First Line Manager Training Course - Two Day

What is the role of a first line manager?

The role of the first line manager is to get the best performance from the rest of the team. The purpose of this course is to help your managers by developing their skills and abilities.

What are the skills required by a first line manager?

If you are a first line manager, then you need to:

1. Provide a clear goal - a sense of direction
2. Communicate clearly - explain yourself accurately
3. Manage time, prioritise and delegate tasks
4. Handle disagreements and conflicts
5. Inspire yourself
6. Motivate others

How to set a clear goal using SMART targets

1. Vision statement - the big picture
2. SMART targets: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and with a Time deadline
3. Develop your own personal standards

How to communicate clearly

Communication is essential, and first line managers need to be clear, specific, convincing and motivational.

1. The use of accurate language
2. How to speak and write more clearly
3. Give affirmative instructions
4. Questioning skills

How to tell the difference between a critic and a cynic

• An optimist thinks everything will work
• A cynic thinks nothing will work
• A critical thinker knows things will work, BUT only if they are done correctly!

How to manage conflict and poor performance issues

Some first line managers are afraid to handle conflict and poor performance issues, simply because they do not know how to do it properly.
Sometimes they make their criticism sound like a reprimand.
First line managers should make criticism sound more like guidance.

1. Protect their ego
2. Tell them what they are doing wrong
3. Be objective and specific
4. Tell them what you want instead
5. Discover why and decide if that is a reason or excuse
6. Learn when to negotiate and when not to
7. Notes on proper timing
8. Notes on body language and voice tone

How to motivate people with proper praise and appreciation

The lack of appreciation is often the cause of bad feelings. The first line manager must remember to give appreciation, whenever it is due.

Real-life scenarios for the first line manager

Four real-life examples to practice your new skills.

First line managers professional development action plan

Write your own professional development programme action plan.

Time management, prioritisation and delegation for first line managers

Time management is the art of making the best possible progress in the minimum amount of time, by means of proper prioritisation, planning, preparation and delegation.

Manage your time according to value and deadline pressure

First time managers prioritise according to two major criteria, value and deadline pressure. There are four types of activity:

1. Crisis zone – emergency, all hands-on deck, stressful
2. Productive zone - preparation and planning
3. Busy zone – occupied, but not productive
4. Fruitless zone - waste of time, counter-productive

How to stop being so busy and be more productive

First line managers must get out of the busy zone and into the productive zone.

First line managers must manage three time-wasters

The time wasters SOS:

1. Self – own bad habits
2. Others – other peoples’ bad habits
3. Systems – inefficient work systems

How you can better manage your emails.

Emails can be a distraction. How to minimise the problem. We will figure out what to do about emails.

First line managers must delegate properly

1. Good reasons to delegate
2. Bad reasons to delegate
3. How to delegate
4. Why some first line managers who should delegate, sometimes don’t

Prioritisation Method for First Line Managers

Prioritisation by value.
Prioritisation by deadline.
The first line managers most important question: What is the most valuable use of my time, right now?

How to handle interruptions by means of the 80/20 principle

80% of the value comes from 20% of the content.
First line managers need to find the 20% of their message, which will account for 80% of the useful information.

How a first line manager can create and sustain a positive team atmosphere

The team atmosphere affects performance and therefore results.

Conversation control for the first line manager

Conversation control leads to a positive, more productive environment.

Common mistakes of the first line manager and how to avoid them

Sometimes managers say the wrong things and create a negative atmosphere.
Negative atmospheres give rise to anger, fear, worry and resentment.
How to eliminate the negative and replace with the positive.

How a first line manager can run the team according a proven success formula

Success is not an event, but rather a process, formed of five parts:

1. Decide your outcome
2. Formulate your best plan in writing
3. Take consistent action
4. Gather and evaluate the feedback, both positive and negative
5. Use the negative feedback to guide your next adaptive change

Recognise the success formula is a continuous improvement process.

What is the difference between constructive and destructive criticism?

The first line managers should only give constructive criticism.

Practise changing destructive criticism into constructive criticism.

First line manager training course summary and action plans

How will you implement the ideas you have learned on this training course?