STRATEGY CATALYST

STRATEGY CATALYST | STAKEHOLDER CATALYST | MANAGEMENT CATALYST

How do you execute business strategy through programs and portfolio management? Imagine you were managing the investment of millions into a portfolio of ground-breaking projects. Now, what if you were challenged to do so while facing dynamic changes, difficult personalities and competing objectives? And what if it all took place in a real-world, fast-paced business environment, but with minimal risk and maximum reward?

The Strategy Catalyst invites participants to develop practical skills in executing corporate strategy via careful selection, prioritization, and efficient delivery of a high-risk, innovative portfolio of projects. In doing so, teams will engage in a ground-breaking, higher-order learning experience complete with real-life challenges and rewards. As they face numerous obstacles putting their strategy into action, participants will be aligning projects with long-term corporate business goals, communicating with key stakeholders, and dealing with changing macroeconomic environments.

OVERVIEW

From deep sea exploration to telecommunications, our simulation recreates a wide variety of roles at a company investing in innovation technology. Taking place across several key industry verticals, this real-time experience challenges participants to work with a multi-million dollar portfolio of projects as they implement the company’s business strategy. This high-pressure experience is geared to promoting a practical understanding of efficient decision-making, stakeholder engagement, portfolio risk analysis, resource management and active communication. And, it all takes place in a scenario complete with the variables you are likely to find in real-world situations.

The Strategy Catalyst workshop offers significant value beyond managing portfolio changes and the realisation of the corporate strategy. Participants will gain an understanding of the “big picture” through a cross-departmental and multi-layered view of the organization, sharing their expertise and striving for synergetic effect in order to maximise business value. They will experience impacts of this decision-making at the board level down to the results of specific projects and vice-versa; an essential skill for the successful delivery of a sustainable business strategy.

Participants will also witness challenges of cross-enterprise resource management, and gain crucial skills in communication alignment. And, as part of our unique offering of a dynamic discovery learning environment, delegates will need to evolve proactively, as they deal with a large number of boardroom and “management gap” dynamics.

Fundamental to the process is frequent reflection at key points in the simulation in order to identify, capture and implement lessons learned. This helps to improve participants’ skills and processes, and their implementation during the next stage. The reflections are led by an experienced facilitator who focuses on asking questions rather than giving answers, allowing delegates to consider and understand their experiences before bringing them back to the workplace.
.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Learn key concepts of managing business strategy via cross-standard, integrated project and portfolio management principles in practice
Assess personal strategic management skills and discover strengths and weaknesses in a real-time competitive environment
Experience common fail-and-success factors in stakeholder, communication and team management, project and portfolio risk management, and how to improve these in the real world
Develop skills to manage unanticipated changes, organizational development, and limited resources in order to deliver business value under challenging conditions
Learn the nature of decision-making processes and skills involving trade-offs among competing priorities to achieve sustainable business success
Engage in Q&A on managing strategy and projects from professional strategy and project managers facilitating the workshop
Reflect on lessons learned to maximise understanding and implement new skills immediately

Testimonials »

Partnership Program

IPMA Championship