Course catalogue

Performance management ensures that the day-to-day activities are focused towards achieving organizational goals. In this lesson, you will learn about setting SMART goals by implementing the SMART model. Whether you are using the SMART model to define the specifics of a small business goal or to manage an enterprise-wide project, you will find that this system lends clarity, focus, and flexibility to the art of goal setting.

• Explain SMART goals

• Identify SMART goal benefits and examples

Leaders must focus on developing their ability to be more agile and strategic – within an environment of constant change. They should explore tools that can be leveraged to achieve the goal. Good agile leaders make sure that their teams identify the desired long-term goals, and then work backward from these to identify all the conditions that must be in place for the goals to occur.

• Define the theory of change and identify factors impacting the change

• Enlist 5 types of organizational change and successful ways to implement them

• Apply strategies which help in creating an organization that is always ready for change

It is a law of nature, if you work with people, you’re going to have conflict. When people with different viewpoints, backgrounds, personalities, work ethics, and industry experience come together, discord and differences of opinion are inevitable. Wise leaders accept that conflict is a part of work, they anticipate it, and they have a plan to address it. Effective conflict resolution takes practice. You may want to ask an experienced colleague, your HR department, or your manager for suggestions on dealing with this issue. Just realize that while you can’t avoid conflict entirely, you can establish an environment and a process that minimize the damage conflict can cause. 

If managed well, conflict can lead to innovation, stronger teams, and greater personal development—for you and your employees. 

• Become aware of workplace conflicts 

• Set a protocol to handle conflicts

"You build a great network by first offering your services to others, and by so doing, winning their interest. This is the foundation of building trust and creating a platform for them to invest in you in a reciprocal manner, such that it becomes a win-win situation.

-Oscar Bimpong 

Organizations deal with both major and minor conflicts day-in and day-out. The important thing is one cannot ignore these conflicts as they can have a far-reaching negative effect on the teams involved. This may inevitably affect their day-to-day work and eventually the performance of the company. This course helps you reach consensus amongst employees by resolving workforce conflicts. It introduces strategies to create a win-win situation for all the stakeholders. It is important to gauge how the stakeholders feel before and after settling the conflict. You will learn about the four win-win conflict solution techniques that will help you maintain harmony in the work place.

• Communicate effectively to handle a conflict 

• Establish boundaries to reduce workplace conflicts 

• Use emotional intelligence to achieve better team performance 

• Institute behavioral consequences for uncooperative employees

Your success as a leader isn’t dependent upon how much technical knowledge, business expertise, or years of industry experience you have. If you want to achieve goals consistently, build strong, collaborative teams, and establish solid relationships with colleagues, superiors, and clients, then you need Emotional Intelligence (EQ). Emotional Intelligence, also known as Emotional Quotient (EQ) is the ability to properly gauge your emotions as well as the emotions of others in all situations, use proper judgment and behave appropriately for the desired outcome. In other words, EQ is the ability to identify your emotions, and those of others, and use that knowledge to make the best decisions, regardless of the circumstances.

• Define EQ 

• Describe the four components of EQ 

• Use tips and techniques to develop your EQ

Why do we often say that it is important to effectively network and build strong business partnerships? It is because your success as a businessperson will be greatly affected by the professional relationships you cultivate. Whether leading employees, working on a cross-functional team, or meeting with colleagues at an industry conference, your ability to successfully network and build productive and authentic business relationships is important. Strong business relationships drive productivity and business success. Smart leaders spend time developing their interpersonal skills in order to build solid bonds with their employees, work productively and positively with peers and superiors, and generate business relationships that can contribute to personal and organizational success.

• Describe interpersonal skills    

• Identify ways to build business partnerships    

• Enlist key strategies to successful networking

Your day-to-day ability to genuinely connect and work well with others is the key to long-term career success. Especially in today’s work environment, where cross-unit, cross-functional, and even cross-organizational teams abound, those with strong interpersonal skills have a decided advantage. And you don’t have to be the stereotypical extroverted salesperson to possess these kinds of skills. Anyone can learn and practice how to interact with others in positive and productive ways. Whether you are collaborating with colleagues, attending a conference of industry peers, or chatting with a team member one-on-one, well-developed people skills give you the opportunity to build stronger relationships, foster goodwill, and cultivate influence with others.

• Manage business relationships   

• Work collaboratively with your team    

• Manage disagreement with colleagues

Problems come in all shapes and sizes, and they are an inevitable part of business life. Instead of trying to avoid or ignore them, it’s better to accept them, find ways to solve them and learn from them. With the right perspective, problems can even be gateways to innovation. There are a variety of models and methods that can be used to identify, analyze, and implement effective solutions. In this lesson, we will look at a hybrid of the A3 model, 5 Whys, and Divergent/Convergent methods.

• Identify the eight steps of the A3 model  

• Assist your team in problem-solving

"“Communication works for those who work at it.” 

-John Powell  

Upward communication flows from the lower level to the upper level of a hierarchy. For example, employees communicating with their immediate manager, the immediate manager communicating with their reporting manager, and so on up to the board of directors or owner of the company. This form of communication helps employees express their requirements, ideas, or goals. Managing upward communication is an art to be acquired if you are looking for a long-term career in your organization and wish to get ample opportunities to learn and grow. This course will help you communicate upward effectively.

Establish your interest in the organization  

Look for opportunities to contribute and think big 

Be yourself and do not encourage or be involved in manipulation 

Take ownership of your mistakes and avoid politics

You want to develop a team that feels comfortable approaching you with new ideas, suggestions for improvements, and even their personal challenges. You want your clients to know that you are genuinely interested in hearing their concerns and ideas. And you want your superiors and peers to see you as someone who encourages innovation and open communication in your department. Working to improve your active listening will take patience and practice. But if you learn how to put this powerful communication skill to work for you, you’ll discover that the benefits are well worth the effort.

• Define active listening

• Confirm your understanding of the meeting

• Pay attention to body language

Your success as a businessperson will be greatly affected by the professional relationships you cultivate. Interpersonal skills are the cornerstone of developing these associations, so it is important to assess your abilities to communicate clearly and empathetically and to listen well. The most effective and satisfying relationships are based on a genuine and mutual desire to get to know and help others. When you focus on adding value to your business connections, you will build a network that is both personally satisfying and professionally beneficial.

• Identify foundational skills required to build a strong interpersonal relationship

• Develop methods of building business partnerships

• Enlist keys to networking

"“Change is the only constant in life.” 

-Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher 

As a leader, you’re responsible for leading your team to achieve organizational goals. Sometimes that involves changing processes, adopting new technologies, or learning new skills. What do you do when one or more of your employees refuse to change and grow with the rest of the team? People tend to approach change in one of the two ways. They either embrace change and are excited about the possibilities and opportunities inherent in a new adventure. Or they resist change because they fear the unknown. As a leader, you probably have employees in both camps. In this course, we will discuss how to influence the change resisters.

• Identify the fear for change 

• Implement T-chart

Business acumen is gaining an understanding of how business works as well as the behaviors business professionals should possess. This important skill is critical not only to corporate leaders, but to aspiring leaders, managers, and employees as well. The organization that prioritizes business acumen as a core competency promotes the growth of its workforce and strengthens its competitive edge.   

Some use the analogy of a quarterback who can “see” the entire field to describe business acumen. It’s simply understanding how your company operates, and then using that knowledge to develop the best business strategy. Regardless of your role in the organization, it’s an important skill to develop.

• State the importance of business acumen 

• Learn ways to improve your business acumen

One of the most important leadership roles is a mentor. You are responsible for teaching your employees how to achieve goals, make better decisions, solve problems, and advance their careers. Without formal training in this area, how do you coach or mentor these skills? This course will introduce you to employ a model, built on four simple techniques. By employing these techniques, you will strengthen your coaching skills and develop your team members’ potential.

• Help your team set the goal as per the GROW model 

• Provide assistance in gauging the available options 

• Get your team commit to specific actions to help them make progress

"Faced with the increasing pace and pressures of today’s business environment, organizations are constantly seeking ways to be more efficient and effective. Because companies are often asked to do more with less—including time—they must use their resources wisely to stay ahead of the competition. A talented and skilled workforce is the key to achieving the required results. When you align your workforce with your company’s goals, your organization’s energies will be appropriately focused. And if you set reasonable, measurable, and attainable goals, you will be able to link performance to rewards and motivate your employees to do even more. 

Most organizations don’t understand the power of incorporating the correct timing and frequency of goals into their plan. For example: goals that are set at the beginning of the year and audited 12 months later are not going to motivate your people. It’s difficult to stay committed a business goal over such a long time. When you learn how to set strong, timely, and measurable goals, your team will clearly understand their purpose, see their importance, and know how they will be measured. In this course, you will learn the usage of stretch goals to motivate your team.

• Align stretch goals to performance goals 

• Decide whether to stretch the goals