Management Skills for Experienced Managers

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Course Overview

Because organisations must constantly change and improve results, they rely more on managers who have the vision and skills to keep their teams motivated and productive. In this course, you gain practical knowledge, skills and political savvy to become more effective at implementing strategy, addressing business challenges, decision making, leadership and motivation.

In an immersive environment, you participate in a thought-provoking case study, as well as individual and group activities, to apply management tools, techniques and strategies. Activities include the following:

• Assessing your leadership strengths
• Translating business strategy into a tactical plan
• Developing a performance dashboard
• Profiling your decision-making style
• Building connections and networks
• Applying a strategic change model
• Highlighting individual and team strengths
• Storytelling to appreciate generational differences
• Debating the pros and cons of organisational politics
• Customising a road map for personal and organisational growth

Audience

Experienced managers and middle managers who wish to enhance their ability to drive results across the organisation and take their leadership skills to the next level. Management experience at the level of Course 290, "Management Skills", or Course 222, "Leadership Skills: Success Through Teamwork", is assumed.

Skills Gained

You Will Learn How To

• Lead, manage and motivate individuals and teams within a strategic context
• Enable effective decision making in challenging situations
• Extend alliances across the organisation
• Proactively manage change to achieve desired results
• Focus on individual and team strengths to enhance capability and performance
• Navigate organisational politics to get things done

Course Outline

The Role of an Experienced Manager

• Assessing your strengths
• The scope of the middle management role
• The voice of experience
• Building credibility and trust
• Managing for results

Linking Strategy to Action

Implementing a strategic direction

• Seeing the big picture
• Identifying what impacts your strategy
• Establishing and maintaining internal alignment

Translating strategy into measurable outcomes

• Ensuring people get and stay focused on the right results
• Building momentum using measures and milestones
• Communicating results up and down the hierarchy

Making Tough Decisions

What makes a decision challenging

• Dealing with the unknown
• Problems and dilemmas
• Recognising cognitive and personal biases
• Exercising good judgment when making ethical decisions

Decision-making styles

• Identifying your own style
• Flexing your style to gain buy-in

Implementing a decision-making model

• Employing a step-by-step process
• Generating and prioritising options
• Weighing decision criteria
• Minimising the potential for conflict
• Making appropriate tradeoffs

Expanding Your Influence Across Your Organisation

Eliminating "silo" thinking

• Defining your circle of influence
• Gaining support and commitment from others

The power of networking

• Broadening your network through personal and professional connections
• Creating alliances to effect positive action
• Identifying pivotal links across the organisation

Fostering Change from the Middle

The challenge of change

• Why change is difficult
• Helping people see the need for change
• Inspiring action from your team

Making change happen

• Acting as an agent of change
• Implementing approaches throughout the change process that deliver effective results
• Transforming resistance into cooperative productivity

Engaging and Mobilising Others

Leveraging team performance for strategic results

• Supporting improved individual and team performance
• Eliminating performance barriers
• Fostering ownership, accountability and teamwork in your management team
• Effectively integrating new team members

Harnessing individual strengths

• Motivating others through a shared vision
• Aligning individual purpose with organisational goals
• Promoting individual talents and skills

Orchestrating cross-generational understanding

• Respecting different values and approaches
• Deciphering and interpreting style differences
• Storytelling as a communication tool

Politics with Integrity

Organisational culture

• Demystifying your organisation's culture
• Appreciating political dynamics
• Recognising the politics in internal processes and relationships
• Valuing different perspectives

Politics: the art of getting things done

• Politics and ethics
• Assessing the political landscape
• Developing your power base
• Inspiring others in your network to take action
• Promoting a culture of trust

Follow On Courses

• Management Skills
• Leadership Skills: Success Through Teamwork
• Coaching Employees to Their Potential
• Influence Skills
• Responding to Conflict
• Facilitation Skills
• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
• Strategic Planning
• Managing Information Overload

Management Skills for Experienced Managers / 909