Course Methodology

The course uses a mix of interactive and hands-on techniques. Besides brief presentations by consultant and participants, the thrust will be on developing all the elements of the balanced scorecard for a virtual company the trainer will introduce on day one. There will also be many group exercises throughout the five days.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Explain the benefits and importance of a Strategy Focused Organization (SFO)
• Develop a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis, vision and mission statements and strategic goals for their organization or department
• Use 'SMART' objectives and key performance indicators to track the performance and productivity at all levels in their organizations
• Apply the approach of best-in-class benchmarking technique to set targets for each KPI
• Design a balanced scorecard based on the Kaplan and Norton model

Target Audience

All managers and supervisors involved in strategic planning and performance management. The course is also very helpful to those involved in improving performance and measuring results.

Target Competencies

• Management and leadership
• Strategic planning
• Performance management
• Influencing and communicating for impact
• Analytical thinking

Benefits of strategic management and planning

• The strategy focused organization
• Why implement the balanced scorecard
• Strategic planning needs and benefits
• A strategic planning model
• Balanced scorecard steps and timeline

'SWOT' analysis, vision and mission statements

• The purpose of a 'SWOT' analysis
• 'SWOT' in brief
• Linking the results of the 'SWOT' findings to future objectives and initiatives
• Definition of a vision statement
• Importance of a structured mission statement

Developing performance measures and control systems

• Goals, objectives, and targets
• 'SMART' objectives
• Key performance indicators
• Aligning KPIs to company strategy
• Obstacles to measurement
• Developing strategies and initiatives that will assist in achieving the targets

Benchmarking as a tool to set targets

• Objectives and basics of benchmarking
• The who, what and why of benchmarking
• Different methods of benchmarking
• Who to benchmark against
• The benchmarking process

The balanced scorecard as a strategic management system

• Strategic planning and strategy execution
• Translating the vision into everyday actions
• Importance and history of the balanced scorecard
• Principles of the strategy focused organization
• Measuring business strategy from different perspectives
• Strategic alignment and goal setting
• Linking the balanced scorecard's KPIs to strategy
• Strategy map: specifying relationships and making them testable
• The importance of initiatives
• Evaluating and Managing initiatives
• Soft, Hard, Leading, and lagging KPIs
• Reporting and evaluating results
• Cascading the balanced scorecard