Management and Policy Development: Skills for Senior Managers

Overview

This senior seminar-based programme provides a highly condensed and focussed introduction to a selection of key, core skills that successful senior staff and leaders need in today’s changing and challenging environment. These core skills will help them to improve their own performance and that of their staff and organisation.

Learning objectives

By attending this course you will be able to:

· Understand the factors driving change in the public sector worldwide
· Ensure that as a senior manager you have the portfolio of skills required to respond to these changes positively
· Identify the need for and the direction of change in your organisation
· Develop the skills to lead, plan and manage change
· Apply techniques for improving organisational performance
· Know how to develop your staff and improve their performance
· Develop a workable action plan in relation to a chosen topic to apply on your return

Course content

· The importance of improving the quality of policy making in a modern and effective public service
· Techniques for improving policy making and policy evaluation, including examples of pioneering work in the UK
· Holistic and integrated approaches to organisational performance analysis, management and improvement
· Leadership styles and their effectiveness in different situations
· Modern approaches to staff appraisal and development
· Understanding our own character traits and what they mean for our management style and skills
· Techniques for improving operational performance such as benchmarking and competition
· The importance of project management skills for senior managers, particularly in relation to ‘soft projects’
· The importance of change management skills
· Theories of motivation and their relevance to a changing public service