How to Conduct Functional Reviews: A toolkit for practitioners

In Leadership and Organisational Change by Amanda Anderson

Duration: 1 week
Dates: 13 to 17 October 2025
Tuition fees: £2,550 (exc. VAT)


About the workshop
The ever-changing environment requires public and private organisations to be agile in meeting the demands of customers and stakeholders, remain competitive and be able to deliver services and goods effectively and efficiently. Change is triggered by a variety of factors, a political change of power and philosophy, legislative reforms and treaties, financial crises and cash shortages, gaps in performance, new technologies, social demands, climate and environmental change. The ability to respond quickly to change requires an understanding of the current state of the organisation and what led it to the position in which it finds itself. Once this is established the next steps are to determine how to respond and the direction to take in developing options for a new business model.

Change is a constant, and organisations need to be adaptable in creating news ways of working that encourage innovation, develop new skills and ensure that staff have the capability to develop appropriate responses. Scientific and technological advances are changing the nature of work. What worked yesterday is unlikely to be relevant in the future. The structures and functions of an organisation’s operations need to be responsive and the professional competencies needed will be different, which affects the design of professions and trades. This workshop provides a toolkit to look in depth into an organisation and identify the challenges it faces, as well as looking at options for change to develop structures and strategies fit for the future. We will provide a soft copy of a manual of tools and techniques for each participant.

What the workshop will cover
During the workshop you will:
• Explore the need for change in an organisation and how the environment in which it operates affects the way it operates
• Be introduced to different business and organisational models for the structure and operations of an organisation
• Develop a wide range of skills, tools and techniques for analysing the internal and external factors affecting an organisation and for creating news structures and operating models
• Use what you have learnt to analyse your own organisation’s need for change and use methods for designing and assessing the relevance and appropriateness of the new structures and systems.

How participants will benefit
By the end of the workshop, you will have improved your understanding of and ability to:
• Assess the need for change in organisations and what creates that requirement
• Plan an organisational review
• Understand stakeholders and their role, their impact on change and how to manage their involvement in the review
• Analyse an organisation’s structure, functions, capacities and capabilities
• Design appropriate models and options relevant to the mandates, policies and strategies for delivering services and goods
• Assess and cost options for changes to structures, functions and occupations.