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Quick Look Course Summary:Middle Manager Development Training (3 days)
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Next Public Course Date:
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Length: 3 day(s)
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Price (at your venue): 1 Person R 14,997 EX VAT 3 Person R 11,205 EX VAT 10 Person R 8,120 EX VAT
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Certification Type:Non-Accredited
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Locations & Venues: Off-site or in-house. We train in all major city centres throughout South Africa.
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Middle Manager Development Training (3 days)
Middle managers turn strategy into an operational plan, hold every team to clear performance standards and run their unit's budget with confidence.
Middle managers carry strategy from the executive team into daily work. When they cannot translate goals into a workable plan, measure performance the same way across teams or explain their own budget, good strategies stall in the middle. This middle management course gives heads of department, section heads and managers of several teams the three disciplines that matter most at this level: planning, performance and finance.
Day one covers operational planning: turning organisational strategy into operational strategies and a plan for the unit, putting the plan into action and checking whether goals are being met. Day two covers performance across the unit: setting standards for every role, building a monitoring system that all team leaders apply in the same way, and preparing for and holding review interviews. Day three covers the finances of a unit: the key ideas of managerial finance, reading financial statements, forecasting, drafting a budget from the operational plan and controlling spending against it.
Each day produces a working document for the delegate's own unit: an operational plan, performance standards with a monitoring system, and a draft budget with a variance report. The examples come from your sector when the course runs in-house.
Why this course
For your organisation
- Unit plans that clearly support the organisation's strategy
- One performance standard applied consistently across teams
- Managers who can read the numbers and defend a budget
- Earlier corrective action on plans, people and spending
- A stronger pipeline for senior management roles
For your delegates
- An operational plan for your own unit
- Performance standards and a monitoring system your team leaders can use
- Confidence with financial statements, forecasts and budgets
- Practice in a review interview, with feedback
- A personal development plan
What delegates will be able to do
- Translate organisational strategy into operational strategies for your unit
- Draft, implement and track an operational plan with clear measures
- Set performance standards for every role and apply them consistently across teams
- Set up a monitoring system and conduct fair performance review interviews
- Explain the key ideas of managerial finance in plain terms
- Read and interpret an income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement
- Prepare a simple forecast and a unit budget linked to the operational plan
- Control the unit's spending using variance analysis and financial controls
Who should attend
Heads of department, section heads, divisional and operations managers, and managers with more than one team reporting to them. It also suits experienced team leaders and supervisors stepping up into middle management, and specialists newly responsible for a unit's plan and budget.
Course outline
Day 1 – Operational planning
The middle manager's role
- Workshop objectives and personal learning goals
- Between executive direction and frontline delivery
- Effective versus efficient management
- Self-assessment: your planning, performance and finance strengths
From strategy to operational strategies
- Reading the organisation's vision, mission and strategic goals
- Scanning the unit's environment: SWOT and stakeholder needs
- Choosing operational strategies that support strategic goals
- Exercise: a line of sight from strategy to unit goals
Building the operational plan
- Objectives, activities, resources, responsibilities and timeframes
- Prioritising and sequencing work
- Contingency planning, including load-shedding and supply disruptions
- Exercise: drafting the operational plan for your unit
Implementing the plan
- Communicating the plan to team leaders and staff
- Allocating resources and delegating authority
- Managing change and resistance during implementation
Checking progress against the plan
- Key performance indicators and milestones
- Progress reviews and corrective action
- Reporting results upward
Day 2 – Managing performance across the unit
Performance standards for every role
- Cascading unit objectives to teams and individuals
- Writing measurable standards for output, quality, time and cost
- Consistency across teams and team leaders
- Exercise: standards for two roles in your unit
Building the monitoring system
- What to measure, how often and who is responsible
- Dashboards, scorecards and regular check-ins
- Equipping team leaders to monitor in the same way
- Fair, objective performance records
Preparing for a performance review
- Evidence, self-assessment and input from team leaders
- Notice, venue and structure of the review
- Calibrating ratings across teams
Conducting the review interview
- Balanced feedback and two-way discussion
- Agreeing actions, development and follow-up dates
- Poor performance and fair procedure: the LRA Code of Good Practice, as general guidance and not legal advice
- Role-play: a review interview with observer feedback
Day 3 – Managing the finances of a unit
Key ideas of managerial finance
- Income, expenses, profit and cash
- Fixed and variable costs, cost centres and overheads
- Capital and operating expenditure
- Why cash flow matters as much as profit
Reading financial statements
- The income statement
- The statement of financial position (balance sheet)
- The cash flow statement
- Simple ratios a manager should understand
Forecasting
- Why and how organisations forecast
- Forecasting income, costs and headcount for a unit
- Assumptions, risks and scenarios
Budgeting from the operational plan
- Incremental and zero-based budgeting
- Costing the activities in the operational plan
- Exercise: drafting the unit budget
- Presenting and defending the budget
Controlling the unit's finances
- Variance analysis and corrective action
- Authorisation limits, procurement rules and financial controls
- Preventing fraud and wasteful expenditure
- Monthly financial reporting
- Personal development plan, evaluation and close
How it is delivered
Three days, 08:30-16:00. In person at your offices anywhere in South Africa, at a BOTI venue, or live online. One delegate or a group of up to about 20; case studies tailored to your sector on request. Workbook, planning, performance and budget templates, and a personal development plan included. A laptop with a spreadsheet program is useful on day three. We deliver it at your offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and anywhere else in South Africa, at a BOTI venue in Johannesburg, or live online for teams in different places.
What our clients say
“Coaching sessions have been delivered on a consistent monthly basis throughout the engagement, with BOTI's facilitators demonstrating professionalism, flexibility in scheduling, and a strong ability to tailor coaching content to the individual development needs of our delegates.”
“All training programmes were delivered in a highly professional manner, with effective coordination and strict adherence to our scheduling requirements. The facilitators demonstrated a commendable level of expertise, and the quality of delivery consistently met our expectations.”
“The training was practical, engaging and relevant to our workplace environment, providing participants with valuable knowledge and practical skills that could be applied in their respective roles.”
Frequently asked questions
Can you run this course at our offices?
Yes. Most groups are trained at the client's premises anywhere in South Africa; we can also host it at a BOTI venue or deliver it live online.
How many people can attend?
From one delegate to groups of about 20. The price per delegate drops as the group grows – see the price table, or ask us for a quote.
Is it accredited?
No – it is a non-accredited short course and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance. For a credit-bearing route, ask us about BOTI's QCTO occupational certificates for supervisors and managers.
Do delegates need a finance background?
No. Day three starts from the basics and uses simple examples. Managers who need more depth can follow on with our Finance for Non-Finance Managers course.
Is this course right for first-line supervisors?
It is aimed at managers with more than one team or a unit budget. New supervisors and team leaders usually start with Supervisory Skills for Team Leaders or Management and Leadership Development Training.
Can you run this course in Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban?
Yes. We train on site at your offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and across South Africa, at a BOTI venue in Johannesburg, or live online so a team spread over several offices can attend together.