helping with that vital step up into management
As part of our Public Schedule portfolio, STL offers our Introduction to Management Course (part of 2 day and 1 day management training courses) to a wide range of organisations, from IT and Banking to Sporting Facilities and TV Stations.
Their HR/Learning and Development departments select this particular course because they have identified a clear ‘profile’, namely employees who are progressing into a new management role or who have been a manager for a while but not had the benefit of formalised and structured training.
At the end of this two-day course delegates will have a range of practical tools and strategies to help them succeed as managers. Techniques covered include planning, delegation and assertiveness as well as how to manage stress and conflicting priorities.
Benefits
They want their managers to employ techniques and strategies to:
- Understand a Manager’s role and how it fits into the organisation
- Clarify your responsibilities so that new managers can perform with ease
- Learn about the Management Process and the impact that has on you, your team and the wider culture
- Develop effective communication skills including deep listening, building rapport and how to ask effective questions.
- Successfully develop and lead a team including building, giving feedback and appraisals, leadership styles and focus and planning processes
- Learn what it takes to lead productive meetings that stay on track, have a clear purpose and ensure action and participation
- Excel at handling difficult situations, identifying problem scenarios, developing assertiveness in the workplace and deal with conflict
- Manage yourself; your time, stress levels, motivation, priorities and change.
According to a Forbes Insights and PMI survey of more than 500 executives, 85% of respondents say change management is critical to their success in these times of disruption.
Learning Deliverables for Managers
Our Intro to Management leaves plenty of space throughout the two days for high-level discussions and time for each delegate to work on their individual examples and case studies together. One of the biggest benefits of course is precisely this – the fact that we have a number of delegates from different industries all openly sharing their hopes, experiences and challenges around current management techniques. It’s incredibly though-provoking and inspiring.
Two areas that come up time and time again are how best to managing ourselves (primarily our time) and our teams – namely, how to get the best out of them, as well as dealing with any performance issues and problems that may arise.
The principles of management can still be categorised into four major functions; planning, organising, leading, and controlling (the P-O-L-C framework). These four functions are actually highly integrated when carried out in the day-to-day realities of running an organisation and we cover those in great depth during the two days.
As a trainer, it’s always gratifying to facilitate Intro to Management. With 80% focused on practical exercises and discussions, delegates emerge with a newfound confidence in their skills and often form lasting connections with peers from whom they will have learnt to see their activities and challenges through a new lens.
Feedback
Our feedback has been excellent across the board with delegates saying;
“Very professional but with a human touch”.
“Fantastic trainer, great introduction to management, enjoyed it a lot more than I thought. Discovered some things about myself and how to improve”.
“I really enjoyed those two days. A solid background to management. Thank you very much”.
“Absolutely great course and very useful for my job right now as well as some great tips for my future career”.
Finally…
As a trainer, I really enjoy bringing the two days together with some serious action-planning. It’s the only way to ensure that the material taught, and the exercises and role plays that we’ve done are firmly embedded, and that there is accountability built in for when delegates come into work the following day. We also encourage them to make clear notes throughout in their course manuals, so that they have a strong point of reference for the future.
For your further reading, these books have been identified as the best and most current in developing effective management skills and there’s a great blog post with more expert tips and tricks for new Managers to boost efficiency further.