Many owner-managed businesses began life as a one person start-up. Someone had an idea and a passion to do something they believed in, and to do it better or differently to what was currently available. That belief, coupled with hard work and a willingness to improve brings success and the need to grow. Growth means more people, and what was a start-up becomes a flourishing business. Bringing people into a business is a step-change development.
People were not part of the plan at the beginning
We know that many business owners have had little or no training in how to manage or develop their people. The need for managers at all has only arisen because of growth; people are a bi-product of success. For over six years, we have been running our Management Development Programme, just for SME businesses. Over 100 people have been through it, and it has proven such as success we developed the Leadership Development Programme so participants could continue to learn and develop.
Four half-day modules, spaced a month apart
We split the management development programme into four modules, a half-day session at four-weekly intervals. This allows for learning and then trialling of new techniques in the workplace. The four modules are:
- Communication and influencing skills
- Developing others through effective feedback
- Delegation and objective setting
- Conflict management and assertiveness
At the end of the programme, you will have the awareness and the knowledge to be a more effective leader and manager of your staff throughout their time in your employment. The next programme takes place in our training offices for ten delegates. We know from the past how much delegates enjoyed being part of an SME cohort drawn from Hampshire/Southern England, but all doing very different things.
Become the best employer you can
Small business owners want to be a great employer of highly motivated people. Many realise they can offer an attractive employment alternative to people turning their backs on a corporate career. This programme will help you to become a better employer.
Communication is the key
Positive, honest and authentic communication is the foundation upon which good working relationships are built. We have a phrase that comes out in the programme: ‘All that you can see is not all that there is to see.’
If two people sit opposite each other, looking at a beach ball with red panels on one side and blue on the other, both will believe the ball is the colour they can see. Our programme shows how you can start to see the world from someone else’s perspective, and that by asking questions you can develop that understanding further. Therein lies the secret of effective management.
Leadership comes in many forms
You will understand that leadership is more than just being out in front. Leadership is about setting the values in your business and helping everyone to live by them. You do not always have to have all of the answers to the challenges in your business. Leadership can be about creating an environment where your people can find solutions to problems themselves. By delegating effectively, you free up your own time and your business becomes something you work on, rather than work in.
Courage to have difficult conversations.
When you create a positive working environment, with open communication and a greater understanding of other people, conflict management becomes easier not harder. You will need to manage difficult people and difficult situations from time to time. These challenges will become easier to address once you have been through our programme.
What others say
We have spoken to people that have been through the programme to get some comments about what they got out from it.
“My natural style was always rather abrupt and very much ‘my way’. I’m now more conscious that people respond in different ways. My style wasn’t transformed overnight but it has definitely evolved, and our business is a better place for the softer touch management style we are nurturing.”
“After I went through the programme, I arranged for five others in our business to go through it too. Not all at the same time, resources wouldn’t allow that. But that’s the belief I had that the course would make a difference and I thought it was real value for money”.
“Our employees recognise and value that we take their time with us seriously. By staying in touch with the needs of our staff we can provide an employment package that is both attractive and relevant”.
“I enjoyed being part of something with other business owners with challenges like ours. For example, a difficult conversation with a staff member that had been put off forever, could now be addressed in the time between modules using the techniques I had learnt”.
The next Emphasis Management Development Programme starts with Module One on Tuesday 12 January 2022. Places can be booked directly here www.emphasis.uk.com/shop and the price per delegate is £875.
12 January 2022 Advanced communication & influencing skills
9 February 2022 Developing others through effective feedback
9 March 2022 The art of delegation & objective setting
6 April 2022 Conflict management & assertiveness
