Next Cohort Starts: 17th January 2024
Can’t Join this time?
Be the first to know about the next cohort
Hosted By
Oli Deacon
Oli is an ICAEW FCA based out of the UK, a PCC certified coach with ICF and a former Microsoft Finance Director.
Enroll onto the next Cohort Now
Finance Transformation
Course Overview
Every finance function must continuously evolve to establish itself as a vital partner in driving performance, creating business value, and delivering long-term strategies. This requires ongoing innovation, acting as catalysts for change and successfully serving the business in its current form and future complexities.
To achieve this, we need to acquire fundamental skills in strategic planning, process optimization, change management, technology automation, and data visualization.
Research reveals that the majority of finance transformations fail to deliver expected results within the required timeframes, potentially harming our reputation and burdening our teams. Therefore, this program is specifically designed to teach essential skills that may have been overlooked during our finance careers.
By participating in this course, you will gain the tools, techniques, and action plan to automate mundane tasks, freeing up valuable time to create a more significant impact within your role and revolutionize your finance function.
Who the FT course is for
Finance Professionals Seeking Career Advancement:
This course is ideal for finance professionals who want to advance their careers by acquiring the skills and knowledge needed to elevate the role of finance within their organizations. It's suitable for accountants, financial analysts, and finance managers who aim to become strategic leaders and catalysts for positive change in their finance functions.
Business Leaders
and Executives:
Business leaders and executives, including CFOs, CEOs, and senior managers, can benefit from this course to gain a deep understanding of finance transformation principles. It will enable them to effectively lead and support finance transformation initiatives within their organizations, aligning finance with broader business goals and strategies.
Entrepreneurs and
Small Business Owners:
Entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to enhance their financial management skills can also find value in this course. It provides insights into optimizing financial processes, leveraging technology automation, and understanding data visualization to make informed financial decisions, ultimately contributing to business growth and sustainability.
After completing the Finance Transformation Course, your team will…
- Be crystal clear about the core concepts and best practices required for delivering a game-changing finance transformation project.
- Understand how to design, plan, and execute successful transformation initiatives.
- Embed process optimization to streamline operations and boost productivity.
- Use change management skills to drive successful adoption of new technologies.
- Be able to identify and implement cost-effective technology solutions.
- Present information, insights, and recommendations for data-driven decision-making.
- Feel confident leading and managing large-scale transformation projects.
- Prepare for changing business needs with greater agility and responsiveness.
- And be seen as a critical business function!
The Tools You’ll Learn on the FT Course
You probably already have some idea of what you should be doing.
The problem is you don’t really know where to begin or how to do it properly! And that’s where we come in.
We’ll show you the exact same tools and techniques that other similar companies use to embed best practices into their business and benefit from market-leading people, processes and systems.
More importantly, we’ll show you practical proven ways to apply these tools and techniques within your business, with real-life case studies and live exercises. Super simple and easy for your existing team to implement quickly.
Creative Mind Mapping
You'll learn the best way to free up thinking time and develop a powerful creative mindset to brainstorm broadly and innovate truly transformative new ideas.
8 Steps for Driving Change
You’ll master the 8-step model for planning and executing effective change management, so you can lead compelling initiatives with maximum success.
Heroes & Villains
You'll understand the key people to involve in transformation initiatives and be able to spot potential troublemakers who will disrupt the process and slow down overall progress.
7 Emotional Reactions
You'll become an expert on identifying the 7 emotional reactions to change and be able to proactively manage the people impacted to deliver optimal results.
Software Selection Model
You’ll master the practical, step-by-step approach to selecting the right technology solutions, so you can make sound investment decisions with maximum ROI.
Seven V’s of Big Data
Discover what Google learned in its quest to build the perfect team - insight from two years of study across 180 teams.
Process Optimization
You'll learn how to design and implement process enhancements that support effective digital transformation, streamline operations, and increase efficiency.
Powerful Dashboards
Unlock the power of data and present compelling personalized dashboards that illustrate performance, showcase insights, and drive informed decision-making.
Course Reviews
But this program wasn't just theoretical; it's a guide to unlocking change along with practical exercises. It provides insights into effective strategies, sustainable systems, and the human side of transformation – rallying teams and fostering collaboration. The case study at the end of the course was eye opening!
In essence, the Finance Transformation program can be a roadmap in the continuing evolving finance world. Having the opportunity to be part of this program, I can confirm that it empowers professionals to lead their organizations toward meaningful progress. If you're ready to shape the future of finance, this program is your invaluable collaborator.
We covered a wide range of topics from managing stakeholders to creating a project plan and even analysing available software solutions (who knew there were so many!). Oliver Deacon is an engaging facilitator who managed to keep the energy and interest high throughout despite it being virtual. He delivered a combination of theory based models with practical examples and the chance to deep-drive into the week's specific topic via smaller break out rooms. I'm extremely impressed with the breath of subject matter covered and how relevant and applicable it was made to feel within an NHS context even though it wasn't aimed at a public sector audience.
As a CIMA finalist, this Transformation Boot Camp brought my Strategic level studies to life; especially in our final session where we worked through a Case Study and tied all the different elements together. I walked away feeling inspired and excited about the opportunities we have for progress in this area! Finally, the care taken with the workbooks and presentation materials is testament to the passion and pride taken by Oli and the GrowCFO team and I very much look forward to working with them again in the future.
Download a Course Brochure
An Illustrative Timetable
WORKSHOP 1:
CORE CONCEPTS AND
BEST PRACTICE
WORKSHOP 2:
STRATEGIC PLANNING
WORKSHOP 3:
PROCESS OPTIMIZATION
WORKSHOP 4:
TECHNOLOGY AND AUTOMATION
WORKSHOP 5:
DATA INTEGRATION AND
ANALYTICS
WORKSHOP 6:
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
WORKSHOP 7:
CASE STUDIES
Examine proven transformation models, success factors and key lessons learned from leading organizations.
This is an intermediate level program
Participants will earn 16.8 CPE points (14 CPD hours) across the following fields of study:
- Finance 3 points
- Business management & organization 10.8 points
- Information technology 3 points
The delivery method is Group Internet using Zoom. There are no prerequisites and no advance preparation required
Meet Your Facilitator
Oli Deacon
Lead Facilitator
UK, Europe and US
Oli is an ICAEW FCA and a PCC-certified coach with the ICF. He has worked in many global finance functions, including senior roles in the UK and the US.
He is also a former Microsoft Finance Director, where he business partnered marketing, product and
software engineering teams with a $4.5BN P&L.
He was ACA-qualified at Deloitte, followed by a variety of industry roles leading multinational finance teams at Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy Europe.
Benchmark Your FT Skills in Just 15 Minutes!
Are you ready to elevate your finance transformation skills? Do you want to know where you stand compared to your peers?
Our unique Finance Transformation Competency Framework is designed to evaluate your skills in three critical areas:
1. Fundamental Pillars
2. Transformation Strategy
3. Process Optimization
You’ll receive a detailed PDF report highlighting your current position and offering actionable steps to enhance your finance transformation skills.