Course Outcomes

This management skills course will:

  • Provide an overview of the essential management skills.
  • Review a manager’s responsibilities.
  • Offer frameworks for communicating information, holding people accountable, delegating, and coaching.
  • Suggest basic “dos” and “don’ts” for getting good performance from others.
  • Review tactics to help participants manage their own work, while at the same time managing people.

Course Overview

For people who have been out of a management role for a while and for those new to the task, it can be difficult to tackle the responsibility for guiding others successfully.  This half-day workshop is designed specifically for those two audiences.  The program reviews the essential skills good managers share and several frameworks for conducting such routine tasks as conducting one-on-one meetings, communicating expectations, holding people accountable, delegating, providing feedback, and coaching people to think for themselves. This workshop also offers several suggestions to help managers with their own assignments to balance those obligations with their managerial responsibilities.

Program Objectives

At this program’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

  • Explain essential management skills.
  • Conduct a one-on-one delegation and status meeting with direct reports.
  • Communicate expectations.
  • Hold an accountability conversation.
  • Delegate tasks appropriately.
  • Conduct a performance feedback session.
  • Hold a basic coaching conversation.
  • Balance their own work with their management responsibilities.

The following outline highlights some of the course’s key 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).

Workshop Outline

The Manager’s Role: Understanding Obligations

This workshop kicks off with a discussion about the manager’s role and the characteristics good managers share.  Following that conversation, we will review the course topics and determine where to focus our time for the rest of the session.

Let’s Meet: Communicating Expectations

Most people will do what they are asked to do, they understand what is expected, they are held accountable, and they are rewarded for good performance.  During this part of the course, we will talk about the first part of the equation, expectations. We will look at what’s realistic, what’s not, how often to communicate, and when to check in.  We will also explore one-on-one meetings and their importance in establishing dialogue, connecting assigned tasks with the greater goals of the organization, and generating buy-in from direct reports. To reinforce the concepts discussed, participants will create a one-on-one template and expectations checklist and explain those components to the group.

Assigning Tasks: The Basics of Delegation

Once participants have a good understanding of how often and how they should run a one-on-one meeting, we’ll tackle delegation and the importance of choosing the right task for the right person.  During our discussion, we will consider tasks on a four-square delegation matrix. Next, we will explore a framework for assigning and monitoring activities depending on where they fall within the grid. In addition to what and when to delegate, we will also consider language associated with assigning tasks to others – what works and what doesn’t.

Bridging the Gap: Holding People Accountable

The one-on-one meeting happened, the managers assigned tasks, but that’s where the managing stopped.  Is it any wonder that work isn’t being done right, good work isn’t being recognized, or work isn’t being done at all? These outcomes are common problems for managers who drop the ball when it comes to accountability.

During this part of the course, we will talk about what needs to happen as part of delegation. Specifically, we will focus on five actions managers can take to set the stage for success: defining what good performance looks like, explaining the staff member’s role and boundaries, offering information about how failures and mistakes will be addressed, and outlining how progress, problems, and other updates should be communicated.

How It’s Going: Coaching and Feedback

Feedback is a necessary and sometimes scary part of the management process. This section of the workshop explores basic frameworks for providing positive feedback and constructive criticism.  After reviewing several case studies, participants will have an opportunity to practice their feedback skills through role-playing exercises. At the conclusion of this module, those attending the workshop should have a better understanding of when, why, and how to provide feedback to those they manage. 

The Balancing Act: Staying on Schedule

The world is increasingly complicated, and people seem to be doing more with less.  For that reason, most managers in the modern workforce aren’t just managing people but their own work as well.  This final program segment focuses on balancing personal job demands with managerial activities. We’ll look at several tools and techniques for keeping on top of a personal workload, while at the same time staying connected to direct reports.

By the end of this management skills short course, participants should have a clear understanding of the essential managerial tasks for which they are responsible and the tools they can leverage to help them manage themselves and the people for whom they are responsible.