Management for Change

Probably the greatest challenge to building organisations that are both sustainable and effective in achieving their goals is how to develop leadership and management skills throughout the organisation. Leadership is often seen as the role of a single charismatic person, whereas effective organisations comprise teams who understand both how to get the most from their members and how to be strategic in coping with a constantly changing external environment.

This course will benefit managers, board members and other staff in an organisation.

This course is one of an integrated collection of courses developed by Fahamu in conjunction with the University of Oxford.

The course will enable participants to define the aims and purpose of their organisation, to define objectives, and motivate staff to achieve the goals of the organisation. The course enables organisations to develop strategies, to develop action plans, and to learn from their implementation. The most important resource that any organisation has is its people: this course looks at how to build people-centred organisations, how to develop staff, and how to manage conflict in a productive and constructive manner. The course will help managers and staff understand how to get the most from their governing board, and will enable them to reflect on the most effective organisational structures and systems. The course also considers the challenges of managing relationships within and outside the organisation, and how to make the best use of volunteers.

The course includes many practical exercises and two assignments. These will help participants learn new skills, such as interviewing and dealing with conflict. They will also develop material they can use in leading and managing their organisations.
Course content

1 Introduction

    * Understanding leadership
    * Understanding leadership and management in activist organisations
    * The purpose of leadership and management.

2 Leadership in context

    * Leadership and management in activist organisations
    * Context
    * Understanding the context
    * Understanding the NGO sector
    * Reading the context.

3 Creating a strategy

    * Understanding your purpose
    * Organisational culture and values
    * Strategic direction and purpose
    * Putting your purpose into practice.

4 Planning and monitoring

    * Strategic planning
    * Operational planning
    * Reflecting on performance.

5 Managing people

    * Building people-centred organisations
    * Allocating work
    * Finding the right people
    * Developing staff
    * Building effective staff
    * Managing conflict in your organisation
    * Helping staff cope with human rights work.

6 Choosing and using organisational structures and systems

    * Understanding organisational governance
    * Choosing the right organisational structure
    * Choosing the right organisational systems
    * Managing meetings
    * Managing structures and systems.

7 Leadership and law

    * Meeting legal requirements
    * Developing and using constitutions
    * Developing and using policies.

8 Managing resources

    * Managing relationships
    * Understanding relationships with others
    * Managing voluntary relationships
    * Managing accountability relationships
    * Communicating with others.

9 Managing yourself

    * Role definition
    * Time management
    * Stress management.

By the end of the course

Participants will be able to:

    * Understand the function of leadership in activist and advocacy organisations
    * Identify their organisation's mission in context
    * Develop a clear strategy
    * Translate their strategy into clear objectives
    * Manage people, systems and processes more effectively
    * Create and maintain more effective relationships with other organisations and individuals in their working environment.

Course benefits

Every participant will be provided with course materials including a course CD-ROM, which contains a comprehensive library of all relevant declarations, conventions and documents, as well as useful website addresses. A resources section on the CD-ROM provides a glossary of frequently used terms, a list of recommended books, copies of documents, links to relevant websites and other useful resources.

Every participant who successfully completes a course will be awarded a certificate from the University of Oxford and Fahamu.
Audience

This course is aimed at leaders and managers of organisations that are working for social justice.
Course length

Distance learning course (1–2 hours/day): 12 weeks

Orders within the United Kingdom include VAT.

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