Maintaining a high level of productivity in today's successful organizations takes work and continuous learning in a variety of management skills and techniques. To be successful in daily work tasks, knowledge and skills in management techniques must be learned, practiced and implemented. People in all types of organizations find themselves needing to find more productive methods of planning work and tasks, setting appropriate goals, using good interpersonal skills and using effective means of making decisions. A focus on using productive practices allows for effective and efficient management of work and making changes in the organization.

The purpose of this comprehensive program is to assist in furthering one's ability to set goals, plan work and tasks, manage time, make good decisions and work more productively with others. The program offers a range of practical and highly effective techniques and tools that can be implemented in any workplace. It will build confidence in one's ability, increase ability to lead people and build skill to apply management concepts and techniques. One week of this seminar focuses on the concepts, principles and challenges of task and work planning, with additional topics on time and stress management and how human interaction skill impacts on our effectiveness. The second week establishes a focus on key management skills such as setting goals and objectives, establishing performance standards, decision making processes and change management.

The Structure

Module 1 - Effective Time, Task & Work Planning

Module 2 - Goal Setting, Planning & Decision Making

The Goals

• Use simple frameworks for planning, including allocating and managing priorities, scheduling work, working proactively and reactively and project planning
• Understand and develop skills necessary to get assigned work completed on time.
• Use basic planning project tools to plan work strategy
• Set goals and targets effectively and efficiently
• Learn how to establish and maintain task deadlines
• Understand the characteristics of colleagues who assist in our work assignments
• Develop positive interpersonal techniques for better management of our work
• Learn how to plan work balancing the constraints of time, cost, scope and quality
• Understand the role of stakeholders in a project and learn techniques of stakeholder management
• Develop techniques to deal with organizational change, including delegation and empowerment
• Develop communication and human interaction skills with others
• Understand and develop skills necessary to set goals in a strategic and organizational context
• Consider methods of improving decision making
• Understand how delegation can be used in setting of goals and planning
• Identify decision making processes and how they impact on organizations
• Develop the ability to make higher quality decisions as individuals and teams

The Process

This course is an interactive mixture of lecture, discussion, activities and practice on management skills. It provides definitions, examples, discussion and activities designed to promote skill building with interaction and discussion among participants. Activities and work on practice case studies and role playing are used to deliberately highlight concepts taught and allow participants to practice new project management skills.

The Benefits

• Build and maintain effective and efficient planning procedures and processes
• Integrate planning management functions into the overall mission of the organization
• Develop skills for leaders which will raise their capability, skill and morale
• Improve preparedness to deal with task and work contingencies
• Improve performance in setting and completing work objectives
• Allow teams and leaders to better meet challenges of dynamic, constant change
• Establish organizational and personal decision making capabilities
• Be better able to meet the challenges of dynamic, constant change

The Results

• Improve individual and team performance by learning productive, effective and efficient skills in work and task management
• Learn leadership techniques to do work planning and establish priorities
• Develop skills in interpersonal interaction to better work assignments
• Demonstrate proficiency to develop work plans and make good decisions
• Adds personal value and competency for an organizational manager
• Learn management techniques to plan, establish priorities and set and maintain goals
• Demonstrate proficiency to develop plans and make good decisions

The Core Competencies

• Work and Project Management
• Task Planning and Monitoring
• Time Management
• Human Interaction Skill
• Creative Imagination
• Decision Making
• Change Management

The Programme Content

Module 1:

Effective Time, Task & Work Planning

Our changing world - personal assessment

• What do I hope to achieve?
• How will I achieve it?
• What has changed in work and life?
• What other changes can we expect?
• How do we manage this?
• What are the implications for me and for others?
• Balancing life and work

Why time matters and how your use of time affects others

• How am I using my time?
• What are my time wasters?
• Time logging
• Why do I put things off?
• Ways that other people use time
• Time lines - how do I view time?
• How does my use of time affect others?

Work planning and project management

• Work management methods diagnostic
• Pressures on work plans - time, quality, cost
• The planning process
• Planning work in progress
• Analysing and managing risk
• Contingency planning
• Problem solving techniques

Practical techniques for managing time wasters

• Managing paperwork, real and virtual
• Managing travel
• Managing meetings
• Making the best use of the phone.
• Using the diary - the key time management tool.
• Managing Interruptions

Making it all work

• Work planning practical
• Debrief
• Testing your plan
• Analysing your strengths and needs
• Developing your personal development plan

Module 2:

Goal Setting, Planning & Decision Making

Current Status of Setting Goals, Planning and Decision Making

• Introductions
• Course purpose, goals and objectives
• Overview and context of organizational change and the impact on goals, planning and decision making
• Understanding of the current status of the organization, team and personal work
• Review of management processes and skill areas
• Using a planning process to set goals and get work started

Importance of Goal Setting and Planning Management

• Integrating goals, scope, work structure and management planning
• Identifying initial resource requirements
• Identifying risk techniques that affect work assignments, priorities and deadlines
• Communication that responds to: who, what where, when, how, why
• Understanding the importance of quality planning in work assignments

Setting Priorities and Making Decisions in the Planning Process

• Using planning to ensure task priorities are established
• Planning for time management, scheduling and meeting deadlines
• Integrating the functions into a final work plan
• Improving communications and listening skills
• Planning for delegation responsibility and authority
• Techniques for making good decisions

Working with Your Team

• Identifying skills required to obtain the help of others
• The importance of group skills to achieve team success
• The importance of interpersonal skills in making personal and team decisions
• Empowering the team through delegation and decision making
• The importance of effective communication in team relations

Developing Personal and Team Change Action Plans

• Innovation and improvement for personal and team change
• Identification of change processes and human change
• Techniques to set personal and team change goals
• Dealing with people who do not want change
• Developing an action plan for personal and team change