Program Outline

Introduction and General Overview : The Four Main Areas of Management:

• Becoming a Manager
• The Routine - But Critical - Tasks of Management
• Performance Management (People Management)
• Career Development - Becoming a Leader

You'll also get an overview of the Case Study method of accelerated learning and application.

I. Becoming a Manager: Beginning or Skill Enhancement
Historically the assumption has been made that if someone is good at what they do, they can easily be elevated to a position of managing others who do the same thing. The skill set of a manager is very different from the front line employee they manage. It is not uncommon to see someone go “back to the front line” after promotion because they are no longer succeeding or feeling effective. Therefore this section provides an overview of the foundation that must be laid in order to set our managers up for success.

A. Leading the Team Instead Of Being the Boss
    — The 5 Key differences between bosses and leaders
B. Two Sources of Power
    — Why some managers get “no respect”
C. The Supervisory Leadership Index (SLI) (self analysis tool)
    — Identify and chose the style that works best for you
D. Five common pitfalls for new and untrained managers
    — What they are and how to overcome them
E. Eight Ways to Launch (Or Restart) A Management Career

Practice session: Case Study - Moving into the Role, tackles 3 of the most common difficulties encountered by new and untrained managers, usually handled poorly due to lack of experience and guidance.
Self Assessment: Provides insight into style differences and ways to improve.

II. The Critical Importance of Goal Setting
The idea of setting goals for oneself has not always been a given. Goals have been typically set for us by our bosses and we have been expected to execute. Many who attempt to write goals write them poorly and as a result don’t serve to move their performance to excellence. This section focuses on the importance of goal setting to drive individual success as well as assist in the critical aspects of managing time.

A. Well Written Goals: 5 must-have elements
B. Segmenting Goals
C. Method for Writing Goals
D. AIR out your goals

Practice Session: A hands-on opportunity to write out goals and have them critiqued by peers for effectiveness. Action plan for implementation and follow up for immediate application at the work place.

III. Managing Your Time
Managing time is more and more challenging as we are asked to take on more with less. The reality is we all get the same amount of time. But how we use it or allow others to take it from us is where the time varies. In this section we focus on techniques to help with the most common time management challenges for managers.

A. Scheduling: a proper plan and work the plan
    — The Four Scheduling Pitfalls That Plague Most
B. Prioritizing
    — The Covey Quadrants
    — The "Four Ds" for Handling Other People's Problems
    — How to delegate like a leader and develop employee initiative
    — 10 tips from the masters
C. Managing Paperwork
    — The "Four Rs" of paperwork Processing
D. Building efficiency and relationship with Administrative Staff

Practice Session: Three case scenarios of the most common and difficult staff interruptions to handle. Participants are provided a coached opportunity to address the one they deal with most often and least effectively.

IV. Performance Management: Hiring Stars
Many employee issues may have been avoided altogether had a more thorough and strategic method been employed at the hiring step. In this section we explore interviewing tactics that help to determine not only the ability of a potential employee to do a job, but their willingness to do the job.

A. Job Descriptions and Interviewing Tactics
B. Potential Hiring Pitfalls
C. An effective start: New Hire Orientation

Practice Session: Managers identify the qualities as well as skills that are critical to success of a position for which they hire and create 3-5 standardized questions from templates to help them identify those traits in interviews.

Performance Management - The many hats of a Manager:
A manager's biggest responsibility is to the people he or she manages. Yet many managers don’t understand their varied roles or find it easier to focus on operational activities. The following three sections explore those roles.

V. The Manager As Trainer and Teacher

A. How to train “beginners”
B. Develop training resources and opportunities
C. Characteristics of effective trainers

Practice Session: Case studies provide clues to the learner’s preference in learning style and communication style. Managers as a team determine a process for teaching a stated skill to that learner based on their assessment.

VI. The Manager As Coach

A. Six Steps to Coaching Beginners
B. Communicating as a coach

VII. The Manager As Counselor

A. When to Counsel: Four Key Questions
B. The Counseling Session: Five Steps
C. The Importance of Documentation
D. The Improvement Plan: Four Characteristics

Practice Session: Case studies provided with background scenarios. Managers decide if coaching or counseling is warranted and discuss their conclusions. They then prepare a discussion in keeping with their decision in accordance to the guidelines provided.

VIII. Performance Management: Discipline and Termination
While tough to do, at times it is the only recourse. The following section provides some guidelines to ensure that the process is handled with diplomacy, empathy and tact and does not leave the manager vulnerable to retaliatory action.

A. The Politics and Legalities of Discipline
B. The Discipline Process: Four Steps
C. The Termination Interview: Five Steps
D. Safety issues
E. Refocus team

IX. Motivating Teams
We all understand that motivation comes from within, yet we constantly talk about the ability of managers and leaders to motivate their teams. This section explores exactly what a manager’s part is and isn’t in team member motivation.

A. Five Contemporary Motivators
B. Motivating Feedback
C. Necessary Criticism
D. Old Fashioned Punishment: Six Dangers
E. Recognizing and Developing Employees' Hidden Strengths

X. Team Leadership
No doubt everyone benefits when your team works well as a team. However, the challenges of really building a team environment in the face of multi generational members, fast-paced change, and being asked to do more with less makes it much more difficult to execute with finesse and success. In this section we explore solutions to the challenges posed by today’s work environment to team dynamics.

A. Five Benefits of the Team Approach
B. Understanding Multi generational Drivers
C. Managing Your Teams Through Change
D. Productive Team Meeting
E. Critical Thinking Skills

Practice Session: Case studies of team members of differing generational position in a team meeting trying to come to an agreement and plan for a major change being asked of their group. Managers determine the source of resistance and determine a plan for managing.

XI. Network at Work
Most managers don’t get it right away about the importance of networking at work everyday and the impact it has on their success and influence. Most learn this “the hard way”. This section explores building relationships with peers and with boss that will serve the manager as well as the organization.

A. Building Peer Relationships
    — Informal networking
    — Formal shadowing
    — Supervisory task teams
B. Communicating With Your Boss
    — Knowing Your Boss
    — Aligning With Your Boss
    — Handling Requests from Peers: Three Options
C. Gaining Influence and Visibility
D. Advanced Career Development

XII. Conclusion, Summary and Final Action Plan