Impact On The Organization

Are your leads as effective as they could be? Have technically proficient employees been promoted into lead positions without the people skills they need to get the job done “with” and “through” others? Becoming a lead requires a new set of basic competencies. This program teaches those competencies. It is also targeted for those who have been on the job as a lead, but never received much training – as well as those who need a refresher. By making sure your leads have the skills they need, you can drive significant and rapid improvements in performance and productivity.

Topics Covered

• Role of the lead
• Developing Relationships
• Effective Communication
• Performance Management
• Coaching and Feedback
• Managing Conflict

Many of the topics covered in this three-day session are accompanied by assessments, and all of them rely on interactive training techniques. Participants will practice each skill in exercises, simulations, or role plays.

Along the way, the leads discover powerful new ways to promote employee involvement, communicate more effectively with people of varying communication styles, and resolve a wide range of conflicts. They will also master proven performance management tools and coaching techniques.

Topics Summaries

Role of the Lead

Utilizing simulations and exercises, this workshop helps a lead clearly define his/her role within an organization, and learn what it means to be successful in this role. Each participant identifies what they already know, and learns the information and skills they need to manage effectively. Practical, individual development plans will be created for each participant, listing three areas for improvement and specific action items for each.

Developing Relationships

This highly interactive module will help participants understand the importance of personal communication styles – and their direct connection to productivity. Participants will learn how to use the DiSC typology of behavior styles to build commitment and strong working relationships. They will also master proven techniques for becoming more effective at demonstrating respect, actively listening, and soliciting feedback.

Effective Communication

This topic helps managers understand why effective communication is so important – and then helps them develop far more powerful communication skills. It covers the communication process, communication barriers, and how communication affects business. Participants will practice constructing clear, concise messages, listening actively, and overcoming barriers to communication.

Performance Management

This interactive topic introduces the lead and supervisor’s role in guiding employee performance, in the context of the company’s own processes and goals. Participants will review the performance management process, tools, and documentation requirements, and discuss how to get maximum benefit from their performance review systems. Along the way, participants will learn better ways to set clear expectations, build employee commitment to specific improvements, and make those improvements actually happen.

Coaching and Feedback

This topic – closely linked to the performance management process – identifies the components of effective coaching and feedback, and shows how to become more effective at both tasks. Participants will prepare and practice two different coaching and feedback sessions: one where job performance is below standards, and one where job performance is meeting or exceeding standards. The Action Planner tool is introduced – a tool that links to the tasks and topics covered in this program’s Developing Relationships module.

Managing Conflict

This session helps participants learn the sources of conflict, and uses the Managing Differences Inventory to identify and manage nine different styles of handling conflict. Participants identify their own natural style, practice each of the nine styles, and learn how to choose the right style for each situation. The focus is on using realistic examples, exercises, and simulations to practice new conflict-resolution skills that can immediately be applied in the workplace.

Other topics can be added to the Core Program. Please consult the Management Syllabus for descriptions.

Who Should Take This Course?

The ideal candidate is any lead with at least one direct report, or an individual that has been identified as a future member of the lead or management team.

Time Required

24 hours

Customization

This program can be customized to reflect your organization’s procedures, policies, cases, examples, and terminology. Please inquire about these optional consulting services.