First-Time Manager Development Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Newly appointed Team Leaders, First-time Line Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 7 Nov 2026 Course code SD-LD-115

Before you join: Participants should have experience working in a team and understand the basic responsibilities, processes and measures used in their area of work.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Moving from individual contributor to manager changes the unit of performance: results now depend on clear expectations, coordinated work, capable people and timely decisions. New managers are often promoted for technical credibility but receive little preparation for authority, delegation, feedback, conflict or formal people processes. The cost appears in unclear priorities, work retained by the manager, uneven treatment, avoidable turnover and delivery risks.

This five-day First-Time Manager Development Training Course gives participants a practical management system for their first team. They set goals using SMART objectives and OKR alignment, clarify accountabilities with RACI, delegate through defined authority and checkpoints, and run useful one-to-ones. The course develops coaching using GROW, feedback using SBI, inclusive team norms, conflict resolution, meeting discipline, operational improvement and early performance intervention. Participants also learn when to involve HR, senior managers or specialist functions rather than attempting to resolve policy, conduct or wellbeing matters alone.

Instruction combines concise tutor briefings with realistic cases from public services, banking, NGOs and corporate teams; group analysis; manager simulations; peer feedback; and individual application planning. Scenarios include an overloaded service team, a missed compliance deadline, hybrid communication breakdowns and an employee whose performance has deteriorated. Each participant leaves with a personal 30-60-90-day manager plan and a working set of reusable templates: one-to-one agenda, delegation brief, team charter, feedback planner, performance review record and stakeholder map. The course is delivered classroom or live online, 08:30-16:30 over five days, with about 6.5 contact hours each day, and includes a certificate of completion.

What you will be able to do

  • Set team expectations using SMART objectives, OKR alignment and measurable standards
  • Conduct structured one-to-ones using GROW coaching and active-listening techniques
  • Deliver clear developmental feedback using the SBI feedback model
  • Delegate work through outcome-based briefs, authority limits and review checkpoints
  • Clarify roles and decision rights using a RACI matrix
  • Resolve workplace conflict using Thomas-Kilmann modes and interest-based negotiation
  • Address early performance concerns using factual documentation and improvement plans
  • Create a 30-60-90-day manager action plan for a new or existing team

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Replace ad hoc supervision with repeatable one-to-one, delegation and review routines
  • Handle feedback conversations with a clear structure and evidence-based language
  • Reduce the tendency to retain technical work that should sit with team members
  • Build confidence addressing conflict, missed commitments and difficult behaviour early
  • Leave with a practical first-manager plan for the next 30, 60 and 90 days

For your organisation

  • Improve consistency in goal-setting, work allocation and performance follow-up
  • Reduce delivery delays caused by unclear ownership and slow decision-making
  • Strengthen early intervention before performance issues become formal cases
  • Increase employee clarity, recognition and development through better one-to-ones
  • Create a common management language for feedback, delegation and accountability

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can establish their role, priorities and management routines during the transition from individual contributor to manager.

  • Manager role transition: accountability, authority and expectations clarified
  • Individual contributor habits replaced with team-output management routines
  • Role boundaries agreed using RACI decision-rights mapping with stakeholders
  • Psychological contract expectations discussed during first manager conversations
  • Weekly management operating system: priorities, people, meetings and follow-through
  • Stakeholder map identifies sponsors, peers, reports and service partners
  • Personal leadership values converted into observable management commitments

Participants can run purposeful one-to-ones, coach for ownership and give clear developmental feedback.

  • GROW coaching conversations distinguish goals, reality, options and commitment
  • SBI feedback frames situation, behaviour and observable impact
  • Feedforward requests focus on future actions rather than personal judgement
  • Active listening uses paraphrasing, probing questions and strategic silence
  • One-to-one agendas balance delivery, wellbeing, development and obstacles
  • Difficult feedback prepared with facts, impact, request and follow-up
  • Coaching versus directing selected by capability, confidence and risk

Participants can translate team priorities into clear individual goals, accountabilities and review arrangements.

  • SMART objectives connect individual commitments to team priorities
  • OKR alignment distinguishes outcomes, outputs, measures and ownership
  • Performance expectations documented through standards, deadlines, quality and behaviours
  • Delegated work specified using outcome, authority, constraints and checkpoints
  • RACI clarifies accountable ownership before work passes between roles
  • Progress reviews separate evidence, interpretation, decisions and next actions
  • Performance records capture agreed actions, support and review dates

Participants can delegate work at an appropriate level while retaining accountability for delivery, risk and support.

  • Situational Leadership II matches direction and support to development level
  • Delegation ladder defines retained control, consultation and decision authority
  • Task briefings state purpose, outcomes, boundaries, resources and deadlines
  • Checkpoints manage risk without taking back delegated responsibility
  • Development assignments stretch capability while protecting service delivery
  • Accountability conversations address missed commitments without blame or avoidance
  • Escalation thresholds distinguish manager intervention from employee problem-solving

Participants can create fair, motivating and inclusive conditions for team performance.

  • Herzberg's two-factor theory separates hygiene issues from motivational factors
  • Individual motivators identified through structured career and preference conversations
  • Psychological safety built through candour, curiosity and respectful challenge
  • Inclusive meeting practices prevent interruption, exclusion and unexamined assumptions
  • Recognition links specific contribution to customer, citizen or business impact
  • Fair workload allocation tested against capability, opportunity and visibility
  • Team norms define communication, decisions, response times and disagreement

Participants can diagnose conflict, choose a suitable response and conduct difficult conversations constructively.

  • Thomas-Kilmann modes selected according to stakes, relationships and time pressure
  • Interest-based negotiation separates positions, interests, options and criteria
  • Conflict diagnosis distinguishes task, process, relationship and values disputes
  • DESC script structures assertive requests during difficult conversations
  • De-escalation uses neutral language, pauses and acknowledged concerns
  • Informal resolution steps documented before formal grievance escalation
  • Bullying, harassment and discrimination concerns referred through established procedures

Participants can create communication routines and meetings that produce clear decisions, ownership and follow-through.

  • Team charter sets purpose, roles, norms, decisions and measures
  • Communication planning selects audience, message, channel, owner and timing
  • Meeting design uses purpose, agenda, participation and decision rules
  • Decision log records owner, rationale, deadline and affected stakeholders
  • Briefings translate organisational change into local actions and questions
  • Remote and hybrid rituals maintain visibility, connection and coordination
  • Escalation messages present facts, implications, options and recommended action

Participants can monitor team operations, address recurring problems and communicate change clearly.

  • Daily management boards visualise workload, blockers, service levels and ownership
  • PDCA cycles test improvements through plan, do, check and act
  • Root-cause analysis uses Five Whys and fishbone diagrams
  • Risk registers assign likelihood, impact, controls, owners and review dates
  • Change conversations explain rationale, local impact, support and next steps
  • ADKAR identifies awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement needs
  • Service incidents reviewed without blame using facts and corrective actions

Participants can identify and address early performance or wellbeing concerns while using appropriate escalation routes.

  • Early intervention addresses declining performance before formal action becomes necessary
  • Performance improvement plans specify gap, evidence, support, milestones and consequences
  • Absence conversations balance welfare, operational needs and confidentiality
  • Wellbeing check-ins identify workload, stress signals, support and referral
  • Confidentiality boundaries distinguish private information from legitimate management records
  • Formal procedures applied with HR advice and local policy requirements
  • Documentation uses factual language, dates, agreements and observed behaviours

Participants can convert course methods into a focused plan for their first 90 days of management.

  • Leadership self-assessment identifies strengths, triggers, habits and development priorities
  • Stakeholder feedback converted into two measurable behaviour-change commitments
  • 30-60-90-day plan sequences team, performance and relationship actions
  • First-month meeting cadence establishes one-to-ones, team forums and reviews
  • Personal escalation map identifies decisions requiring senior or specialist support
  • Peer accountability arrangements schedule progress reviews and obstacle-solving conversations
  • Manager handbook integrates templates, routines and personal commitments

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. 30-60-90-day manager action plan
  2. One-to-one meeting agenda template
  3. Outcome-based delegation brief
  4. SBI feedback planning sheet
  5. Team charter template
  6. Performance review and action record

Who should attend

  • Newly appointed Team Leaders — need practical routines for leading former peers or new reports
  • First-time Line Managers — need to shift from personal delivery to team accountability
  • Supervisors — need clearer methods for delegation, feedback and daily performance management
  • Technical Specialists promoted to management — need people-management skills alongside subject expertise
  • Project Managers with direct reports — need methods for setting expectations and handling performance issues
  • Aspiring Managers — need preparation for an imminent first formal management appointment

Skills and tools covered

Team goal settingCoaching conversationsPerformance managementDelegation planningConflict resolutionManager communication

Tools and standards

GROW model, SBI feedback model, RACI matrix, SMART objectives

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short tutor briefings to introduce each method, followed by case work, small-group analysis, structured simulations and individual planning. Participants practise manager conversations involving delegation, feedback, performance concerns, conflict and change communication. Cases reflect service, corporate, NGO and regulated-team settings. Peer feedback focuses on observable manager behaviours, question quality, clarity of requests and follow-up actions. Each participant adapts the tools to a current team situation and builds a practical manager action plan.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience working in a team and understand the basic responsibilities, processes and measures used in their area of work. The course is most useful for people who have recently received direct reports, expect to do so soon, or supervise colleagues through formal work allocation. No previous management qualification is required. Participants do not need prior knowledge of coaching models, HR procedures, employment law or organisational psychology. They should bring awareness of one current team challenge they can use during application planning.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

No. The course is designed for newly appointed managers, supervisors and people preparing for their first role with direct reports. Experience of working within a team is assumed, but no management qualification is required.

Bring details of one current or likely team-management challenge, such as unclear priorities, a delegation problem or a difficult conversation. You will use it to adapt templates and develop your 30-60-90-day action plan.

It suits first-time line managers, team leaders, supervisors and technical specialists who have recently gained direct reports. It also suits aspiring managers with a confirmed or likely promotion into a people-management role.

This course concentrates on the daily responsibilities of a first-line manager: one-to-ones, delegation, feedback, performance, meetings and team communication. General leadership courses often place greater emphasis on organisational strategy, senior influence and leading large-scale change.

Participants leave with ready-to-use templates and a personal 30-60-90-day plan linked to their own team situation. The methods can be used immediately in goal-setting, team meetings, one-to-ones, feedback conversations and work allocation.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, providing about 6.5 contact hours daily. Time is divided between tutor input, cases, group work, simulations, feedback and individual application planning across ten modules.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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