Strategic Thinking
250-16
Professional development and personal effectiveness
Critical Success Factors for Achieving High Payoff Results
Thinking strategically can be described as the way people in an organization think about, view, assess and create the future for themselves, their team, and the organization. More than simply reacting to day-to-day or long-term problems and opportunities, it is concerned with creating opportunities and choosing options in order to be able to realize the best possible future. It is an ongoing process that becomes part of the organizational culture and part of the local vocabulary; it also ensures that strategic planning activity is more meaningful. Strategic thinking is a foundational skill and the same principles can be equally applied to people’s personal lives and their work responsibilities. The same thinking approach is relevant to all levels of responsibility throughout the organization.
However, thinking strategically is only half of the workplace challenge; the ideal outcome for any organization is for its people to be able to both think strategically while acting tactically. Striking the proper balance is critical to the smooth operation of the organization and the full involvement of all its people. Achieving the balance helps team members collaborate and better align their day-to-day activities with the higher goals and vision of the project, department, or organization as a whole.
This workshop will explore both what it means to think strategically, and how day-to-day operational action can be aligned to the grander strategy at both the individual and team level.
At the end of this workshop, you will have:
- The mental tools to start understanding the strategic environment that you work in
- Better knowledge of yourself as a strategic thinker
- The means to become more strategic in your day-to-day activity and so be able to better align with corporate goals
Setting the scene
- Gaining a working understanding of strategy and tactics/operations
Individuals as potential strategic thinkers
- What are the attributes of a strategic thinker?
- Are you a strategic thinker?
Organizational culture
- Assessing your organization’s culture
- How does this help or hinder your intention to think more strategically
- What should the ideal culture for team strategic thinking be like and what do you need to do to get there?
Taking ‘ownership’ of strategy
- Balancing expectations with permission to think and act strategically
- Organizational knowledge and action learning as useful techniques for getting involved
- Visual thinking tools to help you ask the right questions
- A five-step briefing format for any occasion to get your message across powerfully
Strategic/Operational Framework
- Exploring the key elements of a framework that you can use to ensure you become aware of all of the elements of your organizational strategy
- How operations are connected to strategy; how individuals are part of the operations
The Proverbial Box – taking a look at the box from the outside
- We all live, think and work inside the box
- What is the box? What holds us there? How do we escape?
- What things can we do to help us think more strategically while acting tactically?
A process perspective
- Realizing that we are all part of a process
- How the strategic perspective will allow you to optimize the process
- Barriers to individual participation and team involvement – and how to overcome them
Intelligence gathering, decision making and execution
- Intelligence gathering is a key aspect of thinking strategically
- Where to gather and how analyze your intelligence
- Decision-making styles – What’s yours? – How does that affect the team?
- Effective delegation and how to be delegated to
Review
- Opportunity to explore additional issues, ideas or techniques
- What will you do next?
There are no prerequisites for this course.
Anyone who wants to develop their ability to proactively create and achieve a vision for the future.
This workshop addresses:
- Achievement / Results Orientation
- Adaptability / Flexibility
- Analytical Thinking
- Change Management and Leadership
- Creative Thinking
- Decision Making / Decisiveness
- Dealing with Difficult Situations
- Emotional Intelligence
- Engagement and Motivation
- Impact and Influence
- Innovation and Initiative
- Interpersonal Relations
- Leadership
- Management Excellence
- Planning / Organizing
- Policy Development
- Problem Solving
- Project Management
- Promotion
- Research, Analysis and Evaluation
- Risk Management and Assessment
- Strategic Thinking
- Teamwork and Cooperation
- Working with Others
To learn more about core competencies, click here.
Open to all members of the public.
$ 1050 plus tax
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