Course Highlights
This in-person management fundamentals training course will:
- Provide a clear structure for day-to-day management work using a practical framework.
- Strengthen credibility by improving what the team sees leaders model under pressure.
- Improve communication and decision-making by adapting the approach to fit the situation.
- Build employee development habits using a structured coaching model.
- Improve delegation quality by clarifying expectations, autonomy level, and follow-through.
- Strengthen informal and formal feedback so performance improves without surprises.
- Improve time and workload control through manager-specific planning and boundary habits.
Course Overview
New and emerging managers often inherit responsibility before they inherit a system. The role shifts quickly from personal execution to directing work through others, building credibility, developing employees, and holding steady expectations. This program gives new managers a clear structure for what “doing the management job” requires week to week, then builds the supporting habits that keep follow-through consistent.
The day starts by organizing the manager role through the MANAGER framework so the group can prioritize what matters and stop managing by instinct. From there, the program strengthens credibility through behavior modeling and shows how day-to-day choices shape trust. The course then builds practical adaptability in communication and decision-making so managers can adjust their approach without sending mixed signals. Participants also practice development conversations using the GROWTH model so coaching produces clear goals, concrete next steps, and follow-up. The second half focuses on delegation and feedback fundamentals—how to assign work with clear expectations and appropriate autonomy, and how to give feedback that is specific, timely, and actionable. The program closes with manager-specific time practices that protect capacity for coaching, follow-through, and employee support.
The following outline highlights some of the course’s main learning points. As part of your training program, we will modify content as needed to meet your business objectives. Upon request, we will provide you with a copy of the participant materials prior to the session(s).
Program Objectives
At this program’s conclusion, participants should be able to:
- Explain the MANAGER framework for determining management activities.
- Discuss the importance of modeling and its impact on credibility and trust.
- Self-assess behavior modeling opportunities.
- Identify why, how, and where managers may need to adapt their leadership, communication, and decision making.
- Explain the importance of growing employees.
- Apply the GROWTH model to guide employee development.
- Identify the basic information any delegation conversation should include.
- Select an appropriate delegation level.
- Avoid micromanaging tendencies.
- Use Quick Appreciation, LLC feedback, and the CARE framework to give feedback.
- Discuss best practices for giving informal and formal feedback.
- Describe seven time-management strategies for finding time to manage effectively and avoiding burnout.
Workshop Modules
MANAGER: Understanding Obligations
This opening segment frames the day around a simple question: what does effective management require beyond personal performance? Through guided questions, participants will clarify the manager role, name common challenges, and map real day-to-day demands to the MANAGER framework so the rest of the day stays structured.
Modeling Behavior: Walk the Talk
Credibility starts with what the team sees every day. The group will identify the behaviors it expects from others, compare those expectations to what is modeled under pressure, and select specific behavior shifts that strengthen trust and consistency.
Adapting Skills: Bend Me Shape Me
Different situations call for different management moves. Learners will examine when adaptation is required in communication, decision-making, and day-to-day direction, then practice selecting approaches that fit the moment without sending mixed signals.
Nurturing Growth: Encouraging Engagement, Retention, and Performance
Employee development becomes real when it produces clear goals and follow-through. Participants will apply the GROWTH model to a development scenario by clarifying goals, naming current reality, exploring options, selecting next steps, and setting follow-up.
Assigning Tasks: The Basics of Delegation
Delegation works when the handoff is clear and ownership holds. The team will build a delegation conversation using the minimum information required for success, select an appropriate delegation level, and set boundaries and checkpoints that prevent reverse delegation and unnecessary rescues.
Giving Insights: Coaching and Feedback:
Feedback protects standards when it is specific and timely. Attendees will practice Quick Appreciation, LLC Feedback, and CARE to reinforce what to repeat, address course corrections early, and close with clear next steps and commitments.
Evaluating Performance: Informal and Formal Assessment
Evaluation should reduce surprises and strengthen fairness. Participants will identify what belongs in informal versus formal evaluation, practice turning vague input into specific examples, and outline follow-through steps that support improvement and accountability.
Reserving Time: Getting It All Done
Management fails when there is no time to manage. The group will work through seven manager-specific time strategies, identify what is currently stealing time, and select practical changes that protect time for follow-through, coaching, and team support.
Target Audience
This program is designed for groups that want to:
- Build foundational management skills for new and emerging managers.
- Establish a shared baseline for credibility, communication, delegation, feedback, and employee development.
- Strengthen day-to-day follow-through so teams experience clearer expectations and more consistent support.
- Improve time control so managers have space to manage rather than just react.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes this course a good fit for new managers?
New managers often get responsibility before they get a practical system for managing people. This course gives them a clear structure for the work: setting expectations, modeling behavior, adapting communication, developing employees, delegating, giving feedback, evaluating performance, and protecting time to manage.
Why does the course use the MANAGER framework?
The MANAGER framework helps participants see the full management job instead of reacting to whatever is loudest. It gives the day a practical structure and helps managers sort their responsibilities into repeatable habits.
How does the course help managers build credibility?
The course focuses on what employees see managers do under pressure. Participants identify the behaviors they expect from their teams, compare those standards with what they model, and choose visible changes that strengthen trust and consistency.
Does this course address different management styles?
Yes. Participants examine where they may need to adapt communication, decisions, direction, and support based on the situation. The focus is on adjusting without becoming inconsistent or unclear.
How does the GROWTH model fit into a management basics course?
New managers need a simple way to guide development conversations. GROWTH helps them move from a general desire to “help someone improve” to a clearer conversation about goals, current reality, options, next steps, and follow-up.
Does the delegation section go beyond telling people what to do?
Yes. Participants practice building a delegation conversation that clarifies the assignment, the expected result, the level of autonomy, the boundaries, the support available, and the follow-up. The goal is to reduce reverse delegation and prevent managers from taking the work back.
How does this course treat feedback?
Feedback is treated as a normal management habit, not a formal event reserved for problems. Participants practice Quick Appreciation, LLC Feedback, and CARE so they can reinforce good work, correct drift early, and close with clear commitments.
Does the course cover both informal and formal evaluation?
Yes. Participants look at what belongs in day-to-day informal feedback and what belongs in more formal performance assessment. They practice turning vague impressions into specific examples so evaluation feels fairer and less surprising.
Why include time management in a management fundamentals course?
Managers cannot coach, delegate, follow up, or support employees if their schedules leave no room for management work. The course gives participants seven time strategies for protecting capacity and reducing constant reaction mode.
What should participants be able to use right away?
Participants should leave with a clearer view of the manager role, stronger delegation language, practical feedback tools, better development conversations, and a plan for protecting time to manage instead of only responding to the next interruption.