Functional Skills
The functions of an organization are the arms and legs of the organization
It is through these functions that strategy is implemented and value activities are performed. These functions include Finance, HR & Training, IT Management, Marketing and Sales
Developing competence in these functions is therefore just as critical as developing competence in leadership, management or strategy.
In addition, there are cross-functional skills in communication and project management that are also important competencies to develop in organizations. Finally, some functional skills may be needed by people outside of those functions, such as financial skills for non-financial executives.
Click on the relevant areas at bottom to learn more about our expertise in the different functional areas
Communication
In today’s competitive business world and difficult economy, lucid, effective communication is more essential than ever before. It is the foundation on which companies and careers are built and a crucial component of lasting success.
Whether the audience is an entire organization, a meeting of shareholders or a single individual, effective communication requires bringing together different points of view and relaying that information without losing clarity or focus. Whether it’s a face-to-face conversation or an e-mail exchange, a meaningful message entails establishing a connection that leaves a powerful impression.
Upholding positive interpersonal relationships among colleagues, subordinates and superiors is the key to maintaining a successful work environment-especially when daily interactions are subject to the strain and stress that accompany a troubled economy. Effective communication skills and interpersonal savvy are essential to help convey the polished professional image that you need.
AMA has a wide range of programs to develop the necessary communication and interpersonal competence in organizations, including the following:
Interpersonal Skills
- Communication and Interpersonal Skills for Technical Professionals
- How to Communicate with Diplomacy, Tact and Credibility
- Managing Emotions in the Workplace: Strategies for Success
- Responding to Conflict: Strategies for Improved Communication
- Building Better Work Relationships: New Techniques for Results-Oriented Communication
Assertiveness Skills
Business Writing
- AMA’s 2-Day Business Writing Workshop
- Effective Technical Writing
- Crash Course in Mistake-Free Business Writing
Strategic Skills
- Developing Your Emotional Intelligence
- Communicating Up, Down and Across the Organization
- Strategic Thinking
- Moving from an Operational Manager to a Strategic Leader
Influencing and Negotiating
- Getting Results Without Authority
- Negotiating to Win
- Expanding Your Influence: Understanding the Psychology of Persuasion
Presentation Skills
- Strategies for Developing Effective Presentation Skills
- Presentation Skills Workshop
- Effective Executive Speaking
Finance
Financial skills are not just the purview of people in the finance and accounting departments. Every business manager needs to have a basic working knowledge of accounting and finance. Corporate planning and development executives also need skills in financial analysis and valuation and, in some cases, mergers and acquisitions.
For these executives as well as finance executives themselves, AMA provides a number of targeted programs to help them develop the necessary financial skills for business success:
- Fundamentals of Finance and Accounting for Nonfinancial Managers
- Fundamentals of Cost Accounting
- Financial Analysis and Valuation
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Treasury and Cash Management
HR and Training
AMA’s human resources management and training programs provide innovative skills, behaviors and strategies for recruiting employees, reducing employee turnover, promoting employee development and retaining a talented, flexible and diverse workforce.
Use the practical advice in our human resources management and training programs to create an environment that fosters professional satisfaction and encourages employee development-a crucial component to help ensure your company has a true and sustainable competitive advantage. Discover new approaches and techniques for training employees and building organizational unity.
AMA has a wide range of programs to develop the necessary HR and training competence in organizations, including the following:
- Essentials of Human Resources Management
- HR 101 for New Managers
- Recruiting, Interviewing and Selecting Employees
- Human Resources Measurement and Metrics
- Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels: Increasing Training Effectiveness Through Evaluation
- Training the Trainer
- Instructional Design for Trainers
- Talent and Performance Management
- Internal Consulting Skills for HR Professionals
IT Management
Today, Chief Information Officers must make a choice: become a business-focused partner on their company’s leadership team or stay in the background and manage the provision and outsourcing of IT.
CIOs and IT leaders need to expand their role beyond traditional IT management duties. They need to become true business leaders. They need to know how to make the rest of the organization look at IT for the opportunity it brings, rather than the cost it represents.
To play a larger role in corporate strategy, CIOs and IT leaders need to help the organization determine how it can use IT to:
- Enhance product offering and competitive positioning
- Secure on-time and in-budget delivery
- Preserve product time-to-market and profitability
- Develop the flexibility needed to ensure fast response to new business opportunities or changing market conditions
In short, that means that IT leaders need to focus on:
- Integrating IT within the company’s business strategy
- Making the IT organization a business partner
- Maximizing business return from IT
AMA has a select number of programs to develop the necessary IT management competence in organizations, including the following:
- Increasing the Business Value of IT
- Aligning IT Strategy with Corporate and Business Strategy
- Project Management for IT/IS Projects
Marketing
With competition increasing every day, along with the mounting pressures that characterize tough economic times, you need proven marketing techniques you can use to generate demand for your existing products and services. You also need an effective product development process to create new offerings. And, you need a marketing communications strategy that will penetrate your markets and open up profitable opportunities.
AMA has a wide range of programs to develop the necessary marketing competence in organizations, including the following:
- Fundamentals of Marketing: Your Action Plan for Success
- AMA’s Advanced Course in Strategic Marketing
- Measuring and Maximizing Marketing ROI
- Planning and Developing New Products
- Successful Product Management
- Market Research: How to Get the Right Data to Make the Right Decisions
- Pricing Strategies: Capturing and Sustaining a Competitive Advantage
- B2B Marketing Strategy Based on Your Customer Value Proposition
- Product Management in B2B Markets
- Building Strong Brands in Consumer Markets
- Executing the Consumer Marketing Strategy: From Plans to Measurable Results
- Product Management in Consumer Markets
- Certified Marketing Manager (certified by Kotler Marketing Group)
Project Management
AMA’s project management training courses will help you deliver smarter solutions on time and within budget. From basic project management training to advanced seminars for senior project managers, AMA delivers the skills needed at every level of your development.
Designed to help you keep projects on track even in the toughest, most unpredictable times, our project management training courses cover the nine bodies of knowledge outlined in PMBOK® Guide, the guide to project management developed by the Project Management Institute (PMI)®. Seminars cover these project management training areas: project scope and gathering requirements; creating a project plan; assessing project risk; managing multiple projects; managing enterprise-wide initiatives; scheduling, controlling and managing contracts and implementing project management offices for repeatable success throughout the organization.
These two-to-three-day project management training courses are among AMA’s most popular seminars. Hundreds of thousands of project managers and business people with project management responsibilities attend our seminars each year. These courses include the following:
- Improving Your Project Management Skills: The Basics for Success
- AMA’s Comprehensive Project Management Workshop
- Technical Project Management
- Information Technology Project Management
- Project Team Leadership: Building Commitment Through Superior Communication
- Managing Projects Using Microsoft® Project
- AMA’s PMP® Exam Prep Express
- Best Practices for the Multi-Project Manager
Sales
In both Business (B2B) and Consumer (B2C) markets, today’s customers are more powerful than ever before and they expect companies to be flexible enough to satisfy their needs and to understand them.
AMA’s sales training programs deliver practical, ready-to-use selling techniques to generate better results for you and your organization and to help you keep sales coming in even during a recession. In each and every sales training seminar, you’ll uncover ways to increase your numbers by using fundamental and advanced selling techniques.
And for sales managers, AMA offers sales management training to assist you in areas like territory management, sales coaching and national account management. Whether you’re a new salesperson or an experienced sales manager, there’s an AMA sales training seminar or sales management program that meets your needs.
And for sales managers, AMA offers sales management training to assist you in areas like territory management, sales coaching and national account management. Whether you’re a new salesperson or an experienced sales manager, there’s an AMA sales training seminar or sales management program that meets your needs.
At AMA we realize that working in either B2B or Consumer markets has very different challenges for Sales – so we have also developed different curricula for each market.
In Consumer markets the focus is on strategic, cross-functional account management and on a full understanding of the retailer. In B2B markets, either selling the value of your product or service or enterprise selling when you are focused on Customer Specific Solutions providers are key.
Sales programs offered by AMA include the following:
- Fundamental Selling Techniques for the New or Prospective Salesperson
- Principles of Professional Selling
- Selling to Major Accounts: A Strategic Approach
- Territory and Time Management for Salespeople
- Fundamentals of Sales Management for the Newly Appointed Sales Manager
- Advanced Sales Management
- Strategic Sales Negotiation
- Customer Service Excellence: How to Win and Keep Customers
- Managing a Sales Team in Consumer Markets
- Managing B2B Sales Teams
- Selling to Retailers: Adapting to the Rising Power of Retailers
- Managing and Servicing Global/International Key Accounts in B2B Markets
If you are interested in any of these programs, please contact the relevant Quintegral office for further information.