Management, Leadership and HR
Leadership Development
Leading Teams Through Operational Change
Take a team through a change of system, structure or process without losing delivery or people along the way.
- Duration
- 3 days
- Contact hours
- 18
- Level
- Intermediate
- Fee from
- On enquiry
Overview
Most operational change fails in the middle, at the layer of managers asked to keep delivery steady while the ground moves. This programme works on that layer. Delegates bring a change they are actually running and leave with a sequenced plan, a stakeholder map and the language to hold difficult conversations early rather than late.
Who should attend
Line managers, team leaders and heads of department accountable for delivery during a restructure, system migration or process redesign.
What you will be able to do
- Diagnose where resistance is coming from and separate it from legitimate operational objection.
- Sequence a change so that early wins carry the credibility for later, harder steps.
- Hold conversations about role, status and job security without deferring or over-promising.
- Keep delivery measurable while the operating model is in flux.
How it is taught
Short input, then work, across 3 days of roughly 6 teaching hours each. Exercises run on situations delegates bring rather than on a case study written for a different organisation. Cohorts are capped so that everybody is asked something.
Available as classroom, live online, in house.
Programme outline
Day 1
Why operational change stalls
- The middle manager squeeze and why it is structural
- Resistance as information rather than obstruction
- Change fatigue and the cost of too many parallel initiatives
- Reading the informal organisation
Sequencing and early credibility
- Choosing the first visible win
- Dependency mapping and critical path
- Pacing: what to announce and what to pilot
- Reversibility and how to design a safe retreat
Day 2
The conversations managers avoid
- Role change and status loss
- Answering a question you are not cleared to answer
- Handling the visibly disengaged team member
- Escalating upward without appearing unable to cope
Day 3
Holding delivery steady
- Leading and lagging indicators during transition
- Protecting the core while the periphery changes
- Workload triage and deliberate deprioritisation
- Closing a change and making it permanent
What you leave with
- A written change plan for the delegate's own initiative, sequenced and stakeholder mapped.
- A stakeholder position map distinguishing blockers, sceptics and advocates.
- A set of tested phrases for the three conversations managers most often avoid.
- A short measurement set that shows whether delivery is holding.
Dates and fees
| Dates | Location | Format | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 to 25 November 2026 | Durban, South Africa | Classroom | R12,000 |
| 30 November 2026 to 2 December 2026 | Kampala, Uganda | Classroom | US$1,200 |
| 7 to 9 December 2026 | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Classroom | US$1,200 |
| 14 to 16 December 2026 | Lagos, Nigeria | Classroom | US$1,200 |
Fees are per delegate and cover tuition, all programme materials and the certificate. Travel, accommodation and visas are arranged by the delegate. Registration closes two weeks before a programme starts.
Certificate
A GATI certificate recording what was attended, issued after the programme has run and attendance has been taken. Attending at least 80 per cent of the days earns a certificate of completion; attending less earns a certificate of attendance stating exactly what was attended. Every certificate carries a code that anybody can check against GATI's own record.
It records participation. and GATI does not claim one it does not hold.