim of leading the team beyond effectiveness and towards high performance. Topics include: The differences between Groups and Teams. Group Processes and Behaviour. The 5 stages of team development. The 9 team roles. Types of team. The Task, the Team and the Individual. Characteristics of an effective team leader. Developing the Team and the Team Members. Coaching. Developing yourself as a leader. Performance Management. Leading the Team from effectiveness to high performance.

Developing and Leading High Performance Teams (2 days)