Excelling as a Manager or Supervisor

WORKSHOP AGENDA

Program time: 3 hours

Session 1: New or not, making the leap from worker to supervisor

• What it takes to be a manager: An overview of your day-to-day responsibilities
• Why it’s important to "take charge" and put your best foot forward from the beginning—and a half-dozen tips for doing just that
• A dozen actions you can take that will immediately establish your authority, boost your credibility and earn respect
• The subtle do’s and don’ts in the relationship boundaries between you and your boss
• Drawing the line on social relationships with those you manage
• 10 common management missteps you’ll want to avoid

Session 2: Why leadership is an essential ingredient of management

• Why bosses turn people off—and leaders turn people on
• 5 sure-fire ways leaders gain the commitment and cooperation of workers
• The advantages of being available and visible to workers
• How to develop your natural leadership ability to spark passion in workers—and in other managers
• Understanding the long-term benefits of developing and mentoring employees
• How to develop and assert your leadership abilities in group or team situations

Session 3: Indispensable everyday management skills

• How to keep track of employees’ progress on a project without giving the appearance that you’re checking up on them
• Interviewing tips for choosing candidates who will work to achieve the organization’s goals and take pride in turning in a quality performance
• How to make delegating a natural, comfortable part of your supervisory routine
• How to develop coaching skills that help employees reach their full productivity potential
• Together Everyone Achieves More—how to turn a diverse group of people into an empowered, smooth-functioning team
• Techniques for putting your creative problem-solving ability to work in supervisory situations that call for innovative solutions
• A 5-step approach to identifying and solving any problem
• An overview of EEO and sexual harassment guidelines every manager must know

Session 4: Make things happen: Boosting worker enthusiasm and commitment

• How to increase productivity by effectively assessing workers’ skills and matching them to work assignments
• Using praise effectively: Why how you praise is as important as the praise itself
• Pointing workers at the bull’s-eye: How to craft goals that workers can aim for and achieve
• The top 10 ways to harness inborn worker motivation to accomplish organizational goals and produce quality work
• How to put the greatest management principle in the world into practice to save you and your employees countless hours of frustration and unnecessary work

Session 5: Getting the job done right and on time: How to manage projects and priorities

• Understanding the concept of important versus urgent: How to define your productivity payoffs and take action for success
• Understanding the Project Life Cycle—a step-by-step map to project success
• 9 steps for defining and planning any project
• The single key to understanding how to manage multiple projects
• How to use your goals to set your daily priorities

Session 6: Communication skills that make the difference

• The 10 keys to leading successful meetings
• How to deliver your message clearly and concisely in a memo or letter
• How to manage up the ladder—tips for communicating effectively with your boss and other executives
• Using your listening skills to create a caring, understanding workplace
• How to give criticism and negative feedback without provoking workers
• 6 tips for overcoming the most common supervisor-employee communication barriers
• How to make presentations that captivate, persuade and push people to action

Session 7: Correcting problem behavior and poor performance

• Strategies for getting to the root causes of poor performance
• A step-by-step approach to firing employees who don’t measure up
• How to conduct a fair and constructive performance evaluation—and what to do when workers disagree with your assessment of their performance
• Easy methods for overcoming tardiness and absenteeism
• The 2 key behavior modification techniques that are successful in turning around unacceptable performance
• Mistakes happen: How to discipline employees and set up an improvement plan that allows growth and learning to occur

Session 8: Controlling conflict in the workplace

• How to save face when an employee sets you up or publicly tries to embarrass you
• How to handle an employee who disagrees with something you want done or the way you want it to be done
• How to handle employee complaints about working conditions
• How to deal with employees who constantly complain they have too much work
• How to deal with employee disagreements without escalating the problem
• How to avoid the conditions that foster employee conflict

Session 9: Supervisor, manage thyself

• Dealing with interruptions, procrastination and other time robbers: 9 tips for budgeting your time to multiply the results you get from every day
• How to keep your cool and stay motivated even in the most heated moments
• Putting the brakes on stress even when tight deadlines and tough situations have you working at fast-forward speed
• Why it’s important to your career to stop fighting and start facing change
• How to bear the emotional burden of supervisory nightmares
• Building your assertiveness: How to project self-confidence without coming across as arrogant or pushy
• Developing an "I’m-OK" attitude: How to put an end to self-defeating thoughts and negative attitudes that keep you from achieving your peak