Participants will discuss the goals and learning objectives of The Portfolio and the Leadership for the Government Manager program in the context of larger statewide initiatives. The importance of workforce development, succession planning, strategic thinking, and the manager’s evolving role will be explored.

Designed to improve communication at the individual and team level, this course will teach participants to engage and enable a successful workforce. Topics will include techniques to: communicate effectively with diverse individuals; coach staff for accountability; apply methods for provoking productive conflict among staff; and conduct valuable meetings.

This course will provide knowledge and tools for understanding the impact and appropriate use of strategic planning at every level of the organization. Strategic maps will be explored. Participants will practice elements of effective strategic planning and implementation to sponsor a department’s effectiveness.

This course will teach participants the operational skills needed to translate strategic plans into sustainable results at the section and branch level. Practical implementation tools and techniques will be introduced for setting clear performance goals; prioritizing work; allocating resources; and measuring progress. Emphasis will be placed on the manager’s role as a steward of limited public sector resources to sustainably implement programs in the face of dynamic workload demands and changeable funding levels.

This course will prepare senior managers to accelerate the adoption of changes within their units and across organizational jurisdictions. Participants will learn methods for strategically transforming resistance into engagement across diverse stakeholders.

This course will provide a practical methodology for systematically improving business processes at all levels of an organization. Focus will be on manager roles for selecting which business processes to improve and leading teams to deliver targeted, incremental, business process innovations. Emphasis will be placed on how to address the reality of resource constraints and complex regulations that often hamper innovation efforts in the public sector.

Building on the foundation of strategic management, this course will examine how individual and group behaviors can lead to either mediocre or extraordinary results. Effective management strategies will be explored for developing diverse and high performing work teams.

This course will enhance senior managers’ negotiation and facilitation skills for productively navigating conflict. Participants will learn how conflict has the potential to create business value by bringing out diverse perspectives and generating unique solutions that better meet underlying interests. Topics will include: negotiating more effectively when new ideas or disagreements occur with other business partners, and techniques for developing team members’ abilities to resolve more conflicts with each other — with less frequent escalation to the manager.

Graduation ceremony held during the fourth month of the Leadership for the Government Manager program.