Finance for non finance training
This US based company has offices throughout Europe including; France, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy & UK.
Enquiry
They wanted to deliver bespoke finance training with specific learning objectives.
Background
The European VP of finance and his team met with ITD to discuss the objectives, challenges and differences in each country. Whilst some common laws apply in each EU country there are also anomalies that needed to be allowed for in the solution.
An ITD business game centring on a board game was used as the learning vehicle, with the game designed & reprinted to suit the client’s needs.
the requirement was to design and deliver an engaging one day training workshop that would result in middle managers and above understanding the companies finance processes and implementing them consistently. The secondary objective was to raise the profile of finance in the business and build bridges with other departments
Need
The initial phase of the training has been targeted at managers and those with budgetary responsibility.
The objectives for the training are;
1. To leave with a better understanding of the budget process and the role of the finance department.
2. To be better equipped to produce more timely and accurate budgets.
3. To have a deeper understanding of the internal processes and how to work within them.
4. To better understand the needs of the finance department and how to work more effectively together.
Activity
The choice of mechanic was vital. That is, how to get the message across in what is typically perceived as a dry subject. As the subject matter is often delivered in a much more dry manner than say presentation skills or team working we needed to find a more engaging mechanic.
The consultant working on the project had designed a business game that would do just that. Short presentations and discussion on a subject matter such as budgeting or accruals, are followed by playing a session of the business game.
The game is split into four quarters and has the participants split into four teams or companies. Each quarter the companies travel around the board making financial decisions. To end the quarter they must produce a P&L account or say where they are against budget. Teams across Europe have been trying to manage their companies to achieve budget.
Participant feedback
- “Much more interesting and dynamic than we thought it was going to be.”
- “I learnt a lot and really had no idea how straight forward finance was. No wonder the guys in finance get frustrated with us.”
Client comments
The client is delighted that the target audience enjoyed their finance training and learnt a great deal & that processes are much more consistently adhered to based on understanding rather than just rule following. The profile of the finance department has also been enhanced.