Our Approach

The Irish Management Institute adopts a best-practice approach to programme development that follows four broad stages as follows:

Diagnostic Phase

• Discuss requirements with client
• Access relevant support documentation from client
• Clarify key business issues to be addressed
• Establish the current context and cultural backdrop

Preliminary Proposal

• IMI faculty gathers to discuss client requirements
• Detailed review of design discussion document
• Present preliminary proposal to client

Agree Project Plan

• Secure agreement from client to proceed
• Agree with client the project phases, key milestones and project timelines

Detailed Design Phase

• Develop a detailed programme architecture
• Appoint programme director, contributors and administrators
• Customise programme content, process and materials

Delivery

• Programme delivery
• Ongoing feedback and status reports provided to client

Evaluation

• Programme evaluation and review with client
• Provision of IMI analysis through post-programme report
• Establishment of follow on actions if appropriate

Pre-engagement

• Assessment of IMI capability match with client needs
• Preparation of proposal in response to client requirements

Pre-engagement stage

At this stage our primary focus is on establishing a clear understanding of the requirements the client has set out and in presenting a comprehensive response which sets out our experience and ability to address the client’s requirements.

Scoping stage

In advance of any programme delivery we work on the basis that the most important aspect of the programme design will be that it accurately meets the client organisation’s real needs.

To this end we meet with client organisations to develop a real and detailed understanding of the client’s current business context, the future state that the client wishes to arrive at, and the required learning outcomes and gap that exists between the current and future state.

We involve the client organisations closely in the design of the programme and provide input at all key stages to endorse the content to be delivered, the delivery methods to be used, the outcomes and objectives to be set for the programme, the programme contributors and support team, and the timelines for delivery. At this scoping stage we typically work with the client to identify appropriate hard and soft measures of assessment which can be used when evaluating the programme at the next stage.

Delivery stage

With over 30 years experience of delivering programmes using action learning principles we propose to provide a learning experience that challenges participants to stretch their existing knowledge and skills and provides them with a safe and realistic environment in which they can put new knowledge and skills into immediate practice.

By building action learning into the very centre of the programme design we intend to create a learning experience for participants where the main focus will be on the testing and application of what is being taught. Participants should expect that over the course of the programme they will not only have explored new and critically important concepts but will also have put them into practice many times during the programme.

Evaluation stage

In our view the post-programme review represents a most critical phase of the engagement with the client organisation. While the programme will be designed to optimise the transfer of key skills and knowledge to participants, the question of what happens when they return to the workplace is critical to the application of learning once the programme has ended. Performance measures are an integral part of any such programme.

In addition to hard measures (metrics and quantifiable data) we typically meet with the client organisation upon completion of the programme to provide a comprehensive review of what unfolded over the course of the programme including elements such as the group’s performance, specific detail on key themes and issue areas that were prominent during the programme, and specific recommendations on how to keep the learning alive in the work environment and how to avoid pitfalls that might lead participants back into old routines and habits.