If several new managers need to understand the basics of leading people, a good existing programme may offer exactly what you need. If your senior team is managing a restructure while struggling with its own relationships, sending people on a general course may leave much of the actual difficulty untouched.
The decision begins with the situation you want the development to address and how closely the available programme fits it.
The value of an established programme
An existing course can give you a clear curriculum, defined dates and a straightforward understanding of what participants will learn. The provider has material to work from, and your leaders may benefit from an approach that has already been developed for a similar need.
An open programme also gives participants contact with people from other organisations. That can broaden their thinking and help them recognise that some of the difficulties they face are shared elsewhere.
You still need to check the level, the learning approach and how much opportunity there is to work with participants' situations. A familiar course title does not guarantee a suitable experience for every leader.
What should bespoke design change?
A tailored programme should reflect a useful understanding of your people and their work. That may change the sequence of the learning, the examples used, the balance between group and individual development or how participants apply the work between sessions.
For emerging leaders, there may be a need to explore how their identity changes when they become responsible for other people's work. For senior leaders managing change, the development may need to address uncertainty, the pressure to appear certain and the effect that has on the people looking to them for direction.
Those choices should be visible in the proposal. Putting your logo on a workbook is easy; understanding the organisation well enough to shape relevant development takes a different level of attention.
Keeping the strengths of an existing approach
Bespoke work can use established methods and resources. We do not need to recreate every element to make a programme relevant, and retaining useful material can keep the design focused.
At PasedaLeader, we work in partnership with organisations to create programmes that meet their needs. That includes development for emerging leaders through to executive leadership retreats, with the shape of the programme informed by the people, the context and the work they need to do.
Our Unmasked programme is another way organisations can introduce a series of workshops that build on each other, while individual coaching or other facilitated work may be appropriate alongside it. The conversation is about the fit rather than automatically choosing the most extensive option.
Where the decision can become difficult
Tailoring requires time from the organisation too. The sponsor needs to help clarify the brief, bring relevant perspectives into the design and protect the focus when different stakeholders want to add more content.
A programme trying to satisfy every request can become crowded, with little room for leaders to absorb or use the learning. An existing course may offer a useful discipline here, while a bespoke programme needs equally clear choices about what it is intended to achieve.
Before deciding, ask the provider to explain what it would retain, what it would change and how each choice serves your leaders. You should be able to understand the value of the design before agreeing to pay for it.
