It’s no secret that managers play a crucial role in any business so having a strong management development training program is essential. The managers are the glue that hold everything together. Having an efficient manager with excellent human resources skills and healthy interpersonal relationships to all involved can make or break a business.
It is shown that managers are actually the employees who encourage others to stay in their current job and are one of the main reasons that people leave their jobs. Managers exert massive amounts of power over a company. This can be both a good thing and it can be a disaster, depending on the caliber of the manager you choose.
This is why hiring the right manager is crucial. As the needs of the company expand and change, managers may need to improve their skills. Ongoing management development training can always help even the best of managers to be better and better. Management development pays specific attention to the organizational and personal skills needed by managers or prospective managers. There are array of management development training programs, courses and companies who specialize in this.
4 Management Development Training Methods to Know
1. Simulation Exercises Management Development Training Method
This method can be used individually and does not necessarily involve the need for anyone else. A range of simulation devices can be used including simulated computerized environments. It can also include other people for role-playing exercises; otherwise there are computer generated role-playing exercises that an individual can perform, such as mock-up scenarios. This is a great way to start as it proves to be inexpensive and non-obtrusive and a manager or prospective manager can perform these in their own time.
2. Using Games as a Management Development Training Method
In any form of team-building or seminars, there are games. Not just to make these events more fun and break the ice, but because games is a great learning approach for businesses. This will require group participation of other managers. It can also be helpful to include the entire staff as to allow them to more fully understand the role of a manager and for the manager to more fully understand the needs of his/her staff. Teams are given an array of tasks to complete and these tasks make use of various management skill sets such as effective communication, following through with instructions, teamwork, leadership, working under pressure.
A popular example of a training game is when certain members of a team are blindfolded, and are then made to perform a simple task, such as assemble something, with the help of their fellow team member, who provides clear instructions for them.
This allows both parties to evaluate their ability to give and receive instructions and identify the areas of their communication skills that may be missing. After each game there will be a discussion, usually under the supervision of a mentor, where they will identify and evaluate the key areas in which they need to work.
3. In -basket Training (IBT) Management Development Training Method
In order to improve problem–solving abilities and decision making abilities, a trainee is presented with a basket of papers, all pertaining to their job, centered around day to day business situations. The trainee will be asked to discuss, under the supervision of their mentors, the priorities for dealing with the tasks pertained in the papers. They will give a detailed plan of action to be implanted for each.
These will include fax messages, memoranda, reports, and an array of the paperwork a manager would typically have to deal with on a daily basis. This is an opportunity to ask questions and to be guided as to more efficient ways of doing things. This involves better time management, better work flow management, and better interpersonal relationship techniques.
This is a great method as the management development techniques developed do not work in isolation, but specifically to the job at hand. It helps to fully understand every aspect of the business in very fine detail. Sometimes in training, not every aspect of the job is covered and an employee has to learn on the job.
4. Work shadowing Management Development Training Method
This method involves having the soon-to-be-manager shadow the existing manager for a certain period of time to understand exactly what it is that this manager does. It is an age-old practice and is still one of the most effective practices. There is no formal training required as the existing manager simply talks the trainee through everything and gives them a chance to learn and ask questions through observation.
There are many intricacies of a job that may not be able to be taught in a manual. The trainee not only learns generic time management techniques but also the dynamics of the business.
Care needs to be taken that the trainee doesn’t get in the way of the existing manager and others being able to do their job.
Management Development Training Methods
Classroom Method: Many managers all attend a basic management seminar in which basic principles
Outward Bound Method:Â Trainees are put into certain environments where they are
Vestibule Training Method: This method is another simulation type method which involves having a production area that resembles that of the actual work environment in a different location
Apprenticeship Training Method: It is a method, similar to that of the shadow method but instead of just following a manager around, they are given very specific tasks under a supervisor
Job Rotation Method: This is a great method to involve rotating all of the employees so that people get a chance to the work of other employees. This helps everyone understand the complexity and dynamics of everyone else’s job and appreciate how they all work together. This has proven to generate less mis-communication a business and help staff generate more problem solutions and encourages teamwork.
Some other terms in the world of Management Development Training you may hear:
• Personal Coaching Method:
• Behavior Modelling Method
• Mentoring Method
• Large Scale Interactive Events (LSIE) Method
• Computer-Based Training (CBT) Method
Conclusion
Familiarizing yourself with these Knowledge management tools and training methods will guarantee a positive impact on your employees.