Operations Management Leadership Series

Developing Attitude and Skills to Lead the IT/OM Organization to Business Success

Leading information technology organizations and operations management takes a robust set of leadership, business, management and technology skills. How do you gain the authority to drive solutions with both business and technology stakeholders? How does executive management view responsibility? Decision making processes and leadership? What are the key management points for IT executives and operations managers that enable team, organizational and business success and improve the bottom line? How can you better understand the people who work for you, what motivates them, and leverage diversity? How can a business leader serve as an IT leader and a Business Leader? How do we execute for results?

The IT/OM Leadership Series is designed for senior IT and operations personnel (non IT) to develop the skills to succeed in leading organizations and initiatives. Two workshops address skills that teach leadership: one for executives and CIOs and one for line managers. Other workshops teach best practices that are being used by state of the art information technology organizations to add to the bottom-line and manage risk. A workshop is offered to help business managers who are in the position of managing IT & Operations teams to deliver business capability. Finally, a workshop is offered to demystify the generational cultures of IT professionals and address issues of leveraging cross-generational teams.

Each workshop provides many real-world examples of the concepts and practices that are discussed. Leaders in the field of IT & Operations management who have helped dozens of companies succeed in creating real business capability present workshops. The skill set and tools used are practical and are based on the management methods and principles embodied in the writings and Dr. Joseph Badaracco PhD .of Harvard and Dr. Steven Sample, PhD President of USC.

Executive & Manager Workshop For all who are in decision making roles.	1 day or 2 day: Optional Second day is a hands on workshop of problem solving techniques using special templates for problem solving and gaining understanding Most CIOs and other senior IT leaders find themselves in significant positions of responsibility due to their excellence in solving technical or engineering problems. Their strength is leading by example and they may lack the leadership skills to lead by authority. The CIO Workshop is designed to give CIOs and other executive IT leaders the leadership skills to help them inspire and motivate their people. It addresses both every-day and critical problems faced by executive IT leaders in medium to large-scale organizations and provides skills for managing “beyond the technology.” The workshop focuses on what it means to be a leader, and how traits such as personal character, work ethics and ability to manage through difficult situations define a leader. Each discussion is accompanied by an exercise to help participants understand and develop leadership skills. 1. Defining Character 2. Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Leadership and Character 3. Complete Integrity 4. The Work Ethic: Is it Real? Is it Relevant? 5. Is technology a-moral? Is business a-moral? 6. Situational behavior and Rationalizations in making IT decisions 7. Situational and Not-so-situational Dilemmas: Managing the Gray Areas in every day life situations 8. Critical Dilemmas: How do you decide…How do you decide? 9. Decision Making: Choosing between Right and Right-Why is that so difficult to do? 10. Getting Out of a Sticky Situations
THE REAL TIME ENTERPRISE: MANAGING VALUE TO CREATE VALUE INTHE AGE OF THE REAL TIME SYSTEMS OM/IT Leadership for the Global Economy	Half Day or 1 day: 1 day includes case studies and analysis In this seminar, we will explore the new management paradigms of expanding markets, retaining customers and improving efficiencies that will guide businesses in the 21st century. The seminar will illustrate how to survive and thrive in the Collaborative economy. It will present new models, metrics, and organizational practices for executives and managers in any company struggling to manage the disruptive forces of the current economy. Interoperability and Real Time Enterprise is the key to bringing the demand side and supply side together as one. Those who accomplish this will have the definitive competitive advantage in the marketplace. This seminar will present a prototype demonstration of a collaborative supply and demand chain. -In this seminar you will learn: -new strategies for achieving and sustaining competitive advantage; -new metrics to keep management teams on course with these strategies -models of organizational change for each stage of market development; -how culture plays a crucial role in enabling swift response to global change.  Half day or 1 day: 1 day includes case studies and analysis thereof How is leadership different within the domain of technology and operations leverage and implementation? How can technology specific leadership skills play a critical role in the success of operational directors, project managers, architects, and business managers who oversee technology projects? Technology projects require strong consensus building abilities. They require a demonstration of character, integrity, and communication ability beyond what is expected in other environments. The Leadership for the Global Economy Workshop is aimed at technology and business managers and teaches practical leadership skills that can be used on projects and initiatives to drive business capability. The workshop addresses challenges and situations that are specific to technology implementation and management. 1. Character and Integrity in the Workplace of Technology 2. Respect and Good Ethics in the Technology & Operations Workplace 3. Becoming a Respected Technology & Operations Leader 4. Following the Rules and Understand Situational Leadership 5. Getting Unstuck from Stick Situations
Actionable IT/OM Strategies for Improving the Bottom Line	1 day workshop using tools and process to improve your bottom line What are the top ten issues that your technology-driven organization should focus on that will enable your to drive the most value for your organization? How can you look at your organization and quickly understand the weaknesses that will hamper your success in the future? The Actionable IT/OM Strategies for Improving the Bottom Line workshop presents you with specific techniques for assessing your IT/OM organization’s weaknesses, and presents a top-five list of techniques that the best IT/OM organizations are implementing to achieve business success. This workshop is design for IT/OM executives and managers who are looking for specific solutions to drive productivity improvements in the technology environment. The best practices that are presented in this course are helping leading IT/OM organizations reduce time to market, reduce operational risk, reduce cost and add to their companies’ bottom lines. 1. Overcoming Constraints to IT/OM 2. Aligning IT/OM and Business Cultures 3. Enhancing Communication and Learning 4. Solutions: Integrated Strategic Planning 5. Solutions: Iterative Implementation 6. Solutions: Integrated Risk Management 7. Other Solutions You Need to Know About

Managing IT Risk	Half Day As the role of information technology has increased, so has the complexity and demands placed on the IT organization. Protecting the operations of existing IT infrastructure and developing the next generation of capabilities to benefit the business has become a daunting task that seemingly requires a crystal ball. The key to dealing with much of this complexity is knowing how to manage risk and creating a culture within your organization that is risk aware. The Managing IT Risk workshop introduces IT leaders to techniques for understanding and managing risk. The workshops cover not only the risks that they need to be aware of, but also important risks that their direct reports need to manage. Specific risk management approaches are covered including project portfolio management, communication tools and risk prioritization processes. The workshop discusses when you need to be involved in an issue as an executive and when to sit it out and let your people cope. The workshop ends with a session to help you determine which risk areas to target first, what types of benefits you can expect, and how to create a culture of risk awareness for all employees. 1. Why Manage Risk? 2. The Rules of Risk Management 3. Creating a Risk-able Organization: Who is Managing What Risk? 4. Security and Risk 5. Managing the Portfolio of Initiatives and Risk 6. Coordinating Development and Deployment 7. Managing Risk with Vendors 8. Next Steps: Creating a Culture of Risk Management
IT Management for Business Managers	1 day or 2 day: Optional Second day is a hands on workshop of problem solving techniques More and more business managers are finding that their day-to-day tasks require collaborating with, or directly managing IT teams to roll out new business capabilities. Differences in culture, business assumptions, goals and even vocabulary can make this a difficult challenge and drive a variety of problems. The IT Management for Business Managers demystifies a number of issues that create difficulty in the business/IT relationship and presents specific approaches for addressing these challenges to help you manage your relationship with IT. 1. Different Perspectives: Model Clashes Between Traditional Business Roles, IT, Customers, Vendors and Other Stakeholders 2. Bridging Business and IT Communication Gaps 3. Creating Common Project and Organization Goals with IT 4. How to Ask for What You Need, Get What You Need, and Figure Out If You Got It 5. The Development Lifecycle and How to Manage It 6. Creating Deliverables that Everyone Understands with Your IT Team 7. Aligning Business and IT Metrics for Long-term Understanding and Success
Technology Generations in the Workplace What makes a Technology Leader… a Leader?	Half day or 1 day: 1 day includes case studies and analysis thereof As information technology has changed over the past five decades, so have the people who have been drawn to IT at different points in its development. Today’s IT personnel environment is comprised of a diverse set of engineers, business people, hackers and Internet go-getters. Overcoming and leveraging such diversity to get organizations and teams to function, as a single unit is a challenge that requires the perspective of the team members. The Technology Generations in the Workplace Workshop presents a framework for understanding what drives the different people in your technology organization and how you can leverage those perspectives to create unified, effective teams. The perspectives presented in the workshop can assist IT leaders and managers in understanding their team members and help them succeed. 1. Discovering Your Own Generation in Technology 2. The History of Vets, Boomers, Xers and Nextsters in Technology 3. Understanding the technology Veterans 4. Understanding the Boomers of technology 5. Understanding the Xers 6. Understanding the Nexters (or Generation-Y) 7. How Do Generational Difference Affect You? 8. Communicating Across Generations 9. Managing Across the Generations of Technology 10. Creating Teams of Heterogeneous Technology Generations How do you spend your time - leading or managing? This seminar is a half-day session. It is understood that managers need to spend 70-90% of their time on leadership activities to successfully navigate through change efforts that are paramount in technology and business. Use one of the leadership tools in this seminar to find out if you are spending your day-to-day energy on the right tasks. Based on the research and writings of today's top leadership experts, this seminar explores what it takes to be a successful technology leader. You will analyze where you are and what you need to do-to move from a competent manager to an exceptional leader. Through an interactive case, you will learn how to: Distinguish between leadership and management Practice "big picture" thinking to discover patterns Listen to identify what needs to change Create an environment that empowers employees Develop "soft skills" required to effectively work with others Leadership tools help you: Evaluate your leadership skills by examining how you allocate your time Analyze your "Emotional Intelligence" to determine your strengths and weaknesses Assess your ability to lead your organization through fundamental change
Decision Making--Understanding the Defining Moments and leading Quietly in day to day management		This seminar is a half-day session Seminar Description: When making decisions, have you ever fallen into the "confirming evidence" trap? Not knowing if you are choosing between “Right & Right?” or “Wrong & Right?” Or “Wrong & Wrong?” Many do - by seeking information that supports their point of view, rather than examining all evidence with equal rigor. By becoming aware of this and other common "thinking traps" when making decisions, you will begin to increase your decision-making confidence and skill. Based on the research and writings of today's top leadership experts, this half day Seminar examines decision-making biases, frameworks for simplifying complex decisions, the role of intuition in decision making, and the increasingly frequent need for quick decisions. Dr. Joseph Badaracco of Harvard University is the author of the books “Defining Moments & Leading Quietly”. Dr. Badaracco has provided insight and guidance in the development of this seminar. Through an interactive case, you will learn to: Identify and avoid common "thinking traps" - distortions and biases that sabotage reasoning Ensure that the correct issues are being identified and examined Simplify complex decisions by evaluating alternatives according to comparable criteria Appreciate the role intuition plays in decision making and how to balance intuition with analysis Recognize when making a quick decisions is better than striving for the "perfect solution" Seminar tools will help you: Assess your vulnerability to common decision-making traps Walk through a process for making complex decisions, then print forms for your own use Assess your ability to use and trust your intuition during decision making The Seminar pedagogy enables you to practice new concepts and skills on the job through learner-selected mentoring and follow-up goals.