Civil Service Learning & Development

This is a four-day training course that will be delivered from Monday 27th March to Thursday 30th March.

A strategy is only as good as its implementation – the extent to which it actually delivers intended policy outcomes. This event provides an in-depth exploration of the key ingredients for implementing strategy and policy in the civil service or any public sector role. Starting with the foundations of strategy, the event looks beyond strategic thinking to consider innovation, adaptation, and implementation. It explores a wide range of implementation issues including feasibility, capacity, project management and change management. The event is very interactive and will include insights from senior civil service leaders.

This half-day event is designed to help you to understand and apply best practice in designing and appraising policy options to solve problems and support the decision-making process. We will explore various models of the policy process and where option appraisal fits. We will look at how to establish desired policy outcomes and objectives, and how to decide on criteria for weighing up the various options available for achieving the desired outcomes. We will also examine the priorities of decision-takers and their needs, particularly in the political context. The session will comprise a mix of guidance, discussion and practical exercises, and include breaks away from the screen.

Governance is about so much more than compliance with statutory regulations and the presence of effective internal audit trails. Without those, you have no organisational governance framework. But with them, you don’t necessarily have an organisation that has top-notch quality governance or a culture of accountability.

Governance relies on attitudes, responsibility, effective leadership, and achieving full-spectrum staff buy-in. And more than likely, an element of organisational change.

This seminar will examine how you can move your organisation from current levels of compliance to genuine best practice. It will examine a range of issues and approaches to empower you to implement effective governance throughout your organisation.

This course is designed specifically for people working in communications roles in the civil service and in the world of politics. The day is structured around the work that you will be involved in in these worlds, covering the principles of communication, media management, the press office, building coherent communications strategies and strong inter-personal professional networks, and understanding narrative.

A policy is only as good as its implementation and delivery. This course considers the challenge of implementing and delivering strategic policy effectively. It guides you through a series of questions and tools that will help you make strategic delivery choices that are more feasible, that better address the key challenges you face, that work in different future scenarios, and result in sustained changes and better results for your stakeholders.

This is a two-day training course taking place on Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th May

This interactive and engaging training provides an overview of the essentials of management and leadership. Day one focuses on a “management and leadership triangle” that provides a core foundation for both management and leadership roles. We will explore the overlap and differences between management and leadership and different styles of management. Then we will address how to set clear objectives, support people’s motivation, and give and receive constructive feedback. These three areas that can make a massive difference to the perception of your performance as a manager and leader.

On day two, we will look at how four key aspects of leadership that will enhance your ability to lead teams and to progress further in your career. We will consider how to lead teams, fostering the spirit of collaborative effort, wherever you and your colleagues are situated. We will address what it means to be a strategic leader. We will explore how you can better lead people through change. And we will consider how you can be a catalyst for continuous improvement as a leader. (Descriptif disponible en français).

This highly practical half-day event is designed to help you to develop your skills and confidence in writing briefings for senior officials and political decision-takers. We will explore the policy context of briefing, examine a range of structures/templates for different type of briefs, and introduce a framework for writing policy briefs. The session will comprise a mix of guidance, discussion and practical exercises.

Strategic Communications is about building engagement that delivers your organisation’s core aims by: Developing and delivering strategic aims; Building constructive relationships; Understanding and influencing opinion; Managing risk and reputation. On this highly interactive, interesting and engaging training course, you will learn how to apply to maximum effect the five primary principles of communication – audiences, engagement, persuasion, narrative, advocacy.

This training seminar will examine the most effective approaches to delivering policy objectives by means of understanding individual or group behaviour. It will look in detail at the methodologies policy makers can use, and how we can best understand how people think, feel and react; as well as gaining knowledge into what people are thinking about particular subjects at a given time. The seminar will examine generic and specific behavioural and psychological issues that need to be built into your policy formulation, development and delivery when you are seeking maximum effectiveness.

This is a two-day training course taking place on Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd June

To succeed, governments and the officials supporting them need to understand how to make good decisions using the best available evidence. They policy-making is all about.This event is designed to equip officials with a strong understanding of the stages of effective policy making and the skills to deliver successful policy. The insights this event will provide, will improve your policy making wherever you are across the world. The event will be facilitated by a policy-making expert who has a very wide range of policy experience and who was worked with organisations across the world. This event provides two days of practical training, providing a comprehensive guide to policy-making for practitioners. The event will be very interactive, with a mixture of facilitated discussion and exercises that will provide practical insights. (Descriptif disponible en français).