Preparing training presentations can be an arduous task. A task only made more difficult by the fact that you will have several different types of learners in the room – those who want to see the answer, those who want to feel the answer, and those who want to hear the answer.

Regardless of the type of learner you have in your presence, each person is going to ask the same three questions upon leaving your presentation. These questions are summed up with the three “A’s.”

• Acquisition – What knowledge did I just acquire?
• Application – How do I apply that knowledge to my job?
• Attribution – Do I recognize this information and/or where it originated?

There’s nothing worse for an employee than being forced to attend a training seminar but walking away with no clue as to how that training is to be used in the workplace. If you are able to answer these three questions, directly or indirectly, within your presentation you’ll be half way home.

Take a look at the agenda for your next seminar. Do you usually cover these points within your presentation? If so, are they clear? If not, can you work them in more effectively?

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Course

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

I know that quite a few of you have trouble when it comes to delegating your authority – you’re just afraid to do it. I came across a tidbit of information the other day that I thought might help you. It involved distinguishing the difference between two words: abdication and delegation.

As a manager it is your job to allocate work tasks, whether you keep them for yourself or give them to your team members. When it comes to allocating that work, you can either abdicate or delegate.

When a manager participates in abdication he is giving his team members work that he should really be keeping for himself. This is not good. It doesn’t benefit the team or the project and, in reality, only opens the team up for errors and problems later on down the line.

On the other hand, when a manager delegates work he is giving his team members specific projects that were deliberately designed for the team. The tasks he delegates are designed to help the team members learn about the task and do their jobs more effectively. Tasks that are delegated are meant to help employees grow.

When you look at those two terms it makes the task of delegating a little more palatable. Know the difference between the two words and if you ever find yourself questioning a task just stop and ask yourself – am I abdicating or delegating? The answers will make your task much easier!

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Course

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

It’s pretty obvious that we need to conduct an interview before we hire a new employee, but what are we supposed to do once an old employee gives notice that he’s ready to move on to a new employer? Should we sit back, wait until his last day, go out for cocktails, and wave goodbye?

Probably not.

If you are a proactive manager you’ll conduct what is known as an exit interview sometime during that employee’s last day or week. There are several reasons for conducting an exit interview.

First of all, your employee may or may not have told the truth when he initially gave you his reasons for leaving. He may have been upset about something going on within the company or department but feared telling you would make his last days miserable. People on their way out the door are usually less fearful and are more likely to give you honest answers.

Second, if you like the employee the exit interview is the perfect opportunity to express your happiness with his job performance. Make sure he knows that if he would like to come back there will be room for him (if there is a job position, of course).

The exit interview goes far in encouraging a positive image of the organisation as well. If you have a positive interview the employee will be less likely to leave on a sour note and will, hopefully, say good things about the company instead of complaining about it to people he meets later on.

During the exit interview you may find that there are issues within your department or the organisation as a whole that need addressing. While it’s preferable that an employee feel safe enough to share these concerns during the course of his employment, it’s nice to find out about these issues before things get worse. Use the information you gather to determine whether or not any sort of corrective action is necessary.

Finally, perhaps during the course of employment you realised that this particular employee may not have been the best fit for your team. Use the exit interview to gather more information about his personality, what he thought of his job, and his work values. This information will make it easier to identify similar personalities in future employment interviews.

Understanding an employees job skills and values is important on the way in the door, but knowing his true feelings on the way out is just as important. Take the time to get to know each and every member of your team and, hopefully, you won’t NEED to conduct too many exit interviews!

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

Every organisation has a distinct culture, but before we can delve into the nitty gritty details about those cultures and how they impact your job as a manager we must first clarify exactly what the term organisational culture refers to.

To begin with, the word culture is a term used to describe the beliefs, customs, attitudes, and characteristics of a specific group of people. When we look at specific organisations and the way their employees interact we are referring to organisational culture – the things employees do because of their beliefs, values, and attitudes towards their workplace and how things are done.

Within every workplace culture you’ll find distinct groups of people from various social cultures. You’ll have employees of different religious faiths and maybe even social status. When you have an organisation that is comprised of individuals from a myriad of different cultures you now have “multicultural” issues and concerns on your hands.

Multiculturalism is not necessarily a bad thing. Multiculturalism refers to the broad differences between cultures while diversity refers to some of the more definied or important differences such as age group, gender, ethnicity, and even sexual orientation. Diversity within an organisation is important as well.

In the coming days we’re going to take a look at organisational culture, why it is important, and how to manage diversity within the workplace. I think you’ll find some of the issues surrounding organisational culture to be familiar to your own workplace while others you may not have considered. Be prepared – we’re going to rip some of these issues open and take a look at them for what they really are!

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

Fact – every single person you know experiences stress at some point throughout his or her life. Even the happiest and most productive employees will become stressed out about their jobs or family lives at one point or another. The real question is how you, as a manager, will handle that stress in order to avoid additional conflict.

We want to keep our employees as happy as possible so that they’ll continue to do their jobs effectively. When you begin to notice that once happy employees are acting grumpy and agitated, what actions will you take to control the situation before it explodes? Here are a few suggestions:

Encourage exercise. Does your company have an in-house gym? Is it possible for you to offer your employees a discounted rate at the local gym or health club? Perhaps you can have a personal trainer come in to work with your employees for a few weeks to help them get the ball rolling. It may cost a few dollars, but it’s a proven fact that people who exercise regularly are happier, experience less stress, and are more productive!

Encourage proper break times. Do your team members take advantage of their lunch hours or breaks? If not, try to encourage them to do so. Employees who never take time to relax are often stressed as well. They feel as though they’re always racing the clock, which causes high levels of stress, anxiety, and overall discontent.

Form workplace support groups. Make sure your employees have someone to turn to when their jobs or lives do become overwhelming. While the discussion of personal situations should remain limited, it’s pretty hard to draw the line between personal and work lives. Having the support of fellow employees is essential during difficult times – especially if someone genuinely needs help with his or her workflow, or has become overwhelmed with a sudden onslaught of new or time-sensitive projects.

You are not responsible for the physical or mental health of your employees, but at the same time you must remember that a person’s work/life balance does contribute to their stress and overall happiness. As a manager, it’s important to recognize the signs of stress and take action to prevent that stress from having a negative impact within the workplace.

Management trainees are encouraged to learn as much about stress management as possible before working with their new teams. They’re also taught to recognize the signs of stress within themselves, so that they can solve their own problems without impacting the productivity of their groups.

Do you have a creative method of helping your team deal with stress? We’d love to hear about it…

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”