Leading with Technology Training Course: Digital Tools, Data and Team Collaboration

Programme Summary

Leading with technology is the subject of this one-week training course for non-technical directors, vice presidents and heads of function, ending in a technology-enabled leadership plan for one team. Many leaders are asked to approve tools, read dashboards and guide digital change without a technical background, and they rely on advisers whose interests differ from their own. The programme moves from the principles of digital leadership, through diagnosis of how a team uses tools and data, to the design of adoption, collaboration and risk routines, then applies them to one team. Mars Training Centre UK delivers this leading with technology programme for leaders from mixed organisations.

The Business Case

Technology bought without a clear use is rarely adopted, and dashboards read without questions seldom change a decision. Leaders who define the business problem first, test whether people will use a tool and hold clear rules for information risk obtain more from the same spending. Digital leadership therefore becomes a set of managerial choices that senior staff can make without writing code.

• Tool Adoption Rate: Improves as tools are matched to real tasks and introduced with support.
• Decision Cycle Time: Shortens as leaders ask better questions of the data in front of them.
• Information Risk Exposure: Narrows as access, sharing and review rules are set for every team tool.

Principles and Evidence Base

• Technology Acceptance Model: It frames why people accept or reject tools, through perceived usefulness and ease of use, in Sessions 2 and 3.
• Rogers' diffusion of innovations: It guides the staging of adoption across early users and sceptics in Session 3.
• ISO/IEC 27001: It informs the information risk questions and review routine designed in Session 4.

Intended Participants

• Directors who approve technology spending without a technical background.
• Vice presidents who lead teams working across several digital platforms.
• Heads of function who use dashboards and reports to make weekly decisions.
• Senior leaders who sponsor tool roll-outs and answer for their results.

Typical functions include finance, human resources, operations and customer service.

Learning Outcomes

1. Participants will be able to diagnose how well their team uses current digital tools and data.
2. Participants will be able to evaluate technology proposals against a defined business problem.
3. Participants will be able to construct questions that test the data behind a dashboard or report.
4. Participants will be able to design collaboration tools routines that support distributed work.
5. Participants will be able to prioritise adoption and information risk actions for a technology roll-out.
6. Participants will be able to justify a technology-enabled leadership plan to executive colleagues.

Programme Structure

Day 1: Leading with Technology and Digital Leadership Principles

What does a leader need to decide personally when technology shapes the work?

• Digital Leadership Role Map
• Technology Decision Rights Chart
• Business Problem Framing Sheet
• Tool Landscape Inventory
• Personal Digital Confidence Review

Day 2: Diagnosing Tool Use and Data Practice

How well does the team use the tools and data it already has?

• Tool Usage Audit
• Dashboard Reading Checklist
• Data Quality Question Set
• Technology Acceptance Survey
• Digital Culture Observation Guide

Day 3: Designing Adoption and Collaboration

How is a tool introduced so that people use it and work together through it?

• Adoption Staging Plan
• Champion and Sceptic Engagement Map
• Collaboration Charter for Distributed Teams
• Meeting and Messaging Norms Sheet
• Training and Support Plan

Day 4: Designing Data-Driven Decisions and Risk Controls

How do leaders use data to decide while keeping information safe?

• Decision Question Template
• Metric Definition Card
• Automation Opportunity Screen
• Information Risk Review Routine
• Access and Sharing Rule Set

Day 5: Applying Technology-Enabled Leadership to One Team

Does the plan hold when tested on a real team and a real tool?

• Re-Running the Session 2 Tool Usage Audit on the Team
• Testing the Session 3 Adoption Plan on a Live Tool
• Checking the Session 4 Risk Rules against Current Practice
• Defending the Draft Plan before a Peer Panel
• Completing the Technology-Enabled Leadership Plan

Methodology

The programme uses a case analysis method built on anonymised tool proposals, dashboards, adoption records and short written cases from banking, healthcare and public services. Participants work in small groups on one team, challenge each other as advisers and sceptical users would, and receive facilitator feedback on every work product.

• Suggested activity: Questioning a vendor proposal against a defined business problem.
• Suggested activity: Reading a sample dashboard and listing five questions about its data.
• Suggested activity: Designing a collaboration charter for a team working across time zones.

Capstone Output

Each participant completes a technology-enabled leadership plan for one team. It holds a tool and data diagnosis, an adoption plan, a collaboration charter, a set of decision questions and a risk review routine. The plan is used at work to brief executive colleagues, set expectations with technology advisers and guide how the team uses its tools.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is leading with technology suitable for leaders who have no technical background?

Yes. Leading with technology is taught from first principles and assumes responsibility for teams or budgets, not any technical training.

Which models does leading with technology rest on in this programme?

Leading with technology here rests on the Technology Acceptance Model, Rogers' diffusion of innovations and ISO/IEC 27001 for information risk.

How is the leading with technology plan used at work?

You use the plan to brief executive colleagues, set expectations with technology advisers and guide how your team adopts and governs its tools.

How does leading with technology differ from a programme on digital transformation strategy?

Leading with technology centres on how a leader guides a team's use of tools and data, while digital transformation strategy centres on organisation-wide portfolios, platforms and investment.