How the programmes run
- Delivered in English or Bahasa Melayu
- In-house or public sessions, in person or online
- Half day (4 hours), 1 day (7 hours) or 2 days (14 hours), with content adapted to each client's sector and own cases
- HRD Corp claimable through partner training providers. Course outlines and training plans are ready for HRD Corp submission
- AI is used to speed up thinking, but the decision always stays with the person
Flagship programme
Grit, Guts & Gusto: Manoeuvring Crisis in Project Management
Every project will hit a crisis at some point. A critical test fails, a key vendor walks away, a client or regulator says no, or the budget runs out. On high-profile projects, add politics and public criticism to the list. Most project recovery courses focus on the paperwork. This programme focuses on the person who has to lead through it.
Participants practise basic project controls, risk tools, decision trees, critical thinking and stakeholder management using real cases from airport and rail projects, with exercises they apply to their own work. The programme ends with a live crisis simulation.
Who it is for
Middle to top management, project and programme managers, project directors, heads of department and senior specialists who lead projects or respond to project escalations.
By the end, participants will be able to
- Triage a troubled project using measurable warning signs (milestone slippage, ageing issues, rework, scope changes against budget reserve) and recommend rescue, re-plan or stop.
- Build a decision tree and other business tools to justify one crisis decision.
- Use AI to red-team a decision and apply the Ask, Challenge, Decide, Own checklist.
- Deliver a two-minute Board briefing and a holding statement.
- Produce a one-page recovery charter and a personal Crisis Playbook.
Methods
Short lectures, real case studies, group exercises with decision trees and other analysis tools, a bias-spotting activity, hands-on AI labs, stakeholder briefing practice and a live crisis simulation with debrief.
Course content and schedule
| Day 1. Grit & Guts: think two steps ahead, then decide |
| 9:00 to 9:30 | Welcome and introduction
- Ice breaker: "Project Manager, according to your mom vs the reality"
- Crisis pulse-check on a participant project
- Programme objectives and the Grit, Guts & Gusto mantra
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| 9:30 to 10:30 | Module 1: Anatomy of a project crisis
- Early warning signs: scope, schedule, cost, people and politics
- The crisis life cycle: signal, escalation, response, recovery
- Case study: when a "small" project draws national attention
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| 10:30 to 10:45 | Tea break |
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| 10:45 to 11:45 | Module 2: Reading the real warning signs
- Baseline vs reality: key milestones slipping, and float on the critical path running out
- Signals you can count: open issues and how long they have been open, deliverables rejected or sent back for rework, decisions and approvals still waiting, scope changes and how much budget reserve is left
- People signals: key staff leaving, long overtime, vendor or team resources below plan
- Triage exercise: rescue, re-plan or stop?
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| 11:45 to 1:00 | Module 3: Grit. Business tools for crisis decisions
- Risk register and 5x5 risk matrix; bow-tie analysis (threats, barriers, consequences)
- Root cause analysis: 5 Whys and fishbone
- Decision tree with expected value; scenario planning, thinking two steps ahead
- Workshop: launch late with everything, or launch on time with less?
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| 1:00 to 2:00 | Lunch |
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| 2:00 to 3:30 | Module 4: Guts. Critical and strategic thinking under pressure
- First principles and framing the real problem
- Thinking traps: sunk cost, optimism bias, groupthink, confirmation bias
- Intuition vs data: when to trust your gut, and when "not yet" is the right decision
- Activity: bias hunt on a real escalation email chain
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| 3:30 to 3:45 | Tea break |
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| 3:45 to 4:45 | Module 5: AI as a thinking partner, not the decision maker
- Where AI speeds things up: summarising reports, generating options, drafting scenarios, red-teaming
- Where AI fails: missing context, confident errors, confidentiality and data safety
- The Ask, Challenge, Decide, Own checklist
- AI lab: AI red-teams your Module 3 decision; teams decide what to keep
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| 4:45 to 5:00 | Day 1 wrap-up: key takeaways, reflection and a preview of Day 2 |
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| Day 2. Grit & Gusto: lead people and stakeholders through it |
| 9:00 to 9:15 | Day 1 recap: quick-fire quiz |
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| 9:15 to 10:30 | Module 6: Stakeholders in a crisis
- Mapping power and interest: Board, client, regulator, vendors, end users, public and media
- Politics, social media criticism and "difficult" personalities
- Briefing up: the two-minute Board briefing; writing a holding statement
- Activity: draft and deliver a Board briefing under time pressure
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| 10:30 to 10:45 | Tea break |
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| 10:45 to 12:00 | Module 7: Recovery planning and governance
- The recovery charter: targets, scope, team and success criteria
- Re-baselining honestly; decision log and escalation matrix
- War-room rhythm: daily stand-ups, dashboards and reporting
- Activity: build a one-page recovery charter
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| 12:00 to 1:00 | Module 8: Gusto. Leading the team under pressure
- Resilience and fatigue in long crises
- Psychological safety: getting bad news early
- Morale and celebrating milestones; aligning colourful characters
- Case study: keeping a team together after a major setback just before go-live
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| 1:00 to 2:00 | Lunch |
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| 2:00 to 3:30 | Crisis simulation: "Code Red Go-Live"
- Three rounds of live injects: a critical failure found days before launch, a key vendor pulling out, a media query, a letter from the regulator
- Teams decide using the tools, stakeholder plans and AI against the clock
- Each round scored on decision quality, communication and team handling
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| 3:30 to 3:45 | Tea break |
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| 3:45 to 4:30 | Simulation debrief: what worked and what didn't; what the AI got right, what it got wrong, and what only a human could do |
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| 4:30 to 5:00 | Wrap-up: personal Grit, Guts & Gusto Crisis Playbook, post-assessment, Q&A, and one action each participant will take |
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2 days
Strategic Thinking: Stop Firefighting, Start Foresight
Most managers get promoted for solving today's problems. Then they are expected to shape tomorrow. In reality, most of the week goes to firefighting and the strategy stays on the shelf.
This programme gives leaders a simple way to step back, look at the bigger picture and make decisions that will still make sense in three years. Participants practise five tools (PESTLE, TOWS, the 2x2 priority grid, scenario planning and the one-page strategy map) on their own work. Examples come from real strategy roadmaps and business cases. AI is used to test scenarios and challenge assumptions, but the leader still makes the call.
Who it is for
Managers, heads of department, senior specialists, team leads and high-potential executives preparing for senior roles.
By the end, participants will be able to
- Reframe one daily problem at operational, tactical and strategic levels.
- Complete a PESTLE scan and TOWS analysis for their own unit.
- Select three priorities and one activity to stop using a 2x2 grid.
- Test their priorities against three AI-generated scenarios.
- Build a one-page strategy map and deliver a two-minute strategic pitch.
Methods
Short lectures, a personal time audit, real workplace case studies, group workshops using PESTLE, TOWS and the 2x2 grid, an AI scenario lab, strategy map building and a two-minute pitch to a mock management committee.
Ask for the 2-day course schedule
1 day or half day
Conflict Management: Leading Stakeholders & Difficult Conversations
Many projects fail because of poor communication, low stakeholder engagement and conflict left unresolved, rather than technical failure. Most of the time, the argument on the table is not the real issue. It is about trust, roles and pressure.
Managers today also deal with new kinds of friction: staff worried that AI will change their roles, arguments that start in WhatsApp groups, three generations working in one team, and disputes with suppliers or service providers. Using discussion, games and realistic workplace scenarios, participants learn to keep their team focused, manage stakeholders and turn difficult conversations into agreed actions.
Who it is for
Project managers, supervisors, executives, specialists, coordinators and technical staff moving into leadership or client-facing roles, and managers of teams or suppliers.
By the end, participants will be able to
- Apply 3 practical techniques to keep a project team focused under pressure.
- Map stakeholders on the Power/Interest Grid and plan how to engage each one.
- Choose and justify a conflict style, and negotiate an agreed outcome in a supplier dispute exercise.
- Conduct a difficult conversation using the OPEN framework, rehearsed with AI and a peer.
- Produce a personal improvement action plan.
Methods
Short lectures, a card-matching game, a guided stakeholder case study, a conflict style self-check, the Four Corners class game, OPEN framework role plays, a negotiation exercise, rotating role plays and an AI rehearsal lab.
Course content and schedule (1-day version)
| 9:00 to 9:30 | Welcome and introduction
- Ice breaker
- The conflict iceberg: what really sits under the argument
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| 9:30 to 10:30 | Module 1: Leading your team under pressure
- The 3 quick techniques to keep a team focused
- Spotting stress signals early; trust and clear roles
- Card game: matching techniques to real scenarios
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| 10:30 to 10:45 | Tea break |
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| 10:45 to 11:45 | Module 2: Mapping and managing your stakeholders
- Who really is a "stakeholder"? Client, management, regulator, supplier, end user
- The Power/Interest Grid (a simple 2x2 tool)
- Case study: mapping stakeholders of a delayed project
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| 11:45 to 1:00 | Module 3: Understanding conflict and choosing your style
- Sources of conflict: task, relationship, role and trust
- 5 ways people react to conflict (Thomas-Kilmann self-check)
- Choosing the right style, discussion cases and the Four Corners game
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| 1:00 to 2:00 | Lunch |
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| 2:00 to 3:00 | Module 4: Structuring difficult conversations
- Why we avoid difficult conversations (and what it costs us)
- The OPEN framework: Open, Present facts, Explore, Next steps
- Case study: giving feedback to an under-performing team member, role play in pairs
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| 3:00 to 3:30 | Module 5: Negotiating through conflict
- Negotiate like a chess player, not a shopper
- Interests vs positions; every concession has a counterweight
- Exercise: resolving a dispute with a supplier over extra cost
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| 3:30 to 3:45 | Tea break |
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| 3:45 to 4:30 | Module 6: 2026 conflict hotspots and AI as a rehearsal partner
- AI and role anxiety; WhatsApp and email escalation; generational friction
- Using AI to rehearse a conversation and check tone, and spotting cultural blind spots
- Rotating role plays, one per hotspot
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| 4:30 to 5:00 | Wrap-up: personal improvement action plan, Q&A, key takeaways, and one action each participant will take |
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2 days ยท In development
From Digitisation to Digitalisation: Start Small Project Management
Pick one manual process, digitalise it in small steps and show results the business can see. Participants pick one small digital win, simplify the process first, and build a working tracker or dashboard with free tools.
At Malaysia Airports, Sabrena led the move to an electronic document management system and an award-winning dashboard for quality-of-service monitoring. She has two papers on digitalisation in airport project delivery accepted at WiSET 2026.
This programme is in development. The full course outline will be published here when it is ready. Contact us to hear when the first session opens.