Effective Manager Programme

Effective managers are essential for organizational success, providing guidance and leadership, motivating employees to reach goals, and ensuring operations run smoothly. Effective managers are key to keeping employees engaged in their work, and ultimately to the success of the organization.

This comprehensive six-module programme led by experienced faculty provides an in-depth look into topics such as productivity, wellbeing, technology and AI, persuasion and influence, problem-solving, decision-making, and leadership.

Through this intensive learning experience, you will gain insight into concepts and tools that will help you optimize your efficiency, streamline your time management, and further develop your personal and professional skills. Become a more effective manager, gain the knowledge and skill you need to reach organizational success, and to motivate and engage your employees.

This programme offers participants the opportunity to hone essential abilities necessary for succeeding in the modern workplace. Participants will:

• Gain Leadership, Problem-solving, Decision-making and Self-management skills to deal with day-to-day tasks efficiently.
• Be equipped with the tools needed to think strategically.
• Enhance personal mastery, resilience and emotional intelligence.
• Acquire tactics to effectively present, negotiate and close deals.
• Learn how to utilize automation opportunities for practical application.
• Learn how to reduce tedious work  to focus on more inspiring and motivating tasks.
• Develop skills how to improve personal well-being, identify and achieve goals.
• Gain skills and strategies necessary to increase your personal productivity and get more done in less time.
• Acquire skills and practical tools tounderstand the stages of team formation and their challenges.
• Learn how to enhance organizational alignment by creating a shared vision.
• Recognize the essential characteristics of high-performing teams and develop strategies to build team success.

• Develop the skills required to lead in the age of technology and AI
• Gain comprehensive understanding of the latest technologies and AI developments
• Enhance problem-solving skills by understanding AI usage for decision-making and process optimization

• Understand how to use AI to its fullest potential

• Develop a strategic mindset to approach problems and access multiple elements

• Create new solutions and think holistically

• Develop personal mastery, resilience, and high energy

• Create an atmosphere of wellbeing through individual purpose

• Acquire skills to persuade and influence others

• Identify best team members and understand stages of team formation

• Understand characteristics of high-performing teams

• Address development gaps of team

• Identify leadership styles that form high-performing teams

• Gain coaching skills for team success

Effective Manager Programme is ideal for entry-level managers, team leaders and ambitious high potential employees looking to expand their professional skillset and grow in their roles.

Our faculty members are the cornerstone of the Effective Manager Programme. They are highly qualified, with extensive knowledge and expertise in their fields, and have a close connection to SSE Riga. All of them have international experience, both in the academic and business worlds and are actively engaged in their respective industries, bringing the most up-to-date trends and developments into the classroom.

Programme will be delivered online, with the exception of the kick-off event and last module “Building and Leading High-Performing Teams”. The kick-off event will be held in person to ensure that all participants can get to know each other and start the program with a shared understanding of the objectives and goals. The last module will also be delivered in-person to give all participants the opportunity to reflect on the learnings and share their experiences with each other.

We offer the option to purchase the entire programme, or individual modules separately.

Programme kick-off & Networking workshop
September 28 (12:00-17:00)
at SSE Riga

This event will provide you with an introduction to the programme and faculty as well as the opportunity to meet fellow participants face-to-face before the online lectures begin.

During the workshop, participants will gain insight into concepts and tools that can help them optimize their efficiency and streamline their time management throughout the program.
 

Topics covered during the workshop:

• Personal efficiency
• Cognitive flexibility
• Self-reflection
• Time management
• Knowledge management and mediation

These skills will allow the programme participants to become more efficient in learning, self-development and time management throughout and after the programme.

Faculty: Aivars Timofejevs

Aivars Timofejevs has 23+ years of experience in management, research and academia. He has worked 7 years as an academic advisor, 2 years as a board member at Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, 8 years as Chairman of the Board and senior researcher at Oxford Research Baltics, and 6 years as a board member at ENSR- European network for social and economic research. His experience provides him with valuable ability to combine and utilize practical experience with academic knowledge and skills to improve work and study efficiency.

October 3, 5, 10, 12 (15:00-18:30)
online via Zoom platform
EUR 690 + VAT

Sustainable, effective management starts with improving personal well-being. Learn to build personal mastery, have resilience, generate energy, and develop Emotional Intelligence skills that will positively influence your personal and professional growth and those around you. This programme will help you find tools to develop physical, mental, emotional and spiritual or purposeful health, including discovering your individual purpose, to win every day regardless of external circumstances!

The extensive 14 hour online course is designed to provide participants with practical, research and science based knowledge on 4 components forming individual wellbeing: 1)Physical 2) Emotional 3) Mental 4) Spritual or Purposeful wellbeing, and hands-on tools that can be applied  by participants in both profesisonal and personal areas.

Topics covered:

• Session 1: Introduction to Wellbeing and Mental Wellbeing

The impact of wellbeing on engagement, productivity and perfromance has by now been proven by reseachers. We will introduce you to the concept of wellbeing and 4 core elements forming it. Further, we will take a deep dive into Mental Wellbeing, which is about the ability to utilize brain or mental capacity to organize our lives and focus our attention on things that matter. We will explore recent neuroscience discoveries and convert them into practical implications and solutions to be applied in everyday lives.

• Session 2: Purposeful Wellbeing

Every individual is as unique as his fingertips are. Understanding your own uniquiness and your distinctive contribution to this world can make a big difference for you and others. We call it the journey towards discovering and living a life of purpose.  Life purpose is underpinned by your drivers, talents, interests and experiences, hence it differs a lot from person to person. Moreover, the research has proven that purpose-driven individuals are happier, healthier and even wealthier. We will provide you with tools to discover your individual purpose, as well as recommendations and guidelines how to leverage the power  of purpose not only on individual level, but also in your teams and organizations.

• Session 3: Emotional Intelligence - Understanding yourself and Physical Wellbeing.

Emotional intelligence skills are key to success of individual managers and team leaders. Understanding these skills starts with yourself, building your emotional vocabulary, recognising and accepting emotions as part of life, noticing how those may impact your actions and judgment.
In preparation for this session, it is also recommended you take a 360-degree Emotional and Social Competency Inventory Test(available at request and charged separately), designed to determine your level of proficiency with the Emotional Intelligence skills. The test will allow you to put the learnings in a different perspective and apply these to improve yourself over time.

In addition, we will discuss Physical Wellbeing, which is well-known, but often disregarded   source of fuel in life. We will discuss recent reseach findings and recommendations on taking a proper care of your physical energy without implementing drastical changes in daily schedules.

• Session 4: Emotional Intelligence - Finding leader's purpose. Working with others and building a successful team.

Our Emotional Intelligence journey will continue with exploring the purpose of each team manager - to lead their team to success and develop individual team members. To accomplish this leaders need to understand the needs of others, empower and motivate them to bring their best selves to work, give constructive feedback that will foster their development. We will explore these and other aspects of using Emotional Intelligence skills to work with others in this session.

Faculty: Anastasija Danu-Žubule and Alexander Ilkun

Anastasija Danu-Žubule is an experienced HR professional possessing more than 9 years of corporate business experience in managerial and cross-country leadership roles in the Baltics and recently in East Europe at Unilever. She is currently studying certified coaching & supervision studies and partnering East European middle level managers and teams in their development journeys. Anastasija’s purpose is “To plant spring in people’s lives”, she sees herself as a catalyst for awakening environment that liberates unique geniuses within.

Alexander Ilkun, ACMA CGMA, is a Finance professional with 15 years of international experience in Treasury & Accounting, mostly with General Electric and Moody's. He is a Chartered Management Accountant, Vice-Chair of the CIMA Regional Committee for Eurasia & Baltics, and a member of the Regional Committee for Mainland Europe. He is interested in Emotional Intelligence, understanding his emotions and those of others, to achieve shared goals.

October 17 and 19 (15:00-18:30)
online via Zoom platform
EUR 290 + VAT

As the speed, complexity, and ambiguity of the workplace continue to rise, it is essential to empower our employees with the skills of self-management. Although this is often expected, it is rarely taught or considered when assessing productivity.

We will guide you through areas where personal productivity is lacking and provide you with the tools to make the necessary adjustments in your own work and that of the teams they lead.

This module will teach you how to increase your personal productivity by creating effective habits and strategies to help you get more done in less time. You will learn how to identify and prioritize tasks, manage your energy, reduce distractions and procrastination, and create a system to keep yourself on track and organized. Through this module, you will develop the skills and tools you need to reach your goals and maximize your performance.

Topics covered:

• How to plan and prioritize tasks
• Address common productivity obstacles
• How to maintain focus and motivation
• Goal setting
• Time and task management
• Tools and techniques for productivity tracking
• Strategies for developing better habits and eliminating distractions
   

Faculty: Inga Gleizdāne

Inga Gleizdāne has a variety of roles in which she helps organizations and individuals reach their goals in an enjoyable way. Inga works to develop great ideas and has consulted with management teams of over 100 companies from a variety of countries, cultures, sizes, structures and strategies. Her expertise lies in compensation system, reward management, performance management, function and organization structure analysis and development.

October 31 and November 02 (15:00-18:30)
online via Zoom platform
EUR 290 + VAT

In today's tech-driven world, emerging tech solutions can reduce tedious work and free employees to focus on more inspiring and motivating tasks. This course covers the practical use of automation in business processes.

The module will provide attendees with the knowledge and skills required to lead their organizations in the age of technology and AI. It will look into principles on how to assess technologies, how to ensure that it is part of productivity and not a distraction, and finally, how to strategically approach technological change with emergence of AI.

Topics covered:

• Introduction to Technologies and AI
  - Understanding the latest developments in technologies and AI
  - The impact of technologies and AI on business operations
  - Best practices for adopting new technologies and integrating them into operations
• Leading with Technologies and AI
  - Developing a strategic vision for technology and AI adoption
  - Understanding the role of leaders in driving organizational change
  - Building a culture of innovation and continuous learning
• Implementation and Integration of Technologies and AI
  - Best practices for implementing new technologies and AI systems
  - Integrating technologies and AI into existing business processes
  - Overcoming the challenges of implementing and integrating new technologies and AI systems
  - Automation opportunities - practical application
   

Faculty: Alexander Ilkun and Rihards Garančs

Alexander Ilkun, ACMA CGMA is an experienced Finance professional, who has worked in various international Multi-National Corporations, with a focus on process improvement and automation. He has been actively applying automation tools to reduce manual labour and enable individuals to focus on more value-adding activities. Alexander is also a member of CIMA Committees for Mainlain Europe, and Eurasia & Baltics.

Rihards Garancs has a double degree MBA from HEC Paris & National University of Singapore and is the Director of Executive Education at SSE Riga. He is also the Director of the Artificial Intelligence and Data Analysis course at SSE Riga. Furthermore, he runs a consulting company developing Business Intelligence solutions, helping companies advance in business analytics and enabling effective Digital Transformation.

November 7 and 9 (15:00-18:30)
online via Zoom platform
EUR 390 + VAT

How to be a manager who is effective at influencing and persuading others? It's a skill that every manager should work on developing and sharpening. The reason is simple – a team's success depends on whether a manager can sell his/her ideas to the team and whether the team members have clearly understood what is expected of them.

This module focuses on principles and techniques of persuasive communication and influence. It covers the psychological processes behind persuasion, helping managers to understand how to use the tools of persuasion in their professional and personal lives. Upon completion of the module, participants will have the knowledge and confidence to use persuasive communication and influence to reach their goals and better manage their teams.

Topics covered:

• How do people perceive and "buy" ideas?
• When people "buy" an idea?
• What is the "influencing cycle"?
• 3 levels of selling ideas/convincing people
• How to persuade and present ideas and information to people?
• How to work with resistance and objections?
• How to convince and "close" people?
• How to solidify people's decisions?
• How to effectively negotiate if needed?
   

Faculty: Guntars Logins

With over 12 years of experience in sales and sales leadership across the USA, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, and the Baltics, Guntars Logins is professional consultant in the field with expertise in B2B and B2C sales.  Guntars is helping companies design strategic sales plans and improve their overall sales process. He specializes in breaking down complex sales processes into manageable and achievable steps. In addition to his consulting work, Guntars currently teaches a Sales course at the SSE Riga Bachelor's Program and works with many leading organizations across a variety of industries.

November 14, 16, 21, 23 (15:00-18:30)
online via Zoom platform
EUR 690 + VAT

Sound decision-making is essential for successful organizations. This module covers key components like navigating info, critical thinking, synthesizing new info, and making decisions based on data. It also looks at solving complex and wicked problems. Participants will learn to apply frameworks and develop the right mindset to solve business problems.

Through practical examples, simulations, case studies, and reflection, the participants will be able to fully experience & develop effective decision making & apply it effectively in day-to-day work.

Topics covered:

• Critical thinking/acquiring new information
  - Learning strategies
  - Information synthesis
  - Rethinking and information evaluation
  - Unbiasing your thinking
• Data-driven decision making
  - Reading data critically
  - Business decision making
  - Dealing with “noise”
  - Implementing data-driven decision-making in your organization
• Complex problem solving
  - Problem-solving approaches
  - Structured problem solving
  - Dealing with complexity and ambiguity
  - Creating new solutions
   

Faculty: Rihards Garančs

Rihards is the Executive Education Managing Director at SSE Riga and lecturer in undergraduate and Executive MBA programmes across the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, Russia, and Hanken Executive Education in Helsinki. He is the Course Director of the Artificial Intelligence, Data Analysis and Business & Leadership Skills courses. He is also the Topic Lead for Digital Transformation at the SSE Riga Institute for Strategy.

Rihards runs a consulting practice that develops Business Intelligence, Data Strategy, Data & Digital capability building solutions. He helps companies & their employees advance in business analytics using the latest digital tools.

Rihards holds a double degree MBA in HEC Paris and National University of Singapore, a BSc in Economics & Business from SSE Riga as well as Data Science certification.

December 4-5 (9:00-17:00)
onsite at SSE Riga
Euro 790 + VAT

As we build our professional careers, we often grow from experts to managers and leaders. In this journey many /but not all/ will not have any formal management or leadership training – a sorry fact that multiplies many challenges, prevents successful collaboration and ultimately slows down professional careers.

Topics covered:

• How management and leadership differ?
• How good leadership helps managers be more effective in reaching their objectives and key results?
• How one manages to build and motivate a high performing team?
• Where do great leaders find the energy to lead with passion and drive?
   

Faculty: Peter Zashev

Peter Zashev is an academic, business trainer and high-energy speaker on leadership, change and strategy. Peter has 18 years of executive education experience working with the management of big companies across Europe and mainly in the Nordic countries, the Baltic States and Russia. His combination of skills and experience features:

Academia - holding a MSc degree from the St Petersburg State University in Russia and a PhD from Hanken School of Economics in Finland, currently Peter is a Professor (adjunct) at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga and a Program Director at Hanken&SSE Executive Education in Finland.

Business - Peter is a board member and investor. His consulting experience features many projects in leadership development and international business strategy for both private and public sectors.

Multi-cultural - Peter is Bulgarian by origin, Finnish by nationality, Estonian by residence, half Swedish by workplace and with an extensive Russian experience. He speaks English, Russian, Bulgarian and Finnish.

Tuition fee for the entire programme and all 6 modules, kick-off event, and individual coaching sessions provide greater benefits and lower price (in addition, a discount applies if several participants are from one company):

EUR 2900 + VAT, if 1 participant

EUR 7500 + VAT, if 3 participants from one company

EUR 11900 + VAT, if 5 participants from one company

You can also purchase each module separately or combine multiple modules:

Module #1: Wellbeing and Purpose
EUR 690 + VAT

Module #2: Personal Productivity
EUR 290 + VAT

Module #3: Leading with Technology and AI
EUR 290 + VAT

Module #4: Persuasion and Influence
EUR 390 + VAT

Module #5: Effective Problem-Solving and Decision Making
EUR 690 + VAT

Module #6: Building and Leading High-Performing Teams
EUR 790 + VAT

What is included in the price:

• Guided learning path through the personal development plan.
• Case studies.
• Learning from the experts in their field and the opportunity to expand your network.
• Lifetime access to all the materials and learning resources used during the programme.
• Coffee breaks and lunch during onsite sessions.
• One-to-one coaching sessions with a certified coach.
• SSE Riga certificate of completion.
• Price discount compared to taking different modules separately.