Consultants Development Institute

CDI is perfect for:


Advisors

Auditors

Board consultants

Business consultants

Change management

Coaches

Educators

Engineering consultants

External consultants

Facilitators

Facilities consultants

Financial consultants

Fundraisers

Generalists

Government consultants

HR professionals

Internal consultants

IT consultants

Leadership consultants

Management consultants

Marketing consultants

Media consultants

Mentors

Nonprofit consultants

Operations consultants

Organization development

Planners

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Project managers

Process consultants

Social media consultants

Specialists

Strategy consultants

Technical consultants

Technical writers

Trainers

Consulting in Nonprofits

Virtual Program:
Facilitating Strategic Planning in Business

Great Facilitators of Strategic Plans in Business Have Consulting, People, Business and Systems Skills

Common complaints about for-profit strategic plans are that they are either 1) based too much on the owner's fantasies and not enough on facts, or 2) focused only on the owner's facts about the business, but not enough on the facts surrounding the business.

A great strategic planning facilitator for businesses has more than people skills and knows more than process skills. She also knows how business organizations work, the major functions within them and how they are connected. That knowledge ensures a planning process that is based on sound strategic thinking about the realities inside and outside of the organization.

This highly accessible, state-of-the-art program and its prerequisite guide and support you to develop the strong skills that are necessary to produce relevant and realistic strategic plans that get implemented in business.

To understand what we mean by strong knowledge in business facilitation, see the topics in the
Syllabus.

Benefits to You

  • Increased people, organizational, systems and consulting skills
  • Enhanced credibility with businesses and planners
  • Stronger working relationships with planners
  • Increased effectiveness in facilitation
  • Tools and templates for all phases of facilitating strategic plans in business
  • Core skills in coaching oneself and others
  • Close and confidential network of peers
  • More rewarding and joyful facilitating!
  • Certification from Consultants Development Institute

Audiences for This Program

This program is for highly motivated people, working inside or outside of business, who seek to develop strong strategic planning facilitation skills, along with increased people, organizational, systems and consulting skills, for example:

  • Facilitators who want to add business organizational skills to their process skills
  • Experienced business leaders who are considering consulting as their next career
  • Board members or employees who want to facilitate high-quality strategic plans for their organizations
  • Investors who want to select high-quality facilitators for businesses they invest in

You do not have to come to the program with a current planning project in order to greatly benefit from this program.  You can also be working on a planning project, even a project that is already into the middle and end-phases of the planning process.  In those situations, the program's peer coaching group process still focuses on wherever you are in the planning process.  

From This Program, You Will Be Able To:

As a result of completion of this program, you will be able to:

  • Customize the planning process to ensure relevant and realistic strategic plans for your business clients
  • Guide planners to ensure careful preparation from which to develop their strategic plans
  • Cultivate full participation of planners to produce plans with strong commitment and ownership
  • Stimulate strategic thinking that is grounded in realities in and around the business
  • Contribute, as needed, to discussions about the business’s governance and management practices
  • Guide planners through discussions, debates and healthy conflict to fully supported decision-making
  • Ensure planners produce a strategic plan document that is practical, useful and easy-to-reference

Strategic Planning In Business

Abundant Sources for Your Learning During the Program

  1. Virtual methods of access to content, coaching, peer exchange and sharing
  2. Vast range of practical guidelines, tools and templates for facilitating strategic plans, including from our text, Field Guide to Strategic Planning Facilitation in Business
  3. Nine virtual modules, each including:
    1. Self-scheduled 1-2 hours of readings from the text and recommended articles between meetings (see the Syllabus of topics)
    2. 90-minute, virtual seminar among participants and faculty, to discuss and reflect on the content from the readings
    3. 90-minute, virtual peer coaching group meeting among participants and faculty, to coach each member on applications of the content
  4. Ongoing peer coaching exchange in private group emails among participants and faculty
  5. Comprehensive Learning and Development Journal to cultivate deep reflection and learning from all modules in the Program

For more information about each of these sources and the unique philosophy of learning in this program, see About CDI. (We also can provide this as in-house program for your organization.)

Time Required to Complete the Program (Virtually or In-Person)

The program can be provided virtually or in-person at your location or ours. Plan to spend a minimum of 36-45 hours of effort in-person or in the virtual nine modules in the program (equivalent to an intensive 4-day workshop). The length of the program depends on the cohort's preferred scheduling of the seminar and peer coaching group meetings. (There are five to six members of a cohort.)

Certification To Show Evidence of Your Abilities

Upon successfully meeting the following requirements for certification, you will receive "Certification in Strategic Planning in Business" from the Consultants Development Institute:

  1. Completed the pre-assessment near the beginning of the program
  2. Actively participated in each of the virtual seminars in the program
  3. Actively participated in the peer coaching group meetings in the program
  4. Reasonably participated in the private group emails among members and faculty
  5. Submitted your Learning and Development Journal to faculty for private review (your Journal will not be shared with anyone else)
  6. Completed the post-assessment near the end of the program

Program’s Affordable Fee

The fee is only $1,380 for the following highly accessible services that are continually focused on your current needs and interests during the program:

  • 27 hours of interactive facilitation by faculty who are highly experienced in training consultants (equivalent to an intensive 4-day workshop)
  • Any of CDI's virtual courses (see "Virtual Courses" in the sidebar)
  • Ongoing highly practical training, materials and support focused on your current priorities during the program
  • Peer coaching, including time and attention focused on your individual needs and interests
  • Training in a coaching group process that you can use with your clients and peers
  • Close and confidential network of peers for ongoing coaching, guidance and support during the program

More savings for you!

  1. Consider the substantial savings to you because the program does not involve the typically significant travel expenses to attend a multi-day, face-to-face workshop.
  2. You might qualify for a 20% discount if a you are a current member of one of our partnering organizations. Please email info@ConsultantsDevelopmentInstitute.org to inquire if your specific membership organization qualifies you for your discount. Be sure to mention your membership organization in your email.

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