Course Outline - Supervisory Skills

Supervisory Skills

Course Duration: Two to Five Days

Course Objectives:

Increase knowledge of the nature of management work and key activities of supervisors

Develop skills of leadership and team working in order to achieve organisational goals

Develop effective meetings management techniques

Be able to manage staff performance using appropriate approaches

Develop change management skills

Develop understanding of key aspects of approach to influencing techniques

Develop knowledge of own interactive style profile

Develop skills in handling people interaction and behaviours including conflict

Be able to communicate effectively with all staff and customers

Be capable of dealing with informal and formal disciplinary issues according to procedures

Develop personal time management and work organisation techniques

Course Outline:

Introduction to the Programme

Objectives, Content and Expectations

Group Exercise with Analysis and Feedback

Primary Functions of Management and Supervision

Management and operational work
Management / supervisory work activities
Planning and organising process
Leading / motivation of people
Monitoring and controlling activities
Setting objectives and goals for supervisory and team activities
Establishing measurement criteria for managing performance

Team Building and Teamwork

Forming groups and developing into teams
Stages in team formation
Developing team structures
Consensus seeking techniques
Selecting and building team process
Intact teams, cross functional teams and self directed work team operation
Measuring team performance

Team Leadership Skills

Developing of task and people focused approach to leadership
Leadership styles and profiling
Action centred leadership approach using a series of structured exercises practising leadership techniques with analysis and feedback
Role of supervisor as facilitator and coach in the modern working environment

Effective Delegation

Identifying appropriate tasks to delegate
Ensuring necessary resources and skills are available
Monitoring progress
Role of supervisor as facilitator and coach in the modern working environment

Meetings Management Techniques

Importance of meetings
Mechanics of meetings
Use of agendas, minute taking and action planning
Role of chair and minute taker
Meeting process
Handling time wasting, using reviews and summaries
Effective action planning

Managing Performance

Setting and communicating standards
Motivation at work
Modern approaches to motivation at work
Performance management and appraisal systems
Developing performance management effectiveness

Concept of Change

Handling the process of change
Identifying the causes of change
Addressing resistance to change and overcoming problems
Management of change through dialogue and consultation
Supervising change implementation

Principles of Effective Personal Communications

Basic factors in communication
Evaluation of key processes involved through exercises with discussion
One-way and two-way communications effectiveness
Developing feedback processes

Methods of Communication

Spoken word – application and issues
Written word – application and obstacles
Visual presentation – application
Body language – using and reading
Appropriate methods for various communication requirements
Commonly used approaches
Effective and active listening techniques

Key Communication Contact Points

Meetings participation
Making presentations and contributions at meetings
Recording information and action plans
Telephone techniques
Barriers in telephone interaction and ways to overcome
Use of e-mail – Opportunities and barriers
Use of e-mail – Developing codes of practice

Effective Report Writing

Purpose of reports
Various types and formats
Planning and preparation of reports
Formats and structure – layout and content
Effective use of language
Visual representations

Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills

Introduction to negotiating and influencing skills purpose and objectives
Completion of questionnaire on interactive style
Influencing skills exercise with feedback and analysis
Use of moving skills for influencing others
Interactive skills profile and questionnaire results with feedback and discussion
Handling different behaviours and reactions
Dealing with conflict and aggression
Using transactional analysis principles to deal with conflict / disarming anger
Understanding of assertiveness, aggressive and passive behaviour
How to be assertive in interacting with others
Use of practical role plays with analysis and feedback

Discipline Handling

Need for discipline
Informal and formal approaches
Management / supervisory roles
Performance discipline issues
Discipline issues - Performance
Discipline issues - Work habits
Discipline issues - Conduct
Taking the informal approach initially
Steps in conducting a disciplinary process
Handling difficult responses including conflict / aggression and emotions
Moving into formal disciplinary procedures and identification of the steps

Time as a Key Resource

Characteristics of time
Managing scarce resources
Lost time as waste
Identification of key time waste factors for participants
Analysis and development of techniques to reduce time waste

Use of Time

Questionnaire completion with feedback and discussion
Analysis of activities and use of time
The time planning process – short, medium and long term
Setting objectives and priorities – both work and life focused
Use of diaries and practical day planners for achieving priority / pay-off tasks
Project planning for personal workloads
Selecting appropriate methods of communication to minimise time wasting

Workplace Organisation

Desk and file management
Determining levels of accessibility and managing interruptions
Avoiding the ‘paper moving’ syndrome
Basic principles for desk organisation and layout
Handling modern electronic media for reduction of time wasting