iiba underlying soft skills competency training …...5. prioritizing root cause correction 6....
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Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
IIBA Underlying Soft Skills Competency Training Curriculum January, 2017
Soft Skills Hard Results
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
IIBA Underlying Soft Skills Competency Curriculum
As described in the Business Analyst Book of Knowledge (BABOK), there are several
underlying soft skills competencies which support and enhance the practice of business analysis.
This document lists the Manager Mechanics classes specifically selected to meet this defined list
of competencies needed to help ensure the success of current and future Business Analysts.
BABOK: Underlying Soft Skills Competencies:
Analytical Thinking and Problem Solving
Problem Solving and Decision Making (one day)
Strategic Thinking and Planning (one day)
Fostering IT Innovation (half day)
Behavioral Characteristics
Building your Professional Brand (half day)
Collaborative Consulting Skills (one day)
Personal and Organizational Time Management (one day)
Business Knowledge
Thinking Like a CIO (one day)
Collaborative Consulting Skills (one day)
Great Internal Client Service (one day)
Productivity Driven Success (one day)
IT Megatrends and their Management Implications (one day)
Cloud Computing Management (one day)
Data Quality and Governance (one day)
Methodology and Process Overview (one day)
Communication Skills
Interpersonal Communication (one day)
Interaction Skills
Leadership Concepts (one day)
Negotiation Skills (half day)
Conflict Resolution (one day)
The Steve Jobs Way: Innovation & Leadership You Can Use (one day)
Accelerated Team Building (one day)
IT as an Agent of Change (half day)
Leadership without Authority (one day)
Managing Virtual Teams (one day)
Vendor Management (half day)
Contact us today to enhance your team’s effectiveness tomorrow!
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Problem Solving and Decision Making
This class discusses the decision making process and many of the challenges facing Project
Managers, Business Analysts and all other project team members in making timely decisions. It
covers the impacts of the human element on decision making, decision constraints, stakeholders,
challenges in problem definition, and other related topics.
It also includes various structured problem solving tools and exercises such as root cause
analysis, brainstorming, prioritization, alternative selection and nominal group technique.
Class Topics include:
Thoughts on decision making
o The Hidden Choice
o Why make decisions
o Why people don’t make decisions
o Ways to make a decision
o Decisions solve problems
o Decision making vs. Problem solving
Problem definition
o Realizing a decision must be made
o Defining the problem
o Defining desired end state
o Defining stakeholders
Problem solving process
1. Problem definition
2. Decision to act on problem
3. Define problem solving scope
4. Finding root cause
5. Prioritizing root cause correction
6. Defining potential solutions
7. Select a solution
Key Take-A-Ways:
Conceptual insights into problem solving and decision making processes
Problem solving and final state definition techniques
Knowledge of root cause analysis techniques
Working knowledge of various prioritization, selection, and brainstorming techniques
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Strategic Thinking and Planning
Strategic thinking is the mental process, applied by an individual or by the organization as a whole, that considers and organization’s future direction, new products and services, new markets, new internal processes or other similar objectives. Strategic planning is the systematic process used to defining the steps, deliverables and milestones needed to meet this future vision. This class discusses these two interrelated topics from a conceptual, step-by-step and how-to
perspective.
Class Topics include:
Organizational Thinking
o Planning and Positioning
o Organizational Learning
o Constructive Transformation
Vision, Objectives and Values
o Vision Statement
o Objectives Definition
o Values Statement
Thoughts on Strategic Thinking
o Vision Effectiveness
o Making Time to Think a Priority
o Move Out of Your Comfort Zone
o Focusing on Results vs. Methods and Means
o Using Forward Thinking
6 Step Strategic Thinking Process
Thoughts on Strategic Planning
o Definition of Strategic Planning
o Strategic Thinking vs. Strategic Planning
9 Step Strategic Planning Process
Key Take-A-Ways:
Conceptual understanding of the strategic thinking process
Critical Success factors of the strategic thinking process
Insights in various formal strategic thinking methodologies
How to structure for vision, mission, and value statement
Insights into common IT strategic planning issues Nine step strategic planning process
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Fostering Innovation
Innovation is the successful creation, implementation, enhancement and/or improvement of a
technical process, business process, software product, hardware product, or cultural factor that
reduces costs, enhances productivity, increases company competitiveness, or provides other
business value. Creative thinking is the mental process, applied by an individual or the Agile
team as a whole that considers ways to enhance the value of the organization it serves.
This class is designed to provide Scrum Masters and Product Owners with the information,
insights, and tools needed to foster innovation and enhance creative thinking within their Agile
team.
Class Topics include:
Thoughts on Innovation and Creativity
o What is Business Innovation?
o Sustaining and Disruptive Innovation
o Innovation is Part of the Job
o Business Uses of Innovation
o Lateral Thinking vs. Programmed Thinking
o The Inspiration Paradox
o Barriers to Innovation
Expanding Your Thinking
o Look and Learn on the Road and in the Office
o Widened Thinking in Motion
Enablers of IT Innovation
o Understanding Business Goals and Objectives
o Collaboration Between IT and Business
o Commitment to Quality Improvement
o Willingness to Seek and Accept Feedback
o Ability to Think Outside-The-Box
o Culture of Innovation
Drivers of IT Innovation
o Constrained resources, competition, survival, greed
Six step Innovation Process
Innovation facilitation tools
o Brainstorming, Design Thinking, Mind Mapping
Key Take-A-Ways:
An understanding of successful innovation within an Agile team context
Insights into the advantages, drivers, uses, and pitfalls of innovation
Specific ways to create a culture of innovation
Conceptual understanding of the creative thinking process
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Building Your Professional Brand
As a Project Manager, your reputation, persona and internal company network can make or
break your project and/or your career. That said, building your professional brand is of great
value to both your company and you personally.
This class begins by assessing your professional reputation based on ten key factors and
discussing professional branding from a personal marketing perspective. It then continues by
outlining a multi-step personal development plan on how to build your skills and credentials.
It then ends, by describing various ways to expand your reputation, persona and professional
network based on these newly enhanced skills and credentials.
Class Topics include:
Personal assessment
Learn about branding o Your brand is o Your brand is NOT
Formulate your strategy o Define your career direction o Define needed credentials o Define your soft skills training needs o Define your hard skill training needs o Define your future marketability o Analyze your next promotion o Formulate your plan
Build your brand o Building your skills o Building your credentials o Building your knowledge
Market yourself
Key Take-A-Ways:
Understanding of professional branding and how you can use it to your advantage
A five step process you can use enhance your professional brand
Ways to increase your professional marketability and advance your career more quickly
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Collaborative Consulting Skills
For project teams to deliver superior consulting-level results to the stakeholders it servers, the
Project Managers and Business analysts must understand how to effectively blend technical
and business expertise with superior communication and collaborative skills.
This class is specifically designed to provide Project Managers, Business analysts, and all client-
facing team members working directly with project stakeholders, with the tools needed to
provide this high level of business acumen and proactive business participation.
Class Topics include:
Consulting as a Conceptual Profession Discipline
o What is In-house Consulting?
o Staff augmentation, Subject Matter Experts and Business partners
o Consulting Versus Technical Support
o Six Personal Imperatives for Consultants
Five Step Consulting Model
o Setting up a Relationship
Warm-up and Rapport
Understanding the Customer
Understanding Communication
o Establishing Needs
Use of Client Type Information
Question Types and Purposeful Questions
Moving Towards Closure
o Recommending Solutions
Problem Definition
Desired End State
Suggested Tool Set
Customer Centric Vision
o Valuing Objections
Define Stakeholders
Assess Stakeholder Agreement
Noteworthy Points
Watch Out For . . .
o Executing - Next Steps
Summarizing, Reporting and Staying Connected
Key Take-A-Ways:
Understanding the for SERVE consulting methodology
Techniques for building client trust and long term relationships
Ways to build your professional reputation
Novel approaches to communicating with internal clients and others
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Personal and Organizational Time Management
Time management should never be your goal. It should simply be a conduit to free up the time,
money and resources needed to drive project, organizational and personal success.
This class, based on Eric Bloom’s #1 Amazon bestselling book, “Productivity Driven Success”
and its related TEDx Talk, will widen your perspective on time management and productivity
enhancement.
Class Topics include:
Key Productivity Concepts
o How is Productivity Improved?
o Productivity Leveraging
o Productivity Driven Reinvestment
o Productivity Fallacy
o Strategy vs. Culture
o Productivity Culture Enablers
o The Productivity Pyramid Model
o Time Management: One of Eight Amplifiers
Traditional Time Management Concepts
o Efficiency
o 18 Minutes
o Pomodoro Technique
Prioritization
o Eisenhower's Principle
o Pareto Analyses
o ABC
Advanced Time Management Techniques
o 4 Zones of Productivity
o “Near-Time Far-Time” Concept
o Spending time "on" and "in" your organization
o Department Productivity Killers
o Management Time vs. Worker Time
o Meeting Times Based on Circadian Rhythms
Key Take-A-Ways:
A wider perspective on productivity enhancement
Key elements that foster an innovative corporate culture
Working knowledge of multiple ready-to-use time management techniques and concepts
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Thinking Like a CIO
Unlike the typical IT oriented hard skills or software skills experience, this class outlines a philosophy of how to look at the world of IT and the company. The underlying topic, and the instruction provided, is designed to broaden your way of thinking and expand your management perspective. This enhanced view of IT, and your company in general, has the potential to significantly improve your current work performance, get you noticed by those above you organizationally, and accelerate your upward professional growth. Class Topics include:
Thinking like a CIO o Why think like a CIO o Knowledge gathered - Things to look for o Insights Gained - On management and leadership o Changes in Perspective - Based on Knowledge and insights o Actionable Items - You can accelerate your professional success
State of the CIO o Business o Technical o Financial o Career
Effect of IT Megatrends on the CIO o Old and New Competitors o New Business Alliances o The view from the top
IT / Business Partnership o Understanding Your Clients' Characteristics o Being Proactive vs. Reactive
Thought Leadership o Strategic thinking and planning o IT Innovation
Key Take-A-Ways:
A widened understanding of how to view IT and its effect on your future career
Actionable steps that you can use today to accelerate your professional success tomorrow
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Client Service and User Experience
User satisfaction comes from the combination of great client service and user experience. Client
service refers to the ability to provide assistance when asked, properly set user expectations, and
other related activities. User experience refers to the quality of previously implemented systems
and processes.
This class is designed to help Project Managers and their teams maximize their client service
knowledge and enhance their ability to provide world-class client support.
Class Topics include:
Initial Thoughts on Client Service
o Definition, Challenges and Importance
o Value of Defining Your Business Function
Managing Client Expectations
o The “One IT” Concept and Moments of Truth
o Importance of Controlling the Discussion
o DANCE Expectation Management Framework
User Experience
o Definition
o Product Quality
o Services Quality
o Documentation and Training Quality
o Multi-Channel Accessibility
o IT Thought Leadership
o The User Experience / Client Service Connection
Internal Client Service Concepts
o Understanding Your Clients' Characteristics
o Being Proactive vs. Reactive
o Showing Service Ownership
o What Your Internal Clients Want
o Importance of Communicating Project Status
o Communicating with Your Client Leadership
o Importance of Proper Measurement
o Prioritization
Key Take-A-Ways:
Insights into internal client service concepts, politics, and best practices
Leadership attributes/processes needed to create a service-oriented environment
Specific actionable techniques to enhance your user satisfaction
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Productivity Driven Success
Based on the book "Productivity Driven Success", productivity improvement should never be your final goal. It should simply be a conduit to free up the time, money and resources needed to drive organizational success. This workshop widens your perspective on productivity enhancement and outlines a strategy to assure your efforts are aligned with corporate goals, holistic in nature, systematic in implementation, and measurable. It goes on to describe the six "Productivity Enables" that make improvement possible, "Productivity Amplifiers" designed to maximize organizational efficiency, and the process that makes it happen. Class Topics include:
Key Concepts o The Productivity Measurement Fallacy o Opportunity Cost o Productivity Driven Reinvestment o Productivity Linking and Mapping o Cultural Productivity Enablers o Getting your Productivity Projects Funded
Climbing the Productivity Pyramid 1. Goal Alignment 2. Holistic Mindset 3. Supportive Culture 4. Amplification 5. Measurement 6. Reinvestment 7. Reiteration
Unleashing your Productivity Amplifiers o Constructive delegation o Ongoing process improvement o Communication efficiency o Knowledge storage and transfer o Time management o Asset reuse o Intelligent meeting management o Leveraging the zone
Seven Step Productivity Pyramid System
Key Take-A-Ways: How do build a culture that facilitates productivity enhancement
How to align and measure productivity projects based on company goals
Seven key areas of potential productivity enhancement
A seven step process to manage your productivity initiatives
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
IT Megatrends and Their Management Consequences
Major long term megatrends are taking the IT industry by storm. Each of these megatrends has its own idiosyncrasies, but together they are driving the future of business computing, the type of service IT can provide to its constituency, and how IT itself is structured and managed. An understanding of what these trends are and how to use them to your advantage in the workplace is essential to maximize the value of IT to your organization. Class Topics include:
Mobile Devices, Consumerization of IT, and BYOD o Definitions, drivers, risks and procedures o Policies, and more
Cloud Computing o Advantages and Disadvantages o Security, Operational and Data Management Considerations
Social Media Marketing and Listening o Content-Marketing and Social Media Monitoring o Community Creation and Data Collection
Data Analytics and Visualization o Data types and data analysis methods o Data visualization concepts, and more
Internet of Things o Definitions, concepts and usage o Examples and Innovations
Big Data o Definitions, size, types, processes, and more
Digital Transformation o Definitions, Effect on IT and the organization o Management Consideration, and key thought leaders
Other Megatrends o Machine learning, 3D printing, phygical, robotics, etc.
Key Take-A-Ways:
Insights into short and long term effects these IT megatrends have on the IT
Employing megatrends to the advantage of the company, IT, staff, and yourself
Understanding of what IT skills are needed to implement these new technologies
Insights into the ramifications of these technologies on current and future IT organizations
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Cloud Computing Management
Cloud computing has been a huge topic within the Information Technology (IT) community. This class discusses what cloud computing is, how it affects IT organizations and how it can be employed to maximize user satisfaction and IT effectiveness & minimize expenses. It goes on to discuss cloud computing pros and cons from an IT perspective, implications for IT management, the potential to magnify IT resources, possible morale issues, and dealing with high user expectations, capital expenditures, data security and other important issues. Lastly, in additional to highlighting data security concerns, it also discusses various IT issues that are often overlooked making the decision to move toward a cloud computing strategy. These issues include production/operation issues, potential fracturing of the corporate data models, vendor selection and ongoing vendor oversight. Class Topics include:
Description of Cloud Computing
Major Vendors and Players
Cloud Computing and Disadvantages
Financial Considerations and Usage
Security considerations
Operational Considerations
Data Management Considerations
Vendor Considerations
Vendor Oversight
Key Take-A-Ways:
Knowledge of key cloud computing terms and vendors
Implications of cloud computing from an IT management perspective
Financial and cost center ramifications of cloud computing
Enhanced IT leadership perspectives of cloud advantages and disadvantages
The effect that a cloud computing strategy has on your existing IT corporate data model
Insights into various operational, security, and vendor issues related to moving toward a cloud computing strategy
Call us or email us today: 855-286-1110 or [email protected]
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Data Quality and Governance
Data is the life blood of all organizations. Information Technology (IT) managers and individual contributors are the guardians of this data. As a result, IT must understand how data is collected, stored, distributed, used, and in regard to this class, managed. To that end, we will discuss the data quality requirements for different data types, the business, IT and vendor practices that help create bad data, processes to help identify bad data, and the management practices and data governance needed to help facilitate the distribution of quality information. Class Topics include:
Data Quality Requirements o How different types of data require different levels of quality
Causes of Bad Data o Data problems caused by vendors o Data problems caused by IT architectures
Identifying Bad Data o Ways to monitor and identify bad data o Data health check philosophy and practices
Data Friendly Topologies o Internal and external data-friendly topologies o Modifying existing data flows and topologies
Data Governance and Management o Data governance and Data Governance Group (DGG) definitions o Responsibilities, location, level, and structure o Challenges of justifying a DGG
Effect of Cloud Computing on Data Management o Data Definition and Data Movement Issues o Inter-Cloud Transactions Issues o Data Warehousing and Analytics Issues
Effect of Big Data on Data Management o Information Governance o Operational, Administrative and Business Metadata
Key Take-A-Ways:
Definitions of key quality data types and considerations
Understanding of data governance political and financial dynamics
Data Governance Group vision, mission, and organizational structure
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Methodology and Process Overview
This class is designed to provide you with a general understanding of various industry leading software development methodologies and key IT production processes. These methodologies and processes include Waterfall, Agile, Extreme Programming, Rational Unified Process, Scrum, emergency software fixes, software testing, and other related topics. Class Topics include:
Waterfall o General description and methodology steps o Advantages and disadvantages
Agile development process o General description and principles behind the Agile Manifesto o General attributes, advantages and disadvantages
Rational Unified Process (RUP) o Content Elements o Project life cycle phases o Engineering and supporting disciplines o Advantages and disadvantages
Scrum o Team member types o Development phases o Burndowns, meetings, backlogs, and sprint cycles
Extreme Programming (XP) o General description o Methodology steps o Advantages and disadvantages
Key software and production processes o Installing emergency software fixes o Software testing and bug tracking, and much more
Key Take-A-Ways:
Broad understanding of industry leading software development methodologies
Insights into when various methodologies are most and least effective
Awareness of key software and production IT processes
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Interpersonal Communication
Interpersonal communication skills, ranging from emotional intelligence, to questioning
techniques, to active listening, are essential to effective commination within the project team
itself as well as all those associated with the project is some way. These ancillary, but very
important people, are project stakeholders, vendors, and those in other parts of the company
supporting project, like IT.
This class is specifically designed to enhance the ability of Project managers and project team
members to by expanding their knowledge in communication techniques, concepts, and best
practices.
Class Topics include:
Emotional intelligence
o Why EQ, not EI?
o Self-Awareness and Self-Management
o Social Awareness and Relationship Management
Question Types
o Closed, Open and High Yield
Question Usages/Purposes
o Accuracy, Clarification, Completeness, Relevance, etc.
Active Listening
o Repeating, Paraphrasing, Reflecting
With Criticism Comes Opportunity
o To Learn, Grow Professionally, Deal with Change, etc.
Passive, Aggressive, and Assertive
o Understanding Basic Communication Styles
Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic Communications
o Understanding of Three Basic Types
Building Rapport on the Phone
o First Impressions, Barriers, and Techniques
Listening Framework
o Caller, Topic, Delivery, and Setting
Listening Styles
o Action, Informational, etc.
Key Take-A-Ways:
An understanding Emotional Intelligence concepts
Working knowledge of question types and techniques
General communications techniques needed to maximize the value of personal and
professional interaction
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Leadership Concepts
Leadership is a required skill for both Project Managers and Business Analysts. Project
Managers lead their teams and Business Analysts indirectly lead those outside of the team
including the business community and project stakeholders.
This class discusses various leadership concepts, styles and techniques, providing Project
Managers with the conceptual leadership context needed to enhance their leadership capabilities.
Class Topics include:
Thoughts on Leadership
o Leadership Versus Management
o Managers Lead by Example
o Building Trust
o Delegating Without Control
o Expectations Setting
o Relationship Building
o Role of the Manager Leader
o Advocating Employee Ideas
o 10 Types of Leadership Styles
Leadership and Management Concepts
o Servant Leadership
o U.S. Army Four Factors of Leadership
o The Oz Principle
o Situational Leadership Concept
o Managerial Grid Model
o Monkey Management
Project Management Leadership Challenges
o Team Member Commitment
o Dotted Line Dynamics and Solutions
o Status Reporting Accuracy
o Team Member Measurement
o Scope, Resources Deadlines and Quality
Key Take-A-Ways:
A general understanding of leadership concepts
Actionable leadership techniques directly applicable to the PMI Leadership Triangle
Leadership techniques Project Managers and Business Analysts can use when working
with stakeholders, team members and vendors
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Negotiation Skills
Project Managers and Business Analysts negotiate with vendors about price, delivery dates,
service levels, and a myriad of other topics. They also negotiate with their business users on
everything from budget to software application features. As a result, negotiation skills are a key
element of both IT organizational success and individual professional career development.
This class describes negotiation styles, keys to successful negotiation, how to deal with difficult
negotiation tactics, and other related topics.
Class Topics include:
Important concepts
o Win-Win, Win-Lose, and Lose-Win
o Distributive vs. Integrative negotiation
o Competitive vs. Cooperative negotiation
o Needs vs. Wants
o and more …
Negotiation preparations
o Understand what you’re negotiating
o Know your objectives
o Know your bottom line
o Know your ability to walk away
o and many more …
Negotiation strategies
o Look for mutual gain
o Invent creative options
o Negotiate the problem not the person
o Trade effectively
o and more …
Handling difficult tactics and advantages/disadvantages of. . .
o Threats, withdrawal, pressure, etc.
Key Take-A-Ways:
Understanding of key negotiation strategies and tactics
Insights into proper negotiation preparation
A life skill you can use at work and home
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Conflict Resolution
Knowing how to recognize, understand and intervene effectively in conflict situations with team
members, stakeholders, management and others is a critical career-enhancing and project-saving skill
for both Project Managers and Business Analysts.
The class outlines the causes of team conflict, strategies to deal with conflict, techniques designed to
defuse tense situations and a formalized conflict resolution process.
Class Topics include:
Initial Thoughts and Vocabulary
o The typology of conflict
o Types of conflict
o The Conflict Spiral
10 Common Causes of Workplace Conflict
Giving Constructive Feedback
Question Restatement
Addressing Difficult Responses
Conflict Strategies
o Accommodating, Avoiding,
o Collaborating, Competing, Compromising
Quick Conflict Resolution Tips
o Interpersonal Ground Rules
o Nice Ways to Say “no”
o Using "How" and "What" questions
o VASE, ERIC, and BEGIN
o Using Emotional Maturity
o Body Language Queues and Concepts
The Conflict Resolution Process
o Seven step process moving from defining the issues at hand, through resolution,
and ending with ways prevent future conflicts
Key Take-A-Ways:
Understanding of team conflict sources and dynamics
Working knowledge of key conflict resolution strategies
How to manage various common types of employee issues
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
The Steve Jobs Way: Innovation and Leadership You Can Use
Love him or hate him, you must admit that Steve Jobs was a challenging and brilliant leader and an innovative genius. So what can you learn from the strengths and weaknesses of a computer industry trailblazer? The answer is an enormous amount! This class, developed hand-in-hand with former Apple SVP and Jobs’ advisor Jay Elliot, highlights and describes Steve Jobs’ business principles, philosophies, and techniques in ways that you can adapt and apply them to your workplace in order to grow professionally and, in the words of Steve Jobs, “put a ding in the universe”, your ding in the universe! The topics discussed in this class are valuable to people of all professions and organizational levels. Some of Jobs’ techniques were used to create this class, so we can demonstrate to you how to actually use these principles to your advantage in any business endeavor.
Class Topics include:
The Myth and the Man
General Thoughts on Leadership
Jobs' Leadership Style
Jobs' Organization and Team Building Style
Intensity and Focus
General Innovation Terminology and Concepts
Jobs' Thoughts on Innovation
Examples of Innovation
General Thoughts on Product Design
Jobs' Product Passion and Design Key Take-A-Ways:
Knowledge of various innovative and effective leadership concepts
Innovation techniques usable in almost any professional endeavor
Ways to create an culture of innovation
Value of professional intensity and focus
An understanding that sometimes more is less and less is more
Concepts of product design usable in the creation of almost product or service
Team building techniques that enhance quality, productivity, and effectiveness
Call us or email us today: 855-286-1110 or [email protected]
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Accelerated Team Building
Congratulations! A new team at your company is being created to start work on an exciting new project and you have been selected as the Project Manager. While this is a great opportunity, your new position is also highly visible and you are expecting to immediately start getting results. Most of your new team members have never met before and those who have, never worked together. Your fear, as the Project Manager, is that the more time your new staff needs to become a functional team, the longer it will take to begin doing meaningful work. This class, based on the LEAPFROG Teambuilding Accelerator© methodology by Manager Mechanics, is designed to get your team up and running quickly.
Class Topics include:
Key Team Building Essentials
o Assessing team dynamics
o Team building
o Tuckman's Stages of Group Development
o Accelerating Tuckman's Stages
The LEAPFROG Teambuilding Accelerator© methodology
o L - Layout organizational structure and staff roles
o E - Establish relationships and trust among teammates
o A - Assemble goals, objectives and values
o P - Provide Individual and team Critical Success Factors
o F - Form a culture of teamwork and camaraderie
o R - Render efficient internal department processes
o O - Outline specific process measurements
o G - Get going
Ending Thoughts and Action Items
Key Take-A-Ways:
How to get new teams up and running quickly in a way that facilitates short-term
wins and long-term success
An understanding of how to form, build and lead a successful team
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Being an Agent of Change
The implementation of enhanced computer applications requires new manual and automated
procedures, changes in business processes modifies task workflows, and the rollout of new
corporate business models changes career paths and trajectories.
This class outlines what can be done, as Agile team members, to minimize the stress on those
receiving these changes, while simultaneously increasing their adoption and acceptance.
Class Topics include:
Changing People and Culture
o Role of an Entrepreneur
o Needed change management skills
o The change management process
o Emotional stages of change
o Agents of change
o Proper communication
Commitment and Buy-In
o Levels of Commitment
o Levels of Required Support
o Level of Support and Opposition
Formal Change Methodologies
o Lewin's Three Stage Model of Change
o Kotter's Eight Step Change Model
o Conditions for effective change
o John Fisher's Personal Transition Curve
o Organizational renewal
Changing the Company
o Process automation
o Platform replacement
Key Take-A-Ways:
An understanding the role of project management in organizational growth and change
Knowledge of key industry change methodologies
Conceptual perspective to induce change within an organization
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Leadership without Authority
he ability to influence others is key to the success of all professional, from the CEO to newest
college intern. Project Managers must motivate and direct their dotted line resources, Business
Analysts must gain information and support from their business counterparts, and individual
contributors must often influence others to get the resources and information they need to
complete their tasks.
This class is ideal for Project Managers, Business Analysts, Software Testers, Technical Leads
and all others required to give direction and/or influence others without the specific
organizational authority to do so.
Class Topics include:
Initial Thoughts and Vocabulary
o Types of Respect
o Barriers to Influence
Leading Influence Concepts and Techniques
o Cialdini's Six Principles of Influence
o Cohen-Bradford Influent Model
Understanding Yourself and Others
o The Johari Window
o Merrill & Reid Social Styles
Maximizing Your Personal Power
o 12 Ways That Position You to Influence Others
Push and Pull Influencers
o Types and effectiveness of Push and Pull Techniques
Influential Communication
o Storytelling
o Use of Purposeful Questions
Influencing Other Corporate Players
o Business Peers and Clients
o Levels of Commitment
o Managing Up
Key Leadership Processes
o Expectations Setting
o Building Trust
Key Take-A-Ways:
Enhanced ability to influence those inside and outside your project team
Ways to enhance your professional brand in a way that positions you to influence others
How to use storytelling and purposeful questions to professional advantage
Greater ability to be heard and listened to by senior management and project stakeholders
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Leading a Virtual Teams
Leading people within a single location certainly has its challenges. These challenges are
magnified when your team is remote--physically dispersed across town, across the country,
and/or across the world.
This class is designed to provide insights into the tactics, techniques, and processes needed to
effectively lead virtual teams of all types.
Class Topics include:
Virtual Team Efficiency
o Management Style
o Team Communication
o Team Building
o Business Process
o Team Stakeholders
Virtual Team Profile
o Required Team Interdependency
o Team Status
o Team Composition
Virtual Meeting Best Practices
o Key Concept: Don’t Just Participate, Observe
o For New-be Virtual Meeting Leaders
o Things Going Against You
o Ideas to Help the Call Run Smoothly
o Maximize Your Personal Energy
Virtual Talent Management
o Hiring
o Delegation and Job Assignment
o Measurement
o Performance Reviews
o Mentoring and Career Planning
Virtual Team Building Activities
Appendix 1: Home Office Productivity Tips
Appendix 2: Home Office Design Tips
Appendix 3: Video Cam Tips and Tricks
Appendix 4: Virtual Body Language
Key Take-A-Ways:
Insights into the true lead challenges and issues then managing virtual teams
Key methodologies, tips and techniques to maximize your virtual team’s effectiveness
Insights into the cultural idiosyncrasies and best practices when leading diverse teams
Helping Today’s Technologists Become Tomorrow’s Leaders
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: 855-286-1110 www.ManagerMechanics.com
(c) Manager Mechanics LLC, All Rights Reserved [email protected]
Vendor Management
Best practices in vendor management have always been important to IT leaders and will only be more so should outsourcing continue to increase.
This class covers key elements of excellence in vendor management including sourcing, using vendors to build a business case, communicating priorities, the competitive vendor landscape, contracts and negotiating, collaboration and partnership with key vendors, vendor risk assessment, vendor performance issues, transparency and other best practices. Class Topics include:
Providers and strategic partners o Vendor types o Approved vendor lists o Approved product lists
Key vendor considerations o Technical o Operational o Financial
Vendor management life cycle o Business case definition o Business requirements definition o Service Level Agreement (SLA) definition
DANCE Vendor Management Expectation Framework o “D”—Define the issue o “A”—Agree on what needs to be done o “N”—Negotiate the final outcome o “C”—Complete the task o “E”—Ensure the vendor performed satisfactorily
Vendor oversight o Vendor audits o Risk assessment and mitigation o Industry specific compliance considerations
Outsourcing and cloud considerations o Data movement and governance o Change control processes o Definition and communication of priorities
Key Take-A-Ways:
Key elements of vendor management best practices
Understanding of the vendor selection and management life cycle
Insights into vendor audits, oversight, and exit strategy