Management Curriculum Workshop Roadmap
Covers planning and execution that managers need to know, to be able to move quickly and effectively.
Like the Core Curriculum, it is organized into tracks, as shown in the figure.
These workshops are like a mini-MBA, in that they provide methods for the following:
Estimating business value — and how to make sense of indirect value.
Budgeting — with emphasis on modern approaches such as “Beyond Budgeting”.
Developing goals — that are fluid but not erratic.
Developing strategies — in a top-down + bottom-up way that generates sense of ownership.
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Measurement — how to decide what metrics to focus on.
Making things measurable — and how to get people to pay attention to metrics.
Planning for action — in ways that are time-based but also flexible.
Managing multi-team initiatives — and how to stimulate cross-team communication.
The techniques taught in these workshops build on the behaviors of leadership and communication that are the focus of the Core Curriculum workshops. These are powerful techniques, but the behaviors are key, so we strongly recommend joining some of the Core Curriculum workshops before taking the Management Track workshops.
Workshop Detailed Descriptions
Track MT1 - Business Value
What Is Value?
Explains the nature of business value in analytical terms, including expected value, incremental expected value, and how risk reduces expected value. Also covers standard metrics such as IRR, ROC, TVO, EBITDA, liquidation value, sunk cost, Pareto indifference applied to portfolios, and earned value.
Budgeting, and Beyond Budgeting
Traditional budgeting concepts; forecasts, targets, and allocations and how these are different; accounting for uncertainty; managing flows instead of fixed allocations; and how to dynamically manage allocations when there is uncertainty.
Track MT2 - Goals, Strategies, and Measurement
Developing Goals and Strategies
What vision, purpose, and strategies are. The elements of an effective strategy. Defining milestones.
Measurement
Defining key metrics. Identifying the One Metric That Matters at any given time. OKRs, Smart Goals, and how they relate. A meta process for defining goals that support strategies, and examples. Applying the approach at all levels, from the team level up through the strategic level. Addressing both short-term and long-term.
Measurability
Leading versus trailing indicators. Dashboards versus other ways of reporting metrics and their relative effectiveness. How Smart Goals and OKRs relate to leading and trailing indicators.
Track MT3 - Planning and Execution
What and When
Planning in terms of capabilities, tangible and intangible. Cross-functional work. Creating a business vision and a technical vision. Decomposing capabilities. Reconciling backlogs, timelines, and WBSs. Prioritization. When to treat someone as a partner, supplier, or third party. Managing dependencies. Estimation — large and small grain.
Who and How
Work is repeatable, craft, or creative, or a blend. Designing a workflow that is optimal for your kind of work. Choosing the right leaders for roles. Effective continuous improvement. Determining critical path.
Multi-Team
What organizational structure is for, and what it should not be for. Cross-functional team leadership roles. The Team Topologies team types. Communication between teams. Leadership types and roles that promote cross-team collaboration. Multi-team work planning, workflow design, and continuous improvement.