Everybody is different. But some may be more different than you think. Due to the nature of their jobs, technical professionals are typically and understandably meticulous individuals who are accustomed to working with tangible, hard facts and concrete representations of ideas. Their autonomous nature can sometimes make them less engaging and appear to be ‘out of touch’ with the rest.
Thus managing technical staff can be quite a challenge for some of us non technical professionals, even for technical professionals themselves. As a leader of a technical team, your challenge is to harness this expertise and eagerness and create a directed, high-performing group of specialists.
About
Managing Technical Professionals is a comprehensive two-day training programme specifically designed to provide you with tools to motivate your staff to peak performance. It looks at the role of leadership in getting your team to achieve the results you need while exploring how to monitor and manage team behaviour. Managing Technical Professionals offers techniques for setting and communicating performance expectations, leveraging motivation drivers and delegating tasks to optimise individual's contribution to the team. It also looks at strategies for dealing with conflict within the team, for keeping the group energised and directed, and for mitigating the difficulties of virtual and remote teams.
7 GREAT REASONS TO ATTEND
- Harness the power of influential leadership and good management to get your team working
- Recognise what drives and motivates technically-minded people
- Build a successful team, maximising individual motivation and team performance
- Keep your team focused, enthusiastic and vital
- Better manage your own workload by delegating priorities that empower your staff
- Deal more effectively with workplace conflict, turning disputes into co-operation
- Make the transition from a technical whiz to a confident and competent manager
COURSE OBJECTIVE
Drive and empower your technical teams to strive for greater performance.
BENEFITS FROM ATTENDING THIS COURSE
• Identify and understand what drives or motivates technical professionals
• Learn to bridge and articulate project goals and challenges to committees and boards
• Polish and refine your communication skills
• Align the technical professional’s goals with business goals and set performance expectations
• Be able to deliver constructive feedback
• Achieve a win-win situation and deal more effectively with workplace conflict
• Learn to manage virtual and remote teams
• Formulate your own development plan for your own on-going development
Outline
The Skilled Manager
• The principles of management: expectations of you as a manager
• Your core values about people, value and power
• Profiling your strengths and capabilities as a manager of technical staff
Your Role as a Leader
• Distinguishing between management and leadership
• Influencing and persuading staff to achieve your goals
Getting Things Done Through Delegation
• “Letting go” of things others can do
• The delegation checklist: making delegation safer for you and for them
• The relationship between delegation and empowerment
Making Decisions and Stimulating Solutions
• Fitting your decision-making approach to the situation
• Using tools that can help clarify issues, actions and outcomes
• Building a “solutions” culture: empowering staff and stimulating ideas
The Communication Challenge
• Seeking to understand and be understood
• Recognising things that typically go wrong in communication
• Assessing your ability to listen and question effectively
Managing Performance in Technical Teams
• The essential components that create high performance
• Setting and communicating performance expectations
• Delivering feedback that helps people to lift their game
What Gets Rewarded Gets Done: Understanding Motivation
• Recognising and valuing efforts and contributions of individuals and teams
• Developing recognition systems that fit in your technical team
• Recognising behaviours: understanding what makes people tick
From Conflict to Co-operation
• Confronting potential conflict situations
• Handling disagreement and personal agendas
• Problem-solving and getting to win/win
• Requesting a change in behaviour
• Dealing with conflict within the team
Retaining Team Vitality
• The characteristics of a high performing team
• Understanding the roles people play in teams
• Creating a team culture that keeps your team focused and vital
Managing Virtual and Remote Teams
• Managing the potential challenges of remote teams
• Building team identity and maximising team functioning
Coaching and Mentoring
• Coaching or mentoring: using each process to get the most from your team
• Exploring structures for coaching and mentoring sessions
Your Development Plan
• Formulating a plan for your own ongoing development
Facilitator
Bill Butler, Director and Principal Consultant, Academy of Training
Bill Butler is director and principal consultant of Academy of Training, a company which specialises in training workshops, consultancy services and conference addresses.
Bill has a wealth of training experience gained in a variety of organisations and cultures following his entry into the personnel development field. Prior to this he was General Manager of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants, a major professional body with over 30,000 members.
Bill adopts a consultative and interactive approach to all his training, drawing on the work environment, examples and experience of all participants. He has a strong background in management and with his qualifications in Accounting, Business Management and Psychology, he is able to present to a diverse range of programmes to Senior Management and support staff alike.
Bill Butler is also facilitating:
In-house Training
Register now
Upcoming Dates
2 - 3 July
Auckland
26 - 27 July
Wellington
