STA Training: The Team Leader Series outlined & explained

9 one-day workshops that will provide the skills required to lead a work-place team. The one-day-per-month format allows work-based projects to reinforce formal learning

The Team Leader Series - EXPLAINED

Who’s it for?

Whether you’re CEO of the World Bank, a Manager of an accounts team in a mid-size NZ manufacturing enterprise, a Staff Nurse in a Hospital or a Team Leader at the local Freezing Works, the skills required to manage the activities of other people are effectively the same. If you get your results through other people, then this programme is for you.

What’s different about it?

There are other training courses around for Team Leaders and Supervisors, some even promising to teach it all in one day! We know that can’t be done. Deep down, so do you. Others are presented by tutors who perhaps haven’t seen workplace reality for years – some have never been in the workplace - and where the course content is largely the same as that presented in 1970. We’ve come a long way since then.

This programme was created & written by a trainer with a 25 - year track record in the commercial sector including 12 years in hands-on management, and has been updated regularly with contributions and updates from the STA team. All STA trainers must have a business & line-management background prior to joining STA, in order to preserve that work-place reality. While overseas texts and research material is used, it is checked for accuracy against NZ legal requirements and our own local context prior to being included. Since half our time is spent training on-site in NZ organisations, STA trainers are constantly confronting the real needs of today’s workplace, and adjusting the programme accordingly - which we’ve been doing since 1990, when the programme was first created. Since then, hundreds of NZ Team Leaders and Supervisors have completed the programme.

And of course, STA is NZQA registered & accredited.

Why spread it over 9 months?

The programme is designed to allow for implementation of key learning points in the workplace, and discussion of the result at each subsequent session. We also think it’s easier to arrange one day away from work rather than three or more in a ‘block’. We still offer the programme in its original format of three, three-day blocks (in Auckland only) as an optional alternative.

Do I have to attend all nine modules?

Only if you want a certificate of completion. We would prefer you to, because although the modules are stand-alone one-day units, there is an unavoidable element of inter-linking and back-reference.

Remember - if we’re running this in-house (i.e. just for your team, either at your place or at a venue we arrange for you), we can present it in whatever format suits your operation, perhaps one day per month, three-day stages, or whatever suits.

What about NZQA?

This programme was designed to meet both market demand and the reported needs of Team Leaders, not to meet Unit Standards (which didn’t exist when the programme was created). It is only in the last year or so that Unit Standards were registered at this level. The content of the course does cover some Unit Standards which participants can apply to be assessed against, we need to know your interest before the programme commences and there are extra costs for assessment.

STA is accreditted to level 5 in First Line Management. If NZQA is important to you and your Organisation, we have designed a National Certificate in First Line Management (‘NZQA-speak’ for Team Leaders and Supervisors) and you should go and have a look at how it is put together. It requires commitment to a ‘training agreement’ and involves documentary evidence of competence in the workplace as well as the academic workshop content.

Content

(non-nzqa programme)

(Modules 1, 2 & 3) - Stage One - Foundation Skills of Team Leadership

Here we provide the foundation skills. Where do you start? Well, let's make sure you have a clear idea of what you're there for. Then we need to communicate - a skill on which everything else rests. You are there to lead, but a winning smile only takes you so far...

(click here for a Sample pre-workshop assignment)

Module One - gives you an in-depth understanding of the Team Leaders role, and the personal skills that lay down the foundations for what is to come. Every Team Leaders job is different, so we start by getting you to define your particular role against a model and consider the differences across the participant group, getting a clearer idea of your purpose. If you can’t communicate, you can’t lead - therefore, simple yet effective communication models are examined and practised. Only then can we look at the function of Leadership from a modern, practical, workplace perspective, looking at Leader Styles, Leader Behaviours and learning to match styles & behaviours to constantly changing situations. The ‘one-style’ leader is a thing of the past.

Module Two - starts with Goal-setting; a skill driven as much by the Employment Relations Act as by necessity - what do Team Leaders expect from their Teams? You’ll learn how to set goals using a model that is consistent with (& identical to) that used in Performance Feedback Meetings (Appraisals). Learning why people work and what makes them more stable and productive in the workplace is the purpose of the Motivation section, where you will learn the importance of treating each worker as an individual. Supervisors who ‘get it all wrong’ often end up in the Employment Court - and the section on Disciplinary is designed to give you a simple disciplinary model, enough knowledge & skill to discipline fairly and legally, and if necessary terminate employment and still sleep at night, without needing a Law degree. This section is wrapped up in a Disciplinary Case Study via team role-play, that reinforces the learning points.

Module Three - deals with Active Supervision, which is all about being visible and involved with your team, Problem Solving techniques (including a team exercise and three different models) and practical Time Management for working supervisors and Team Leaders, including Parkinsons Law, time analysis, current/future time usage survey, use of resources, the 80/20 rule, and prioritisation.

(Modules 4, 5, & 6) - Stage Two - Enhancing Team Performance

So, now you’ve got your own personal Supervision skills sorted out, it’s time to think about developing the Team and the individuals that make it up. We need to sort out 'who's doing what', provide new skills where necessary, set expectations, then monitor performance and provide informal and formal feedback

Module Four - Unfortunately, many adults forget how to learn not long after leaving school, yet the demands of modern technology and the global market that we operate in, both demand continuous training. The ability to identify the training needs of your team, from newcomer to old hand, and to satisfy that requirement either personally through the preparation and carrying out of one-to-one skills transfer (On-Job Coaching), or by organising the training, is crucial to the strength and survival of the Team and the entire organisation. You’ll also learn about the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), what its purpose is, what it can do for you, and how to access it. This is also the point at which we consider how to run meetings effectively.

Module Five - Now that we know how to train someone, it’s time to look at the skills needed to Delegate tasks. In performing the Team Development role, we find that the Team itself is a dynamic thing, so it’s useful to understand how teams form, the roles that need to be filled, and the characteristics that determine effective teams, so you can measure and compare the development of your Team against these models. Being aware of areas of wastage that can be turned into cost savings (perhaps saving jobs) is covered in the Cost Control section, along with a quick look at fixed and variable costs.

Module Six - deals with Performance Management including job planning, solving performance problems, and the informal/formal Performance Review process (appraisals). We re-visit SMART goal-setting from module two, look at some legal implications of fair treatment under the ERA and touch briefly on the requirements of the Privacy Act and Health & Safety. We look at job descriptions and expectations. The actual meeting itself is outlined and discussed – from the process, its positive motivational and improvement objective, to its possible legal implications and precautions. A sample document is tabled for discussion. The focus of the module is on working with observable, measurable Behaviour, not personalities.

(Modules 7, 8, & 9) - Stage Three - Managing Change

Just when you think you’ve got the Team performing at its best, along comes Change - in the form of new technology, new products and services or new owners requiring you to merge your team with others, or (worse still) ‘downsizing’... Serious Change usually comes at you from outside forces, but a big part of the Team Leader’s supervision role is to continually look for opportunities to improve, and that too usually means Change.

Module Seven - starts by looking at some of the major changes in NZ’s recent past and how they have affected the work-place, before considering a four-phase change model which helps you understand the mental stages people go through in a time of major change. We look at the effect change has on employee motivation, leading into the section on how to introduce change, which will give you a process of introduction that allows you to cause, control and direct events rather than just reacting to whatever happens. We use a realistic merger case study with Team debates to reinforce the key points.

Module Eight - deals with Planning for change which involves work analysis, using an analysis model to thoroughly understand what is currently happening before attempting change. Despite the best preparation, Change rarely goes smoothly, so you’ll get to examine (and use) some Team Problem - Solving models including decision trees and mind-mapping, along with an exercise that will test your ability to think laterally and creatively and deal with difficult issues.

Module Nine - Managing Change requires that you be assertive, in a professional way standing up for what you believe (which is a skill in itself) and that will often put you in need of the Conflict Resolution skills you’ll learn. Positive conflict when properly managed is healthy and stimulates new methods & ideas. Stress is an everyday part of our lives - and some stress is necessary & healthy - but Change often causes the need for some serious Stress Management techniques that will help you identify, avoid, reduce or manage your stress levels.

And there you have it! Nine days of stand-alone separate modules which can be considered like a menu, choosing just the days you want, or as a complete, certificated programme of one-day-per-month workshops spanning 9 months with on-job work projects to reinforce each month’s workshop. You can attend a public course, or if there’s 6 or more of you at your place, we’ll come to you and run the programme custom-built to suit your needs.

Enjoy!

The Team at Staff Training Associates Ltd

Run either in-house,

or as a public course in Auckland
(in 3X3-day block format)

See public course dates
Feb-Jun or Jul-Dec

Page updated 1st August 2004

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