Business Leadership for Technical Professionals
Technical professionals are well-equipped to face the challenging technical demands of their
industries. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, however, business leadership is required to
manage team and client relationships, lead organizational change, think strategically, and mitigate
risk. The Business Leadership for Technical Professionals Program offers applicable learning and
development that addresses the key business issues technical professionals encounter.
You will gain an understanding of the most current business practices, and their impact on your
organization. The program aims to enhance personal and organizational capacity, key to retention and
succession planning.
Who Should Attend
Technical professionals, i.e.: engineers, engineering technologists, architects, geoscientists or technologists, working in consulting and operations firms.
Overview of the Program
The program can be taken as individual courses, or as a suite of courses. It is scheduled for a maximum of two days per month, to improve accessibility and application of learning in day-to-day work. The program is delivered by subject matter experts from the Alberta School of Business and industry, who utilize a variety of tools to address course content: case studies, practical tools, theory and application exercises, assessment tools, and guest speakers.
Leading Change
Marvin Washington
Date: November 18, 2011
This module will provide you with a clearer understanding of the dynamics of change, why most change-related efforts fail, and the frameworks and tools that will allow you to initiate and manage change successfully. The module will build on live cases from participants’ own organizations. You will leave the session with a tangible change plan for your own change project.
Topics covered in this course include:
- An examination of the forces driving and restraining change
- The most common errors in any change initiative
- Why change is difficult
- How to make your plan comprehensive
- The key ingredients to make your change plan successful
- How to communicate your change plans to your organization
Building & Motivating Teams
Bill Lebedovich
Date: November 19, 2011
The module will examine the definition of a team, and how teams from other workplace groups interact. Participants will complete a team behavioural analysis, to be used for discussion throughout the module.
Topics covered in this course include:
- Team formation and dynamics; what really happens when people work together?
- The use of cross-functional teams in a constantly changing environment
- Understanding and using diversity to improve performance of cross-functional teams
- Working with different levels of authority
- Team basics to get your teams going
Building a Client-Centred Organization
Don Cummings
Date: December 1, 2011
The core strategies and the business model of professional service organizations are fundamentally linked to the culture of a client centered organization. This module will examine strategies for building an effective relationship-based organizational model through a focus on understanding the elements of strategy unique to the professional service environment. Using the program learning in communications, leadership, and team development, participants will develop tools for business strategies and effective client relationship management.
Topics covered in this course include:
- Brief introduction to the professional service strategy environment
- The value of client relationships: client service and organizational culture as strategy
- Relationship development process and stages of client/firm maturity
- Building the client relationship
- Managing expectations
- Conflict mitigation and management
- Relationship maintenance
Influence without Authority
Fred Jacques
Date: December 2, 2011
The intent of this module is to provide you with the background, understanding, and skills to exercise effective leadership regardless of the position that you currently occupy within your organization. You will learn how to positively influence the organization with your leadership. The session will include theory presentations, as well as group discussions, role plays, and experiential exercises that will assist you in testing and acquiring both knowledge and skills.
Project Leadership
Bill Lebedovich & Martin Gough
Date: January 20 – 21, 2012
This module will explore how to stimulate project-positive behavior by engaging everyone in project success. You will plan a real project of your choosing using the tools that are being discussed. You will be introduced to the concepts of effective engagement through the five phases of a project:
- Decide: (Conceptual) - consider the need
- Discover: (Aligned) - who has a stake?
- Design: (Committed) - develop a strategy and plan
- Deliver: (Contractual) - monitor the plan
- Document: (Administrative) - record
Interpersonal Communication
Wendy Wilton
Date: February 4, 2012
This module aims to provide leaders and managers with an overview of the communications-related strategies, skills, and knowledge required in the workplace.
Topics covered in this course include:
- Understanding patterns of interpersonal communication
- The role of emotional intelligence and interpersonal effectiveness
- An overview of fundamental principles for dealing effectively with people
- Practical skills for engaging and involving people
- Strategies for focusing people and setting limits
- Skills for managing and resolving conflict
- Awareness of action planning and how to apply appropriate skills and knowledge
Personal Leadership Style
Richard Field & Michelle Inness
Date: February 3, 2012
This module encourages you to examine your personal views of leadership, compare and contrast those views with those of others, examine strengths, and develop a committed plan for future action.
Topics for this course include:
- Developing a learning community
- Key assumptions about leadership
- Current leadership models and competencies
- Personal leadership assessment
Business Contract Management
Peter Bowal
Date: February 10, 2012
Project contracts are put in place as a road map to guide the parties through transactions that take time to fully execute. They are complete private codes of rules, expectations, standards, deliverables and deadlines. And, they usually set out what happens when things go wrong. This module uses current real life cases to provide you with an overview of the law and management of standard-form contracts, the bidding process, scope and strategies to maintain good client relationships in the context of contractual obligations.
Topics covered in this course include:
- What contracts mean for your business
- Highlights of various contracts you can expect to see in your practice
- Standard terms and liabilities in contracts
- Managing risk to avoid involving legal counsel on a project
- Alternative dispute resolution
Strategic Thinking
Ian Montgomerie
Date: March 9 – 10, 2012
Strategic thinking is not just about improving organizational performance; it is the foundation of transformational leadership. Where are you now? Where do you want to be? How will you get there? How will you know you are making progress? How will you allocate your resources? These are the basic questions underlying strategic thinking, and essence of effective strategic management.
In this module, we will discuss a number of planning tools that will help identify business objectives and link them to the expectations of customers, and to key internal processes and resources. We will use a series of examples drawn from the experiences of participants to build real strategies and effective measures to ensure that organizational outcomes are being achieved. Topics covered in this course include:
- Defining strategy and its importance to successful organizations
- Examining the core concepts of strategic management
- Building and operationalizing the strategic plan
- Six tools for developing and implementing strategy
- Performance measurement
- Aligning the strategy throughout the organization
Negotiations
Terry Daniel
Date: April 26 – 27, 2012
The objective of this module is to improve your skill set and understanding of the process of day-to-day negotiations within and between organizations. This module will focus on a wide range of bargaining environments, most quite distinct from traditional labour-management bargaining over the parameters of employment.
Topics covered in this course include:
- Integrative bargaining—how to create win/win outcomes
- The bargaining dilemma—how and when to share private information
- Building trust—the key to successful negotiations
- First offers—when and how to make them
- Cognitive biases—avoiding the mental errors to which we are all prone
Risk Management
Ray Patterson
Date: May 4, 2012
This module deals with understanding the issues and challenges surrounding value creation, specifically through IT-enabled strategic business projects that create and deliver new value for clients and stakeholders. Using a live case from participant organizations, you will build a plan for a strategic initiative, develop strategies for asking the right questions, and learn take-away tools for measuring progress.
Topics covered in this course include:
- Information technology as a strategic tool in alignment with company goals and as a function of your business
- Strategic alignment of business objectives and solutions
- Value delivery – Are you getting what you paid for?
- IT/systems risk management
- Resource management
- Performance measurement – How do you know if it is fulfilling the value proposition?
Program Details
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: University of Alberta, Enterprise Square
10230 Jasper Ave, Edmonton, AB
Fees
Association pricing* Non-Association pricing
One-day module $600 $675
Two-day module $1200 $1350
Full-program $8400 $9450
*Preferential pricing is available for members of partner professional associations. Please speak to Executive
Education for information.
Program Contacts
Program Advisor: Joanne Pattison (780) 492-2260
Register here for full program and individual courses
Click here to register if you are a Government of Alberta employee
Click here to register if you are NOT a Government of Alberta employee