Monthly Archives: February 2020

Going into management for the first time can be a very daunting experience, especially if it’s an internal promotion.  Remember, people are often promoted because they are good at their job, not because they are a good manager.

There are several things that every new manager needs to focus on that will aid their initial development as a manager.  Four key areas that you can focus on in those critical few months:

Think about the best managers you have ever had – we have all had poor managers but forget them, focus and think about the great ones. Why were they good?  Look at emulating those best manager traits.

Knowledge on motivation – we often think that people are just motivated by one thing, money.  We need money to survive but by no means is it the most important thing.  A McKinsey survey reinforces this key fact in the workplace.  You can read their report here.

Be assertive, not aggressive – being assertive is all about being in control, you’re in control of your feelings

I always talk about how I consider myself so fortunate to get to go around the country meeting new people and businesses, but there is one massive downside to it that I don’t like.  It never ceases to amaze me the stories and experiences about the continual waste of valuable time and money spent delivering “Training” that just doesn’t do what it’s meant to.  So why even bother; why not just throw the money spent on it straight in the bin?

But we don’t want to do that at all because let’s face it, the reason why we want training in the first place is that there is a lack of something that’s been identified in the workplace, typically skills or competencies; let’s call it the “Training Gap”.  It wouldn’t, therefore, be perfect if we don’t bother trying to address the this “Gap” and throw the money away as it’s only going to make the problems we have identified worse and could necessarily have a significant impact on people’s lives.  So how do we ensure we get it right?

We need to

Having quite a lot of experience coaching, supervising and mentoring the biggest mistake I see with people is in the understanding of what coaching is. I am a firm believer coaching takes time to understand and master, a seriously long time. It is not about tick box coaching, in other words coaching by numbers just like painting like numbers. Coaching is much more than that.

On my courses the first thing I say at the beginning of any course is I will not be able to make you a coach in two days as an example, it is just not going to happen. The companies that say you can be a coach with some written work, no monitoring of your sessions and giving you feedback on written work do not turn you into a coach. It is practice and understanding, receiving feedback on the practical sessions on all the data that is in the room. It is about understanding what is not being said and sharing this.

What I do on any of my courses is to give you some skills and techniques to start the process to understand

At Target Training we pride ourselves on being able to offer some of the best management training courses available, in the form of our Foundation Management Development Programme (FMDP) and Management Development Programme (MDP).  They are designed to help managers become genuinely inspirational and effective leaders, whatever industry they may work in.  Which is easy for us to say, but just how do courses such as ours help managers to ‘lead teams with confidence’?

Get to know what makes your team tick – Understanding personalities is crucial to understand ways in which different types of people may respond to varying types of management style. You need to know your teams, but first, you need to know you!

Understand what makes a great manager- As well as broader leadership advice, we discuss several professional and personal character traits, from confidence to good communications ability, that should be maximised to become an excellent leader.

Breathe life into your meetings –

Body language is one of the essential parts of delivering great training, and as we have discussed in many blogs before, people get caught up in thinking their aids like PowerPoint and Flip Chart are the most important things they have to get right.  We see it time and again on our courses but what’s so great is how quickly this can be changed with the right mindset and skills.

I want to share a story with you which helps with one of the most effective body language skills. One of the earliest memories of visiting the seaside on holiday is seeing the distant lighthouse white and red like a beacon standing proud, ready to shine its scanning light out to sea to warn the ships of the coastline.  So how can this relate to us when we deliver training?

Think back to a great training session or a presentation you have been given in the past. It is likely to have been so enjoyable because the trainer was fully engaging with his or her body language.  One of the skills they will have used

As a trainer and coach, I am very fortunate enough to meet some fantastic people.  Brilliant people who are keen to learn skills and techniques to be a better manager.  We deliver numerous management development programmes and a key to the programme are essential management skills that focus on motivation and effective communication skills.  Sometimes this involves difficult and challenging behaviour, and of course, during the process of performance management, this also means motivating people to get staff to the next level to aid either employment or personal goals.

I believe this is where managers need skills that are not always natural in many people.  I honestly also think managers get promoted to management positions because they are good at their job and not because they are good managers.

This is why managers need effective development, and I believe that all managers need to be trained in coaching skills to be effective.  Managers are inevitably involved in the coaching

Many people fear to speak in public.  I always remember reading an article that stated a study that more people feared public speaking over death! Added to this, it is rare to find this skill being taught in any school; you're just told to stand up in front of everyone and read aloud.  This can be a very negative experience for many people, and if we are not careful, we can take this further into adulthood.

The reality is though that many jobs involved an element of public speaking, especially management roles where you are required to brief and motivate staff.  The ability to speak confidently is a life skill; you’re more likely to succeed in a job interview or contribute more effectively when working as part of a team.  Moreover, you will be more confident in breaking the ice and starting new conversations with strangers.   You will be a more effective networker and be able to mix well in many social settings and situations.

A key thing to remember is that you are not alone,

One of the most common problems I see people having on our Train the Trainer courses are still very focused on PowerPoint as their primary visual aid.  As we have written many times before, PowerPoint is an aid to you for learning to happen, but so is a Flip Chart, so why then do so few people use it? - it is fantastic and here’s why.

I remember not that long ago a lady on her PTT Train the Trainer said her organisation had stopped ordering Flip Charts as they were looked upon as “Old and dated”. I was stunned, however, straight after her PTT Train the Trainer one of the first things she did was order them in!  I sometimes find that people leave things they struggle with (writing and position), don’t understand or when they don’t see the advantages of something, it doesn’t get used.  Flip Chart is no different, so the net result is……  More PowerPoint!!!

Let’s have more Flip because:

It's dynamic – You have a blank canvas that you can use, therefore it doesn’t matter what order