Impact on the Organization
Are your managers as effective as they could be? Are they motivating their direct reports to perform at high levels, while maintaining morale? Do they communicate effectively with all employees? Do they function well as a team, and work together to solve company problems? This program gives them the skills they need to do all that, and more. It will develop a wide spectrum of critical skills in leadership, and in managing people, performance and change. These are the skills your managers need to perform at their best – and to help your organization meet the unprecedented challenges it will face in the coming months and years.
Topics Covered
- Leadership
- Developing Relationships
- Effective Communication
- Performance Management
- Coaching and Feedback
- Managing Conflict
- Managing Change
- Building Successful Teams
Program Description
This program is designed both for new managers and experienced managers who need to sharpen their skills. It brings together timely and critical topics, advanced assessment tools, and a building block approach that makes it easier for working managers to gain mastery of new skills and techniques.
Participants will discover valuable new approaches to employee involvement, learn how communication styles affect productivity, and discover proven ways to deal with conflict. In addition, they will master state-of-the-art performance management tools and coaching techniques, learn better ways to manage change, and become more effective team-builders.
Who Should Take This Course?
Essentials for Management is designed to meet the needs of any management-level employee. The ideal candidate is any manager with at least one direct report.
Time Investment
Four and a half days.
Topic summaries
Leadership
Participants will gain a better understanding of the skills required to be an effective leader. They will begin by assessing their specific strengths, and identifying opportunities for improvement. Once they know their strengths and weaknesses, they will review several key task- and people-related competencies. They will practice specific skills that will help them become more successful leaders, master techniques for improving on weak areas, and create a development plan to help them make the specific changes that will most improve their effectiveness.
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 manager’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.
Managing Change
Participants will compare several change management strategies, and learn how to choose the right strategy for each challenge. Each core element of Change Management will be presented and explained, including: motivation for change, identifying dysfunctional system elements, and the process of planned change. Participants will learn how to overcome resistance and plan for upcoming change. They will then apply what they’ve learned to an actual change situation at work, and build a practical Action Plan for Change.
Building Successful Teams
One step at a time, participants identify the characteristics of high-performing teams, the key stages of team growth, and specific methods for improving team performance. They study the elements of team process in detail, and use simulations to experience these team processes. Extensive emphasis is placed on roles and responsibilities, setting and communicating priorities and changes, managing conflict, and building teams both within participants’ organizations and across functional boundaries. Specific emphasis is also placed on capturing the individual and collective talents of participants’ staff, in order to empower teams to the appropriate level for any task. Then, participants are given an opportunity to analyze their own teams – and make plans to develop those teams.
Other topics can be added to the Core Program. Please consult the Management Syllabus for descriptions.