Course Description

Stepping up into a line management role brings new responsibilities, challenges, and expectations – many of which aren't in the job description. This course equips new and developing line managers with the practical tools and techniques needed to lead with confidence, motivate their teams, manage performance, and handle difficult situations effectively.

Through a mix of discussion, practical exercises, and peer feedback, delegates will build a personal "line management toolkit" that they can apply immediately in the workplace.

Target Student

New and aspiring line managers, team leaders, and supervisors who want to make a successful transition from being managed to managing others, and develop the skills to lead their teams effectively.

Pre-requisites

• None

Core Learning Objectives

• Explain the terms leadership and management
• Recognise how to get from being managed to managing
• Recognise unspoken supervisory responsibilities
• Explain the nature of authority and responsibility
• Define motivation and how to motivate and inspire others
• Demonstrate performance management and feedback skills
• Deal with difficult situations including conflict
• Recognise trust relationships and their role in the workplace
• Add to their personal "line management toolkit"

Course Outline

1. What Makes a Good First Line Manager?

• Qualities and resources needed to step up to line management
• Identifying the key tasks you spend your time on
• Are you spending enough time on management tasks?

2. Leadership and Management

• Defining the differences between leadership and management
• Identifying areas where you should be performing but are not
• Matching leadership styles to organisational needs and culture
• Adapting your style to suit specific situations

3. The Psychological Contract

• Understanding the psychological contract
• How it impacts the relationship between employee and employer
• Its importance in the work context

4. All the Things They Didn't Tell You

• The full scope of line manager responsibilities
• The extra duties that come with the role but aren't in the job description

5. Authority as a Supervisor

• What authority is and how you get it
• Turning authority up and down – and the effect it has

6. Communication

• Mapping the communication cycle
• Understanding the gap between what we say, what we mean, and what others hear
• Techniques for being clearly understood when delegating

7. Motivation and Inspiration

• What motivates and de-motivates you and your team
• Persuasion, motivation and inspiration
• Are you doing everything you could to motivate your team?

8. Setting Targets

• Setting clear objectives, targets and expectations
• Aspirational targets versus a baseline approach
• The message you send as a line manager

9. Managing Performance

• Recognising the feelings that get in the way of managing poor performance
• Where avoidance leads
• Practical techniques for performance management

10. Handling Conflict

• Techniques for when communication has got difficult
• Pre-empting difficulties before they escalate
• Finding common ground and using agreement to diffuse tension

11. Personal Line Management Style

• Acknowledging what you do well
• Receiving feedback from colleagues
• Building on your personal strengths