Course Outline

The role of a manager

• Identify the attributes of a competent manager
• Define the expectations of your role from your peers, subordinates and seniors
• Opportunities and limitations – where does my role stop and my manager’s start?
• What needs to change
• Effective delegation
• Typical challenges and anxieties during early stages of transition
• Your learning curve
• Building and managing new relationships

Practical activity:

• Defining my role as manager, identifying differences in past and present expectations.
• Develop your personal delegation plan

Building a supportive, productive team

• Attributes and components of a successful team
• Matching organisational needs with skill sets
• Understanding behavioural characteristics of personality types
• Team dynamics

Practical activity:

• Analysis of team models, assess your current team strengths and weaknesses, group review of case scenarios

Managing & motivating the team

• Establishing boundaries and expectations
• Maintaining motivation of individuals within your team
• Creating a cohesive team culture
• Managing team performance
• Learning to address ‘change fatigue’
• Managing vs Doing – art of delegation – getting things done through others

Practical activity:

• Develop workable group and individual strategies to maintain motivation across diverse teams to build a strong performance culture.

Retaining & developing people

• Foster accountability and empower your team
• Mentoring or coaching – what do your team members need?
• Understanding different adult learning styles
• One size doesn’t fit all – formulate learning and development pathways
• Managing diversity within the team

Practical activity:

• Manage diversity across the generations, develop pathways for the team

Effective communication and communicating ‘change’ with your team

• Listening and questioning skills
• Developing an assertive and influential communication style
• The principles of effective negotiation
• Communicating with 2 way feedback
• Communicating change with your team

Practical activity:

• Domino questioning principles, exercise in communicating feedback

Competent problem solving & decision making

• Develop confidence with crucial confrontations and conversations
• Adopting a problem solving approach
• Making decisions and managing consequences
• Managing politics
• Handling grievances
• Doing the ‘tough’ stuff – taking action and making difficult decisions
• Conducting disciplinary proceedings

Practical activity:

• Case scenarios and group role plays, identify difficult situations in the workplace and development of action plans

Mastering workflow & productivity

• Task organisation and execution
• Managing your workflow and productivity
• Prioritisation methods
• Managing other people’s priorities
• Personal habits that hinder

Practical activity:

• Prioritisation exercise, self audit of personal effectiveness

Action orientated meetings that actually deliver results

• The real role of a Chair
• Using an agenda
• Positive and objective participation

Personal action plan

• Conduct self analysis based on learnings
• Devise a personal action plan to start making real and implementable changes to make a difference