Creative Strategic IT Leadership

Introduction:

This course is designed to provide IT leaders and professionals with a set of transformational tools and techniques to help them maximize their own and their team’s creative potential. The starting point for this course is self-discovery; participants will work on the inside first and then focus outwards onto the world of business

Targeted Groups:

• IT Team Leaders
• IT Managers
• IT Professionals from both Technical and Management Backgrounds
• IT Operations Staff,
• Networks/Systems and IT Projects staff
• Technical Professionals

Course Objectives:

At the end of this course the participants will be able to:

• Set out their leadership brand
• Demonstrate innovative methods for harnessing others’ creative potential
• Articulate a vision using multiple sensory representations
• Communicate their vision in refreshing and engaging ways
• Identify critical components of a strategically-aligned IT department
• Apply value and performance measurement techniques
• Develop meaningful recruitment and retention policies
• Evaluate technology solutions, vendor selection and outsourcing

Targeted Competencies:

• Creating and communicating an inspiring leadership vision
• Defining IT strategy and set out techniques for leading an agile IT organization
• Making good strategic management and technical decisions and leverages IT resources effectively.
• The emphasis on the strategic importance of information services to the enterprise and their contribution as a critical partner in meeting business goals.
• Identifying opportunities for new kinds of thinking and learning to challenge the givens without breaking the bonds
• Improving the negotiation skills and overcome departmental and organizational obstacles to success

Course Content:

Unit 1: Creative Problem-Solving:

• Leadership Reality Assessment
• Leadership VS Management
• Understanding Our Brain Function
• Myths of Creativity
• The limitations of the rational
• Divergent approaches to problem-solving
• Letting go of logic
• Analogous thinking modes
• Convergent and divergent modes

Unit 2: Overcoming Personal Blockers to Creativity:

• Sigmoid Curve
• Lifecycle Model
• Continuous Improvement
• Breakthrough step change
• Self-awareness and the nature of the ego
• Personal goal alignment
• Adaption and innovation: personal preferences for creating meaning
• Exploring attitudes to risk
• Left- and right-brain thinking

Unit 3: Developing the Vision Creatively:

• Six thinking hats
• Using differing thinking styles
• JoHari’s window
• The business plan process & creating a vision
• Harnessing the power of the team
• Organizational culture and its influence on innovation
• Letting go of the ego
• Working with different creative preferences

Unit 4: Communicating the Vision Creatively:

• The 7 Step Creative Process
• Models of communication
• Viral visioning
• Authenticity and trust
• Creativity tools, techniques & strategy
• Letting go of the vision
• Leading without directing
• Possible leadership beliefs

Unit 5: From Ideas to Action: Creativity and Change:

• Motivation
• Hierarchy of Needs
• Overcoming organizational barriers to creativity and change
• Nurturing a learning environment
• Is Money a motivator?
• Personality Profiling
• Building a creative consensus
• Engaging stakeholders creatively
• Influencing and motivating through change

Unit 6: Leading and Managing the IT Department:

• Understand the challenges of the IT manager
• How to value IT services
• Communicate IT value to upper management, peers, and end-users.
• Understand the responsibilities of the IT team leader.

Unit 7: Managing Technology:

• Understand the Strategy for Managing Existing Technology
• Know when to develop and adopt New Technologies
• Be Aware of how to manage assets effectively.

Unit 8: Using Influence:

• Understand the different types of influential power.
• Be aware of the various influence strategies
• Select the most effective influence strategy for the situation
• Understanding negotiations, tactics, and techniques.
• Use influence effectively to thrive as an IT manager

Unit 9: Strategic Decision Making:

• Apply strategic decision making
• Recognizing strategic decisions and initiatives.
• Apply strategic decision making to vendor selection
• Understand when to outsource

Unit 10: Developing the IT Strategic Plan and Budget:

• Using the mission as an IT driver
• Defining the customer profile
• understanding the partnership model
• Creating a strategic plan
• Planning and budgeting issues

Unit 11: Managing IT Quality:

• Understanding the importance of managing by process
• Understand the definitions of quality
• Applying maturity models
• Using process management
• Applying international standards

Unit 12: Building the IT Management Team:

• Evaluating IT performance and metrics
• Understanding delegation and motivation
• Team building
• Managing the management team and stakeholders.

Unit 12: IT Project Management:

• The Importance of Project Management
• Defining Project Manager talents and skills
• Understanding the principles of Project Management

Unit 13: IT Performance Metrics:

• Developing a measurement strategy
• Creating a “Best Practices” based organization
• Deploy metrics
• Managing by facts and results
• Integrate metrics into the strategic plan

Unit 14: Common Pitfalls and Lessons Learned:

• Balancing technical and corporate requirements
• Balancing tactical and strategic decisions
• Evaluating new and existing technologies
• Balancing management styles and culture