Line Management Course

Course Content

Our first line management courses are tailored to reflect the needs of each delegate.

We will include many of the exercises listed below, and any additional material that the trainers feel is relevant.

What is Line Management

A brief discussion on the line management role to set the scope for the day.

The Line Management Journey

In small groups, delegates will discuss the times and places in their lives when they managed things successfully, and the skills and resources they used.

Managed to Manager

As a group, delegates offer their thoughts on the differences between being managed and managing.

Stepping Up

What qualities or resources do you need to step up into line management?

Delegates work in pairs to identify and then highlight three qualities they already have and acknowledge their best quality to the room.

Delegates will also identify a key quality they would like to develop over the two days.

Things They Don't Tell You

Here we take a look at all the things line managers are responsible for, including those that aren't necessarily in the job description!

They include:

• key performance indicators
• health and safety
• quality and environmental responsibility

It's all these extra things that can make promotion to line manager seem more of a curse than a blessing.

Hands-On vs Hands-Off

We look at the spectrum of management styles from micromanaging to being completely hands-free.

We'll examine how to identify the ways in which your team members prefer to be managed.

Response Styles

Different managers respond to similar situations completely differently.

We will explore a variety of ways to respond to your team members to find what’s helpful and what gets in the way of communication.

This is an introduction to Coaching styles we explore in-depth on day-two.

Wheel of Empathy

We will look at the verbal and non-verbal clues that help you to read others

We will then practise adapting your own behavior to help you communicate more effectively.

Motivation

We will look motivators and what motivates people.

We'll then examine what motivates you and your team members.

Preparation for day-two

Identify a live issue you have which you’d like to explore or one from the past you’d like to revisit and unpick.

Day two

Delegation

Delegation is one of the most important aspects of effective line management. 

We'll explore how to avoid holding on to familiar work instead of getting to grips with managing.

We'll look at different ways of delegating and understanding the difference between doing it yourself, telling or coaching.

Questions

Part of a managers job is to ask questions, encourage and listen well.

Questions used as part of delegating can range from curiosity to the third degree.

Here you'll practise a range of questioning techniques.

Feedback Finesse

We'll unpick why line managers can avoid giving feedback.

You will learn how to prepare for regular feedback conversations.

Then we will practise with your real-life scenarios to build confidence.

I Noticed That...

We’ll discuss a simple model that pre-empts difficulties and patterns of behaviour.

Blame vs Effect of Behaviour

This exercise shows how you can avoid finger-pointing and blame in order to comprehensively resolve a difficulty.

Deliberate Misunderstanding

This is a fun exercise for dealing with obtuse or difficult people!

It demonstrates how hard it can be to get your point across in the face of other people either misunderstanding you or choosing to make it difficult for you.

Pushback

Delegates will look at what’s needed to push back when there’s pressure from above and pressure from the team.

Personal Style

You'll be asked to acknowledge what you know you do well and you'll get feedback from your colleagues on what they think works about you.

Everyone will get handouts to remind them of the coursework, including our memorable visual cue cards.

Ongoing Support

Two weeks after you attend our first line management course one of your trainers will call to see how you are getting on.

You will have email and telephone access to both of your trainers.

You'll also have access to a course web page containing:

• Handouts used during the course
• New supportive material
• Impact Factory PDF documents
• Recommended reading
• Links to our favourite videos

First Line Management Course