Dr Caroline J Walker
Business Skills Workshops 
Based on discussions with those in industry, and our own experience, technical experts often find themselves on the back foot as they do not have the same business grounding as their colleagues. Consequently, they are at risk of sounding naïve or missing the point or being unable to communicate in business language.  There is therefore a great incentive to give technical experts the boost they need to develop more business acumen.
 
To bridge this skills gap, and give technical experts the boost they need by kick starting developing these business skills, we have designed a unique series of one day workshops that cover areas such as: 
  • Developing commercial acumen
  • Understanding and applying business strategy to technical investments
  • Developing a business language
  • Communicating technical concepts and ideas to a non technical audience
  • Using financial analysis to make a case for investment

All of these workshops use case studies and examples that match the situations that technical managers are likely to face. They are fast paced, involve robust debate as well us unashamedly leveraging analytical and sometimes numerical skills. This format is designed to appeal to technical experts and is an effective way to make the training 'stick'. The courses  are delivered by Dr Caroline Walker who shares her extensive practical experience as a technical leader to make the course pragmatic, applied and full of great tips!

Our business workshop courses are:  
  • Making Commercial Decisions -  Business strategy, applying strategic models and understanding how commercial decisions are made 
  • The Capital Request - Making a commercial case for technical investments through understanding and applying financial analysis
  • Communicating and Tailoring Technical proposals for business - Communications skills and strategies for explaining technical proposals to a non technical audience 

All of these workshops work well on a stand alone basis. However, we recommend considering creating a bespoke package with monthly workshops, potentially interspersed with 1:1 coaching, to really develop the business and strategic mind set and create that step change in business skills that can be so essential for the successful technical manager!

If you are interested in these training options, please feel free to contact Caroline at  caroline@carolinejwalker.co.uk to discuss!

Group Coaching

We find that technical teams often enjoy a format that allows for fast paced and vigorous debate, and you might also consider Group Coaching as a way to build skills sets in the team. For example, a Group Coaching programme could be designed to highlight a particular management soft skill every month or to focus on a particular topic such as change management over several months.​

More information - Group Coaching


​caroline@carolinejwalker.co.uk

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