Training to Address Recurring Management Challenges

The Indiana MEP can help your first-time managers and supervisors establish the communication and management skills needed to direct the performance of individuals and teams.

Our Leadership Solutions training series addresses the recurring management challenges that every leader confronts on a daily basis! Each module is formatted so attendees learn through video presentations and case studies, participate in group discussions, and practice their newly learned skills via role playing. Training “takeaways” include workbooks that detail implementation tools, troubleshooting guides, and additional resources to help attendees immediately apply their new skills on the job. These four-hour workshops are designed for 6 to 18 participants.

The 12 core learning solutions include:

• Essential Skills of Leadership
  This module builds the foundation for helping your team leaders align team members with your organization's strategic objectives. Essential Skills of Leadership teaches team leaders how to maintain team members' self-esteem, focus on behavior, and encourage others to commit themselves to common goals.
  
  
• Essential Skills of Communicating
  Communicating effectively is the key to implementing good management skills. In this module, your team leaders learn to create a climate of open communication, design clear and concise messages, manage nonverbal cues effectively, and listen to communicate.
  
  
• Supporting Change
  As the link between management goals and the frontline labor force, the manager or team leader is the key to supporting change. By understanding the change, managers can more clearly communicate change to their team. Dealing with the comfort level of team members and involving them in detailed discussions will facilitate their acceptance of new ways of doing things.
  
  
• Communicating Up
  This module helps managers learn the process required for informative and productive dialogs that will be valued by more senior managers. The training focuses on preparation and clear commitments and includes: understanding your manager’s communication style, delivering bad news, communicating your group’s accomplishments, and getting your manager’s time and attention.
  
  
• Developing Performance Goals and Standards
  This module teaches how to establish specific, measurable, attainable, result-oriented and time-framed (SMART) performance standards. It then illustrates the steps that gain team member agreement and commitment to those performance standards. The focus is on logical processes and reasonable commitments to build a more effective process for goal creation, clear work standards, and better job performance.
  
  
• Providing Performance Feedback
  This module helps managers learn a systematic, fact-based approach to performance improvement through quality feedback. Managers and team leaders will be able to base assessments of facts and behavior, assess performance, use positive feedback to motivate team members, gain team member participation in assessment, gain team member agreement with the assessment, and gain team member commitment to the change needed to improve performance.
  
  
• Coaching Job Skills
  Upon completion of this module, the team leader will have the tools to learn how to effectively coach individuals through a process of observation, analysis and communication. By carefully planning one-on-one discussions, managers can have the greatest impact and gain individual commitment to achieving results.
  
  
• Delegating
  This module provides the tools to develop messages that communicate the “what” and “why” of every delegated task. By clearly communicating expectations and encouraging participation and involvement, managers can use delegating to develop team members’ skills and abilities. Focusing on ensuring that the individual understands what is required helps facilitate a successful result – the work is done correctly and the individual gains the benefits of a new experience and increased confidence and responsibility.
  
  
• Resolving Conflicts
  Whenever people work together, conflicts arise. This module helps managers develop skills to identify the source of team member conflict and helps individuals understand another point of view and move beyond the conflict. The module includes Sources of Team Member Conflict; Effective Ways to Resolve Conflict; Mismanaged Agreement Appearing to be Conflict; and Positive and Negative Aspects of Conflict.
  
  
• Managing Complaints
  As the leaders on the front line, managers and team leaders are often the first to hear team member complaints. This module provides managers with the tools necessary to approach complaints in a way that is supportive of employee and team goals. This session includes: Why Dealing with Team-Member Complaints is Important; How the Effective Team Leader Manages Complaints; and How to Use Your Listening Skills to Manage Complaints and Questioning.
  
  
• Effective Discipline
  The skills your managers and team leaders will learn in this module will preserve team members' self-respect and egos and encourage the best kind of discipline – self-discipline. It also motivates team members to accomplish their goals and work well within the organization. The workshop includes: Discipline Focusing on Behavior; Self-Discipline; Using Positive Discipline to Encourage Self-Discipline; and Documenting the Discipline.
  
  
• Improving Work Habits
  Absenteeism . . . Repeated tardiness . . . Conduct . . . Dress code . . . If your team leaders are faced with these or other work habit issues, this module will show them how to improve these issues. Merely quoting company regulations to the noncompliant worker will not solve the problem. The truly effective team leader immediately addresses poor work habits in a supportive, non-threatening way by working with the individual to develop a plan for addressing the issue while maintaining self-esteem.