Resilience and Agility Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Project Managers, Team Leaders and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-PE-049

Before you join: Participants should have at least two years of professional work experience and regular responsibility for deadlines, stakeholders, projects, services or team coordination.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Professionals are expected to maintain judgement, service quality and constructive working relationships while priorities shift, workloads peak and plans change. Resilience is not passive endurance; it is the capacity to recover, regulate attention and act deliberately under pressure. Agility is the ability to interpret changing information, revise an approach and move work forward without losing sight of standards, commitments or stakeholder needs.

This course develops practical methods for managing pressure, uncertainty and competing demands. Participants examine their stress triggers, attention patterns and decision habits, then apply cognitive reframing, emotional regulation, prioritisation, boundary-setting and adaptive communication techniques. They learn to distinguish controllable issues from background noise, make sound decisions with incomplete information, respond constructively to setbacks and create conditions for sustained performance.

Instructor-led delivery combines short briefings with realistic case work, facilitated group exercises, decision simulations and structured reflection. Cases reflect common pressures in public services, banking, project delivery, customer operations and management roles: a service disruption, an urgent policy change, a difficult stakeholder exchange or a team facing repeated reprioritisation. Participants leave with a personal resilience and agility action plan, supported by practical tools for daily planning, recovery, communication and response to change.

The course suits professionals and managers whose work requires dependable performance amid frequent change. It is particularly useful for people leading teams, coordinating projects, serving demanding clients or managing cross-functional commitments where pressure can quickly affect judgement, relationships and execution.

What you will be able to do

  • Assess personal pressure patterns using the stress appraisal model and resilience baseline
  • Apply cognitive reframing techniques to challenge unhelpful interpretations during setbacks
  • Use emotional regulation methods to maintain constructive responses under pressure
  • Prioritise competing work through the Eisenhower Matrix, impact-effort analysis and boundary-setting
  • Make adaptive decisions using OODA loops, decision criteria and contingency triggers
  • Conduct difficult conversations using SBI feedback, active listening and interest-based questioning
  • Design recovery routines that protect energy, attention and sustained performance
  • Create a 90-day resilience and agility action plan with measurable behavioural commitments

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Recognise early pressure signals before they affect judgement or behaviour
  • Respond to setbacks with structured reframing rather than rumination
  • Protect focused work time through clearer priorities and boundaries
  • Handle challenging conversations with greater emotional control and clarity
  • Build repeatable recovery habits for sustained performance during demanding periods

For your organisation

  • Fewer reactive decisions during operational pressure, change and service disruption
  • More consistent execution when priorities or stakeholder requirements shift
  • Improved manager and employee communication during difficult situations
  • Reduced escalation caused by avoidable conflict, overload and unclear boundaries
  • Stronger retention of capable staff through healthier sustainable working practices

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define resilience and agility, identify their own pressure patterns and recognise early warning signals.

  • Resilience, agility and antifragility distinguished through workplace performance indicators
  • Stress appraisal model: demands, resources, control and meaning assessed
  • Circle of Control separates influence, concern and uncontrollable conditions
  • Personal resilience baseline mapped using energy, workload and support data
  • Agility behaviours linked to speed, learning and response quality
  • Fixed, growth and learning mindsets compared under operational pressure
  • Early warning signals identified before performance, health or relationships deteriorate

Participants can recognise how pressure affects attention, physiology, judgement and workplace behaviour.

  • Fight, flight, freeze and fawn responses recognised in workplace situations
  • Yerkes-Dodson law relates arousal levels to task performance
  • Amygdala hijack explained through threat perception and reduced executive control
  • Cognitive load sources identified across interruptions, ambiguity and competing demands
  • Pressure triggers classified as environmental, interpersonal, task-based or self-generated
  • Somatic cues tracked through breathing, tension, sleep and concentration changes
  • Response choices separated from automatic reactions during stressful interactions

Participants can use cognitive techniques to reframe setbacks and maintain solution-focused thinking.

  • ABC model distinguishes activating events, beliefs and consequences
  • Cognitive distortions identified: catastrophising, mind-reading, labelling and all-or-nothing thinking
  • Evidence testing challenges assumptions behind stressful interpretations
  • Reframing converts setbacks into specific learning and next-action questions
  • Ladder of Inference examined before acting on incomplete information
  • Growth mindset language replaces fixed conclusions about capability and failure
  • After-action reviews capture facts, lessons, adjustments and ownership

Participants can regulate emotional responses and choose constructive actions during difficult moments.

  • Name it to tame it labels emotions before selecting responses
  • STOP technique creates space between stimulus, thought and action
  • Box breathing reduces physiological arousal during acute pressure
  • Cognitive reappraisal changes the meaning assigned to difficult events
  • Implementation intentions pre-plan responses to predictable emotional triggers
  • Response delay techniques prevent impulsive emails, decisions and escalations
  • Self-compassion statements counter unproductive self-criticism after mistakes

Participants can manage competing demands through clear priorities, focused work practices and professional boundaries.

  • Eisenhower Matrix distinguishes urgent tasks from important long-term commitments
  • Impact-effort matrix ranks work using value, risk and resource demand
  • Weekly review consolidates commitments, deadlines, dependencies and unfinished work
  • Time blocking protects concentration for priority tasks and preparation
  • WIP limits reduce task switching and prevent excessive work accumulation
  • Boundary scripts decline, defer or renegotiate requests professionally
  • Expectation agreements clarify turnaround times, availability and escalation routes

Participants can make timely, proportionate decisions when information is incomplete or conditions change.

  • OODA loop structures observation, orientation, decision and action
  • Decision criteria separate critical facts from preferences and assumptions
  • Reversible and irreversible decisions receive different levels of analysis
  • Pre-mortem analysis identifies likely failure modes before commitment
  • Contingency triggers specify when plans require review or change
  • Minimum viable action tests a response before full-scale commitment
  • Decision logs record rationale, assumptions, owners and review dates

Participants can communicate clearly and constructively when pressure, disagreement or change affects working relationships.

  • Active listening separates facts, feelings, interests and requested actions
  • SBI feedback structures situation, behaviour and observable impact
  • Interest-based questioning identifies needs beneath stated positions and demands
  • Nonviolent Communication frames observations, feelings, needs and requests
  • Assertive communication balances clarity, respect and appropriate boundaries
  • Difficult messages prepared through purpose, evidence, options and next steps
  • Stakeholder mapping anticipates concerns, influence and communication needs

Participants can design recovery practices that sustain energy, attention and performance across demanding work periods.

  • Energy audit identifies activities that drain, restore or neutralise capacity
  • Ultradian rhythm breaks scheduled around demanding cognitive work
  • Sleep hygiene principles linked to attention, emotional regulation and judgement
  • Micro-recovery practices reset attention between meetings and complex tasks
  • Psychological detachment separates work concerns from non-work recovery time
  • Recovery portfolio balances physical, social, mental and reflective practices
  • Workload conversations use evidence, options and agreed support requests

Participants can respond to change through experimentation, feedback and deliberate learning cycles.

  • ADKAR model identifies awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement
  • Sensemaking distinguishes signals, assumptions, interpretations and verified facts
  • PDCA cycle tests changes through planned learning iterations
  • Experiment design defines hypothesis, measure, timescale and review point
  • Feedback seeking targets specific behaviours, decisions and working relationships
  • Failure recovery separates accountability, repair, learning and future prevention
  • Scenario planning prepares responses for plausible changes and disruptions

Participants can produce a practical 90-day plan for applying resilience and agility methods at work.

  • Resilience goals translated into observable weekly behaviours and measures
  • WOOP method connects wishes, outcomes, obstacles and implementation plans
  • Habit stacking attaches new practices to existing workplace routines
  • Personal trigger plan specifies cues, responses, support and escalation actions
  • Stakeholder support map identifies accountability partners and practical resources
  • Thirty-, sixty- and ninety-day reviews track progress and adjustments
  • Personal operating principles define priorities, boundaries and response standards

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Personal resilience baseline assessment
  2. Pressure trigger and response plan
  3. Weekly priority and boundary-setting template
  4. Adaptive decision log template
  5. Difficult conversation preparation checklist
  6. 90-day resilience and agility action plan

Who should attend

  • Project Managers — manage shifting scope, dependencies and delivery pressure
  • Team Leaders — sustain team performance during change and high-demand periods
  • Operations Managers — respond calmly to incidents, volume spikes and service disruption
  • Client Relationship Managers — handle demanding stakeholders without reactive communication
  • Policy and Programme Officers — maintain progress amid uncertainty and competing priorities
  • Technical Specialists — communicate adaptively when requirements, risks or decisions change

Skills and tools covered

Pressure self-managementAdaptive decision-makingCognitive reframingPriority managementDifficult conversationsRecovery planning

Tools and standards

Stress Appraisal Model, OODA Loop, ADKAR Model, WOOP

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce each method, followed by case work, group exercises, simulations and individual application planning. Participants analyse realistic pressure scenarios, compare response options and practise language for boundaries, feedback and difficult conversations. Facilitated reflection links the tools to participants' own workload, stakeholders and current change pressures. The final sessions convert learning into a practical 90-day plan with behavioural commitments, review points and support arrangements.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have at least two years of professional work experience and regular responsibility for deadlines, stakeholders, projects, services or team coordination. They should be willing to reflect honestly on their own working habits and discuss realistic workplace situations. No prior training in psychology, coaching, mindfulness or change management is required. The course does not require clinical knowledge or disclosure of personal health information. It focuses on practical workplace behaviours, decision habits, communication and sustainable performance rather than medical treatment.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should have professional experience managing deadlines, stakeholders, projects or operational responsibilities. No prior training in psychology, coaching or change management is needed.

Bring examples of current work pressures, difficult conversations, changing priorities or decisions you need to make. You do not need to share confidential information; anonymised situations are suitable.

The course is suited to professionals, managers and specialists working under sustained pressure or frequent change. It is useful where workload, stakeholder demands or uncertainty can affect judgement and working relationships.

Stress management courses often concentrate on personal wellbeing, while change management courses usually focus on organisational adoption. This course combines self-management, adaptive decision-making, communication and practical response habits for day-to-day work.

Participants use the tools for weekly planning, difficult conversations, decision reviews and recovery routines. The 90-day action plan identifies specific behaviours, triggers and review dates for workplace application.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, with approximately 6.5 contact hours daily. Time is divided among instructor input, case analysis, group exercises, simulations, reflection and action planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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