AI for Managers II: Productivity and Planning

This workshop walks managers through five practical moves for getting more done through other people: getting a handoff right the first time, prioritising a real task list, delegating in a way that fits the person and the task, staying visible without micromanaging, and holding the line when priorities collide. Delegates also explore how AI can support everyday planning by helping clarify tasks, challenge priorities, consider delegation approaches and prepare for competing demands. The focus is on using AI to work more effectively, not replacing managerial judgement, so delegates leave with tools they can apply to a real task this week.

Getting the Handoff Right: Task Clarity
Before any task lands on someone else's desk, we help managers close the gaps that turn into rework and frustration later. Using a simple five-point checklist, delegates apply it to one real task they need to hand off this week, then pressure-test it with a partner. We use AI to review a task handoff and identify missing information, unclear expectations or gaps in the definition of success before the task is given to someone else.

Topics include
• The five-point clarity checklist
• Naming an owner and a measurable definition of success
• Building a check-in point in from the start

Prioritise with the Eisenhower Matrix We help delegates sort a real task list into four practical categories using the Eisenhower Matrix, then separate what feels urgent from what's genuinely urgent. With the matrix in front of them, delegates commit to protecting time for the highest-value work they keep deferring. We use AI to help organise a real task list, challenge assumptions about what is genuinely urgent and identify where high-value work may be getting displaced

Topics include
• Sorting a task list into four quadrants
• Telling real urgency from felt urgency
• Protecting time for high-value work

Delegate to Fit the Person and the Task
Here we move delegation beyond a one-size-fits-all instruction. Using the SLII framework, we help managers read a team member's development level for one specific task, match the right delegation style to it, and draft the opening lines of that conversation. We use AI to help managers consider different delegation approaches for a specific employee and task, then select the approach that best fits the person's development level. We use AI to help managers consider different delegation approaches for a specific employee and task, then select the approach that best fits the person's development level.

Topics include
• Reading development level for a specific task
• Matching delegation style accordingly
• Opening a delegation conversation with confidence

Staying Visible Without Micromanaging
This is deliberately the lightest-touch part of the day. We help managers design a check-in cadence that gives real visibility into progress, without adding admin burden or drifting into micromanagement. We use AI to help design appropriate check-in questions or a lightweight follow-up structure that provides visibility without creating unnecessary administration.

Topics include
• Choosing the right cadence for the task
• What to actually ask at each check-in
• Spotting a task going off track early

Defend Priorities When Everything's Urgent
We work through one of the most under-taught management skills: pushing back on a competing demand instead of absorbing it silently. Delegates apply a structured framework to a realistic scenario and draft language they can use in their very next conversation. We use AI to test and refine a professional pushback message, helping managers articulate trade-offs and negotiate competing priorities with greater confidence.

Topics include
• Using a structured framework to make trade-offs visible
• Scripting a confident, professional pushback
• Knowing when to escalate rather than absorb

Every workshop we publish is also delivered in-house — at your premises anywhere in South Africa and beyond, at one of our venues, or live online. Before we deliver, our course designers can adapt AI for Managers II: Productivity and Planning to your team: your industry’s examples in the case work, your real challenges in the exercises, your operational rhythm in the schedule. We meet you, agree the outline together, and only then do you place the order.

In-house rates drop per delegate as the group grows — for larger teams it is usually the more affordable option as well as the better-fitting one.