Middle Management Development Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Middle Manager, Newly Appointed Manager 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-129

Before you join: Participants should have some experience supervising staff, coordinating work, leading projects or contributing to team performance.

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

Middle managers carry responsibility in two directions: they turn senior decisions into workable plans while maintaining performance, morale and control within their teams. Many are promoted because of technical expertise, then face difficult conversations, competing priorities, cross-functional dependencies and change programmes without a clear management system. The result can be unclear accountability, delayed decisions, inconsistent feedback and avoidable pressure on staff.

This course develops the practical leadership disciplines required to lead a team through day-to-day delivery and organisational change. Participants learn to clarify their managerial role, communicate with purpose, set measurable expectations, coach and delegate, address underperformance, manage conflict, influence stakeholders and make evidence-based decisions. The syllabus uses established methods including RACI, GROW, SBI feedback, ADKAR, 5 Whys and stakeholder mapping.

Instructor-led sessions combine short briefings with realistic management cases, facilitated discussion, group work, simulations and structured reflection. Participants apply the methods to current work situations, such as improving service delivery, managing a team restructure, resolving a cross-functional delay or raising performance standards. They leave with a 90-day management action plan, practical templates and a personal operating system for meetings, one-to-ones, priorities and stakeholder communication.

The course is suited to managers with direct reports, newly appointed middle managers, technical specialists moving into management and experienced supervisors who need a more consistent approach. It is relevant to public bodies, banks, NGOs, multinational businesses and operational teams where managers must deliver results through people while meeting governance, service and performance requirements.

What you will be able to do

  • Clarify managerial accountabilities using RACI, decision rights and escalation thresholds
  • Conduct structured performance conversations using SBI feedback and evidence-based expectations
  • Set team objectives, measures and review routines using OKRs and SMART measures
  • Coach employees through development challenges using the GROW model
  • Delegate work with clear outcomes, authority limits, resources and checkpoints
  • Manage team conflict using Thomas-Kilmann styles and interest-based negotiation
  • Lead local change adoption using stakeholder mapping and ADKAR diagnostics
  • Produce a 90-day management action plan with measurable commitments

Benefits of attending

For you

  • A clearer management approach for balancing delivery, people and stakeholder demands
  • Greater confidence conducting feedback, coaching and underperformance conversations
  • Practical delegation methods that reduce unnecessary escalation and task overload
  • Stronger credibility with senior managers through concise recommendations and evidence
  • A 90-day plan for establishing consistent management habits

For your organisation

  • More consistent performance expectations and review routines across management teams
  • Earlier identification and resolution of delivery risks and capability gaps
  • Improved staff development through better coaching, feedback and delegation
  • Faster cross-functional decisions through clearer roles, handoffs and escalation routes
  • Better local adoption of change initiatives through structured stakeholder engagement

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define their managerial accountabilities and establish an effective weekly management cadence.

  • Role charter distinguishes strategic translation, operational control, and people leadership
  • Managerial accountability mapped through RACI, decision rights, and escalation thresholds
  • Span-of-control pressures diagnosed using workload, capability, and risk indicators
  • Upward, downward, and lateral expectations converted into explicit service agreements
  • Weekly management cadence balances delivery reviews, coaching, and stakeholder communication
  • Personal authority built through consistency, expertise, relationships, and fair follow-through

Participants can recognise personal leadership patterns and regulate their responses under pressure.

  • Big Five preferences considered without labelling people or excusing behaviour
  • Johari Window feedback identifies blind spots affecting managerial credibility
  • Values-based decisions tested against stated principles, consequences, and stakeholder impact
  • Stress triggers tracked through antecedent, behaviour, consequence reflection records
  • Emotional regulation uses pause, label, reappraise, and choose responses
  • Personal leadership brand expressed through observable commitments and communication habits

Participants can communicate decisions clearly and conduct direct, constructive feedback conversations.

  • Communication plans match message, audience, channel, timing, and owner
  • Structured briefings use SCQA: situation, complication, question, answer
  • Active listening applies paraphrasing, probing questions, summarising, and checking understanding
  • SBI feedback separates situation, behaviour, and impact without speculation
  • Difficult conversations prepared with facts, interests, options, and boundaries
  • Written updates distinguish decisions, actions, risks, dependencies, and due dates

Participants can set measurable expectations and manage performance through regular evidence-based reviews.

  • OKRs connect team outputs to departmental priorities and measurable outcomes
  • SMART measures distinguish activity, output, outcome, quality, and timeliness
  • Performance dashboards combine leading indicators, lagging indicators, and exception thresholds
  • One-to-ones follow agenda, evidence review, coaching, and commitments
  • Underperformance addressed through diagnosis, support, documented expectations, and review dates
  • Recognition reinforces specific behaviours linked to team standards and results

Participants can develop staff capability through coaching, purposeful delegation and follow-up.

  • GROW conversations turn performance gaps into owned development actions
  • Delegation levels clarify recommendation, decision authority, consultation, and reporting requirements
  • Task assignment specifies outcome, constraints, authority, resources, and checkpoints
  • Capability matrices identify skill gaps, cross-training priorities, and succession exposure
  • Coaching questions replace premature advice during problem-solving conversations
  • Follow-up agreements record actions, evidence, support, and review timing

Participants can establish team norms, address conflict and maintain productive working relationships.

  • Tuckman's team stages guide interventions during formation, conflict, and delivery
  • Team charters define purpose, membership, meeting rules, and behavioural standards
  • Psychological safety built through inquiry, fallibility, response, and inclusion
  • Conflict styles assessed using Thomas-Kilmann modes and situational choices
  • Interest-based negotiation separates positions, interests, options, and objective criteria
  • Remote team norms cover availability, handovers, documentation, and decision records

Participants can guide their teams through change while identifying and addressing adoption barriers.

  • Stakeholder maps classify influence, interest, impact, and engagement requirements
  • ADKAR diagnoses awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement gaps
  • Change messages connect rationale, local consequences, actions, and support
  • Resistance conversations surface losses, concerns, misinformation, and workable adjustments
  • Implementation readiness reviewed through milestones, owners, dependencies, and risks
  • Benefits tracking links adoption measures to service, cost, or quality

Participants can diagnose problems, assess risks and make decisions with clear accountability.

  • Decision matrices compare options using weighted criteria, evidence, and assumptions
  • Root cause analysis applies 5 Whys and fishbone categories
  • Risk registers record probability, impact, controls, owners, and triggers
  • Escalation decisions distinguish tolerance breaches from routine delivery problems
  • After-action reviews capture expected results, actual results, causes, and actions
  • Meeting protocols separate information sharing, consultation, decisions, and commitments

Participants can build stakeholder support and secure action across organisational boundaries.

  • Stakeholder analyses identify expectations, power, dependencies, and communication priorities
  • Managing upwards frames issues through organisational goals, options, and recommendations
  • Cross-functional agreements define handoffs, service levels, and dispute resolution
  • Influence without authority uses reciprocity, credibility, coalition building, and framing
  • Boundary management protects team capacity while maintaining constructive relationships
  • Executive updates present headline, evidence, decision request, and next steps

Participants can convert course methods into a prioritised 90-day management action plan.

  • 90-day management plan prioritises behaviours, team outcomes, and stakeholder commitments
  • Personal operating system schedules one-to-ones, reviews, communication, and reflection
  • Priority matrix separates urgent work from important capability-building work
  • Development goals specify evidence, practice opportunities, feedback, and review dates
  • Peer accountability agreements establish check-ins, challenge questions, and progress measures
  • Application risks anticipated through barriers, mitigations, sponsors, and contingency actions

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

What you take back to work

  1. Managerial role and accountability map
  2. Performance conversation preparation template
  3. Delegation and authority checklist
  4. Team charter template
  5. Stakeholder engagement analysis
  6. 90-day management action plan

Who should attend

  • Middle Manager — needs repeatable methods for delivering results through teams
  • Newly Appointed Manager — requires practical structure for first-line leadership responsibilities
  • Team Leader — needs stronger performance, coaching and delegation practices
  • Operations Manager — must balance delivery control, people management and stakeholder demands
  • Technical Manager — is moving from specialist work into people leadership
  • Programme or Project Manager — needs influence skills across teams without direct authority

Skills and tools covered

Performance managementCoaching and delegationStakeholder influenceChange leadershipTeam communicationOperational decision-making

Tools and standards

RACI matrix, GROW model, ADKAR model, SBI feedback model

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course is delivered through short instructor briefings, management cases, group exercises, facilitated discussion, role-based simulations and individual application planning. Cases reflect common middle-management situations, including missed targets, low performance, competing stakeholder demands, team conflict and operational change. Participants practise preparing conversations, interpreting performance evidence, making decisions and communicating recommendations. Trainers adapt examples and activities to the cohort's sector, while maintaining focus on methods participants can apply immediately in their own teams.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have some experience supervising staff, coordinating work, leading projects or contributing to team performance. They should be familiar with their organisation's objectives, reporting lines and current operational priorities, and should bring one current management challenge to consider during the course. No formal management qualification is required. Prior study of leadership theory, psychology, finance or project management is not required. The course is not intended for people with no workplace responsibility or for senior executives seeking board-level strategy and governance training.

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

Participants should have experience supervising people, coordinating work or taking responsibility for team delivery. No formal management qualification or prior leadership course is required.

Bring details of one current management challenge, such as a performance issue, team change, stakeholder conflict or delivery risk. You will use this situation when preparing your application plan and course templates.

It is designed for middle managers, team leaders, operational managers and technical specialists who manage people or coordinate work across teams. It also suits recently promoted managers who need a practical management framework.

This course concentrates on the operating work of middle management: performance reviews, delegation, stakeholder communication, conflict, risk and local change adoption. General leadership courses often place more emphasis on leadership styles, vision and personal presence.

Participants leave with templates and a 90-day management action plan linked to a real workplace priority. The methods can be used in one-to-ones, team meetings, project reviews, escalation discussions and stakeholder updates.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The five days progress from role clarity and communication through performance, coaching, teams, change, decisions, stakeholder management and application planning.

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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