I recently wrapped up a 9-month Manager Training program for a client in the manufacturing industry. As a capstone, participants shared three key learning points and how they made changes in their work. Here, I’m sharing takeaways that stood up for people in the training. These topics are a must for training managers and leaders in your organization.
- Communicating with an understanding of people’s preferences and tendencies. In this course, we used DiSC® as a means of self-awareness. With that self-awareness, people can then learn to recognize the styles and preferences of others when communicating, handling conflict and managing change. This leads to appreciating the value that other styles bring to the team, even if they are drastically different than your own. It is then that we can consciously adapt our styles to better communicate with others, particularly those who are least like ourselves.
- Coaching your team. With a coaching focus, managers spend time developing and empowering their teams. They are more apt to delegate, even if they’re tempted to do things themselves. Examples of tools that help managers be a better coach include… 1) adapt your coaching style to the individual, 2) ask good questions and 3) use a sound model to keep the coaching conversation on track.
- Managing time and focus. When we prioritize the work that matters, we stop knee-jerking throughout our day. Being consciously aware of how we are spending our time, keeps us on track to meet goals. This awareness pours over into how we run meetings, what we delegate and
how we prioritize all our priorities.
