Course Outline

Introduction – Knowing Yourself

The ability to self-reflect is a crucial one in getting ahead in the business of management. We will explore the art of ‘selfmanagement’ and learn how to maintain energy, enthusiasm and vigour in a challenging management role. We will begin the course by considering the keys to a successful management career.

Objectives:

• Evaluate current and future requirements of your work role and that of your team, taking into account the vision and objectives of your organisation
• Consider your values and your career/personal goals and identify information which is relevant to your work role and professional development
• Discuss and agree personal work objectives with your manager and agree how you will measure progress
• Agree a development plan to address any identified gaps in your current knowledge, understanding and skills
• Learn how to get regular and useful feedback from those who are in a good position to judge it

Managerial Leadership

What are the changing characteristics of the workforce today and how do we engage employees in this environment?

Objectives:

• Understand psychological vs. employment contracts
• Consider diversity, equality and generational influences
• Determine your leadership style
• Lead through empowerment
• Understand situational leadership models

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a combination of self-management and social skills that can transform and optimise individual and team performance. The construct of Emotional Intelligence defines how effectively you perceive, understand, reason with and manage your own and others’ feelings. When applied to your work, Emotional Intelligence involves your capacity to think “intelligently” with your own and others’ emotions to intentionally and efficiently deliver individual and organisational outcomes.

Objectives:

• Understand the concept of “Emotional Intelligence”
• Understand why high self-awareness is the basic building block of EI, how low self-awareness can handicap your actions and how to increase your self-awareness
• Explore the latest and most critical research findings about EI
• Appreciate how EI impacts your life generally and your ability to manage and lead
• Learn the five key domains of Emotional Intelligence
• Evaluate your own current level of EI across these domains
• Develop skills that help to build your emotional awareness of yourself and others
• Embed emotionally-intelligent behaviour in your roles
• Learn how to coach others to better understand EI

Recruitment, Selection And Retention

Surrounding yourself with great staff members is possibly the greatest key to your success. But it is a tough job. We will review the principles of both recruitment and retention.

Objectives:

• Review, on a regular basis, the work required in your area of responsibility and identify any shortfall in the number of colleagues required to do it, and in kills/knowledge/understanding and experience
• Participate in the recruitment and selection process, making sure that the process is fair, consistent and effective
• Make sure that any information on vacancies is fair, clear and accurate before it goes to potential candidates
• Ensure that applicants who are offered positions are likely to be able to perform effectively and work with their new colleagues

Effective Communication – Is It Just “Common Sense”?
Whether dealing with individuals in your team, your boss, your colleagues or your clients, your effective communication is critical to your success. It is not just “common sense”! We can learn to be better communicators. We will explore sensitivity and appropriate expression of emotion in communication.

Objectives:

• Explore self-disclosure
• Develop assertiveness
• Practise active listening
• Explore appropriate questioning techniques
• Appreciate constructive feedback
• Understand the process of communication and barriers to effective communication
• Develop skills for effective persuasion and influence
• Build relationships and trust
• Lead and participate in effective meetings

Performance Management

Performance management is an integrated system of policies, procedures and interventions used to better the performance of individuals and teams. How does performance management affect you as a manager? It is one of your most important tasks.

Objectives:

• Understand the aims and objectives of performance management systems
• Develop performance goals
• Manage staff appraisal interviews
• Negotiate a learning and development plan
• Support individuals in identifying their abilities and needs
• Establish with the individuals:
  – The areas where they want to develop their performance
  – The standard of performance they wish to achieve
  – The support they can expect from you and the commitment you expect from them
  – The timescale of the process
•  Effectively coach, counsel and mentor

Building Effective High Performance Teams

How do you create and maintain an environment that supports and nurtures high performing teams?

Objectives:

• Explore why we should develop teams and what is the purpose of the team
• Appreciate the difference between people in groups and as individuals
• Understand the stages of team development
• Learn key characteristics of effective teams
• Practise a supervisory role within the team
• Learn how to balance task focus and relationship focus

Problem Solving And Decision Making

Every adult is a problem solver, having learned some method of problem solving in their education or experience. However, people have varying degrees of skills and differing styles of problem solving. One way in which people can improve their problem solving abilities is to understand more clearly the process or the flow of the mind in solving problems.

Objectives:

• Learn how to be aware of the issue
• Practise information gathering techniques
• Problem definition
• Create a goal statement
• Generate solutions
• Choose the solution
• Implementation planning and taking action
• Evaluate the result

Change Management

To stay competitive or to lead the way into the age of information, many organisations are fundamentally changing the way they do business. Strategic change management is a set of activities and approaches to help an organisation transform itself from its current state to its desired state by involving staff, maximising their commitment and evoking high performance.

Objectives:

• Encourage members of your team to share, discuss and work together in developing ideas
• Manage your team through change
• Deal with individual responses to changes
• Deal with individual and organisational barriers to change

Summary, Review And Action Planning

This final session will provide an opportunity to consolidate learning and to plan for managerial “wisdom”. We will work together in this final session to review the tools, competencies and beliefs we have covered to enable you to integrate them into your professional life through the development of a specific action plan for implementation.