Learning Academy Box Sets

Take the opportunity to gain accreditation in a specific subject. Our Box Sets are groups of related modules that help you focus your learning. The full box set cost includes your accreditation. To complete accreditation, you need to watch all five modules and send an email to accreditation@theforum.social to describe what you have taken from the modules and how you have applied these in your role.
Each Box Set costs £325 +VAT. (Free to anyone on an Assisted Learning Pathway). Click on the descriptions below to book your place now.

Student takeaways

One of our members from Lifeplus completed the Capacity Planning, Budgeting & Forecasting box set these are the headline takeaways:
- A small impact in your field can have a good effect higher up in the ranks at board level i.e. matching up with a higher strategic objective

- Planning teams need to collaborate with other areas/organisations, engage stakeholders

- Increase Operational effectiveness - As a team, we have vastly increased our communication channels

- Improve and manage the flow of your data cycle and version control

- Long Term: Financial and Budget Planning – Operational: Drives capacity, scenario planning, and risk

- In the middle of a transformation/plan, the challenges are still there, and targets not being met --> this must lead to evolving the approach to capacity and demand

- Improve the quality of the data, focussing on what/why/how, determine what happened to the customer base

- Demonstrating Value and ROI – benefits achieved, costs avoided, risks avoided

Published on 20 December 2022

Box Set: Scheduling & Wellbeing

Watch at your own Pace

The Modules

Introduction to the Planning Cycle
Learn the role planning plays in implementing your strategic objectives. Understand the importance of your role and how you can help others.
- Understand how the strategic objective is implemented into a forecasting, scheduling and real-time plan.
- Learn about the importance of effective data checkpoints, change governance and hand-overs
- Play a part in driving continuous improvement and become the nerve-centre of the business

Predictability Of Events
A chance to practice assessing the predictability of events through a classic exercise from The Forum to help you hone your skills in forecasting ad hoc events.

Scheduling & Flexibility Toolkit
One you have determined the volatility of your volumes you can start to think of ways to manage this through scheduling. The flexibility toolkit contains 18 options that you can use in your business. Learning outcomes include:
- What are the flexibility options and which can be combined?
- Pros and cons of each method and case study examples of how they’ve been implemented.
- Understanding how different tool kit options can be used strategically and tactical

Understanding Your Volatility & Flexibility
The basis of a best practice scheduling strategy is a clear understanding of the volatility of workload and the amount of flexibility to need and can afford. This module introduces you to theoretical models and calculations to understand your flexibility need. Learning outcomes include:
- What does volatility & flexibility mean and the importance of defining these for your business.
- How to calculate the volatility of demand and amount of flexibility available
- Understanding different flexibility needs based on different starting positions, e.g. annually and daily, compared to average, compared to budget

Planning For Wellbeing
This module introduces the broader concept of planning for wellbeing and ways to support your colleagues. Understanding these key considerations will help you to create a workforce strategy with wellbeing at the heart.
- What is wellbeing and why this is important?
- The 5-key steps for wellbeing
- Our responsibility as Planners to ensure we support wellbeing

The cost of this mini series including accreditation is great value at £325 + VAT and free for students on our assisted learning pathway.

Complete the form below and we will be in touch to arrange payment if necessary.