Essential Management Skills Training Course

Participants can communicate expectations, listen actively and deliver constructive feedback.

• Communication channel selection based on urgency, complexity, confidentiality and audience
• Briefing structure: purpose, context, decision, action and deadline
• Active listening uses paraphrasing, probing questions and accurate summarising
• Questions separate assumptions, facts, interests and proposed solutions
• SBI feedback frames situation, behaviour and observed impact
• Difficult messages prepared with evidence, options and clear next steps
• Meeting agendas convert discussion into decisions, owners and deadlines

Participants can translate priorities into measurable objectives, workload plans and review measures.

• SMART objectives link team outputs to agreed organisational priorities
• Outcome measures separated from activity measures and output counts
• KPIs defined with formula, source, frequency, owner and threshold
• Performance expectations documented through standards, milestones and behavioural evidence
• Weekly priorities selected using impact, urgency and dependency criteria
• Workload plans expose capacity gaps, bottlenecks and competing commitments
• Progress reviews identify variance, causes, recovery actions and escalation

Participants can delegate work with appropriate authority, support and accountability controls.

• Delegation decisions match task risk, competence, authority and development need
• Delegation brief specifies outcome, constraints, resources, checkpoints and decision limits
• Authority levels distinguish recommendation, consultation, approval and autonomous action
• RACI matrix resolves overlaps between managers, specialists and delivery teams
• Checkpoints provide control without taking back ownership from team members
• Coaching questions help employees diagnose options and commit to actions
• Follow-up conversations test results, learning and next-level responsibility

Participants can manage performance fairly through evidence, feedback and improvement planning.

• Performance conversations use evidence from objectives, observations and agreed standards
• Recognition links specific contribution to team results and desired behaviours
• Underperformance diagnosed through capability, clarity, capacity, motivation and process barriers
• Corrective feedback states the gap, impact, expectation and support
• Improvement plans define measures, review dates, resources and consequences
• Documenting performance discussions creates accurate records for fair decisions
• Probation and appraisal discussions handled within organisational policy requirements

Participants can use coaching to build employee capability and support development goals.

• GROW model structures goal-focused coaching conversations and follow-through
• Coaching distinguishes development support from instruction, mentoring and performance management
• Open questions encourage analysis rather than manager-supplied answers
• Development needs assessed against role requirements and future assignments
• Individual development plans specify practice opportunities, support and review points
• Learning transfer reinforced through observation, feedback and repeated application
• Career conversations connect employee aspirations with realistic organisational opportunities

Participants can address conflict constructively while maintaining standards and working relationships.

• Conflict sources mapped across goals, resources, roles, values and communication
• Interest-based discussion separates stated positions from underlying needs
• Assertive language states concerns, requests and boundaries without aggression
• De-escalation techniques manage emotion, pauses and difficult behaviour
• Conflict meetings establish facts, options, agreements and review dates
• Manager mediation remains impartial while holding parties accountable for conduct
• Escalation routes applied when safety, ethics or policy risks arise

Participants can make and document sound management decisions under operational pressure.

• Decision criteria weight cost, risk, quality, speed and stakeholder impact
• Root-cause analysis separates symptoms, contributing factors and controllable causes
• Risk registers record likelihood, impact, controls, owners and review dates
• Options appraised through evidence, assumptions, trade-offs and implementation feasibility
• Decision logs capture rationale, authority, actions and communication requirements
• Ethical dilemmas tested against policy, fairness, consequences and disclosure
• Escalations distinguish decisions requiring senior authority from routine management judgement

Participants can communicate change, manage resistance and sustain operational improvements.

• Stakeholder analysis identifies influence, impact, concerns and engagement approaches
• Change messages explain rationale, local implications, timing and required actions
• Resistance explored through listening, evidence, involvement and practical support
• Implementation plans sequence tasks, owners, dependencies, milestones and communications
• Improvement cycles test changes, review results and standardise procedures
• Team meetings surface operational issues before they become delivery failures
• Lessons learned convert completed work into revised procedures and controls

Participants can create a focused plan for applying essential management practices at work.

• Personal leadership priorities aligned with team commitments and management responsibilities
• Thirty-day action plan defines behaviours, milestones, support and evidence
• Stakeholder commitments scheduled through regular one-to-ones, reviews and briefings
• Management dashboard selects leading indicators, lagging indicators and exceptions
• Peer accountability arrangements establish check-ins, challenge and progress review
• Application barriers anticipated with contingency actions and escalation triggers
• Learning evidence captured through feedback, results and reflective notes