Course Overview
Your success as a manager in the IT environment depends on applying people-oriented skills to lead and motivate technical experts. Throughout this course, you practise the key skills and behaviours to get the best from technical people. You learn to lead with vision, motivate and empower with passion, facilitate effective communication and delegate with clarity to individuals and teams.
In an immersive environment, you participate in an IT-focused, multimedia case study, as well as individual and group activities to apply management tools, techniques and strategies. Activities include:
- Identifying and personalising your management approach
- Mapping team and stakeholder interdependencies and potential conflicts
- Developing motivational strategies for technical and non-technical individuals
- Delegation role play within a simulated IT case study application
- Designing a team-building event
- Observing and enhancing your emotional intelligence
- Managing performance to promote and leverage the strengths of your staff
- Assessing the impact of disruptive behaviour in the workplace
- Creating your managerial vision to determine your next steps
Audience
IT managers wishing to expand and improve their skills and those new to managing technical experts. This course is aimed at those managing technical professionals in an IT environment. For a fundamental management skills course, please refer to Course 290, "Management Skills".
Skills Gained
You Will Learn How To
- Apply a proven management model for leading technical staff to excellence
- Identify key success criteria for leadership in an IT environment
- Leverage emotion to optimise communication and performance
- Motivate and empower technical professionals to achieve results
- Delegate proactively to focus the strengths of IT teams and build accountability
- Reinforce performance with a shared vision and effective coaching
Course Outline
The Challenge of IT Management
Setting the context for successful IT management
- Defining relevant success factors based on customer requirements
- Adopting best practices for an IT environment
Performing stakeholder analysis
- Drawing the stakeholder map
- Identifying interdependencies and expectations
Developing Management Excellence
A new management identity
- Transitioning from a technical expert to a manager
- Balancing leadership and administration
- Managing technical specialists
Personalising your management style
- Applying the Mintzberg action-based model
- Aligning your management approach to the model
- The top 10 management roles
Emotional Intelligence (EI) in Action
Incorporating EI into your management approach
- Recognising three key skills to understand yourself
- Interpreting behaviours and interacting more constructively with others
Engaging and controlling your emotions
- Changing your behaviour to suit the situation
- Leading by example
Motivating Technical Workers
Exploring key motivators
- What technical people want from work
- Increasing staff retention
- Avoiding motivational pitfalls
Tailoring the approach to your team
- The impact of generational differences
- Assessing strengths to increase levels of engagement
- Putting theory into practice
Delegating for Empowerment
Cultivating commitment and accountability
- Inspiring collaborative partnerships
- Working with the strengths of your staff
Following a proven step-by-step process for delegation
- Planning your delegation and defining the task
- Assigning the task to individuals or teams
- Determining tracking and follow-up
- Achieving accountability through collaboration
Facilitating Success for IT Teams
Organising and developing effective teamwork
- Negotiating shared expectations
- Setting ground rules within your team
- Cutting across organisational units, time zones and geographic boundaries
- Overcoming the hidden overhead of separation
Leveraging team synergy
- Creating a team state of mind
- Facilitating team-building activities
Enhancing team communication
- Applying a three-level model for team building
- Harnessing the power of dynamic and diverse teams
Reinforcing and Redirecting Performance Through Coaching
Managing day-to-day performance
- Selecting suitable performance measures that work in a technical environment
- The benefits of a continuous appraisal approach
- Strengthening performance by integrating coaching and appraisal techniques
Minimising disruptions in the workplace
- Recognising and addressing ineffective performance that falls short of expectations
- Employing constructive feedback as a means of focusing positive behaviours
Implementing Your Managerial Vision
Defining desired outcomes
- Vision as a practical management tool
- Framing a vision for you and your team using a step-by-step approach
Focusing team efforts through a common vision
- Actively pursuing your personal vision
- Supporting your organisational goals
Follow On Courses
- 224 Coaching Employees to Their Potential
- 294 Influence Skills
- 904 Responding to Conflict
- 905 Facilitation Skills
- 284 Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
- 246 Managing Information Overload
- 247 MBA Essentials
- 340 Project Management for Software Development
