Managing with Mind and Heart
A 6-PART MANAGEMENT SKILLS WORKSHOP SERIES
For over two decades our signature workshop series, Managing with Mind and Heart, and the sustainability efforts both before and after, have been instrumental in helping leadership teams and organizations achieve sustained improvement through the consistent practice of best-practice management skills. These six days are interactive, practical, fun, and sustainable.
DAY 1: THE MANAGER’S MINDSET & EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
Here we explore how managers can effectively create healthy workplaces (whether on-site, remote, or hybrid) by focusing on workplace morale, emotional IQ, and psychological safety. We also introduce the Top 15 Management Skills for building healthy, highly engaged organizations and begin the journey of developing and practicing a set of specific adaptive skills, such as the ability to receive feedback non-defensively and listen so others feel heard.
Skills and Learnings:
Discover the importance of employee morale (it isn't "touchy-feely!") and how to get more of it
Discuss personal growth for managers and why it matters so much
Learn crucial adaptive skills (a.k.a. emotional IQ skills) for managers
Practice receiving feedback without showing defensiveness
Master the art of listening so that others truly feel heard
Explore ways to create and maintain psychological safety at work
Examine the "power differential" and learn how to use it for good and not evil
Preview the Top 15 Management Skills for building healthy organizations
DAY 2: WORKPLACE CULTURE: LAYING THE FOUNDATION
In this workshop, we’ll continue our journey through the Top 15 Management Skills and explore the challenge and the privilege of building and maintaining a professional and positive workplace culture. From dealing with destructive gossip and negativity to the art of effectively dealing with organizational issues and employee concerns, this workshop provides leaders with the skills necessary for fostering employee buy-in and an effective and enjoyable workplace environment.
Skills and Learnings:
Learn how to truly connect with and engage employees through regularly scheduled one-on-one conversations
Explore ways to combat gossip and negativity in the workplace
Dig into “systems thinking,” and learn the Waterline Model, a practical tool for understanding organizational issues
Learn and practice five strategies for effectively responding to employee concerns
Discuss the important “dance” between HR and managers
Find out what the “half-open-door policy” is and why it matters
Discuss ways to advocate for employees – and how not to over-do it
DAY 3: UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE
This fun and interactive workshop explores the four spectrums of human behavior and reveals how leaders can use Behavior Styles Theory, combined with a growth mindset, to increase their own self-awareness, build greater trust and respect in their work group, and improve their effectiveness as leaders.
Skills and Learnings:
Discover and gain an appreciation for your own behavior style (i.e., why you're so awesome)
Understand your impact on others as a manager and/or co-worker (i.e., when others don't recognize your awesomeness)
Learn the importance of adjusting your style to better meet the needs of others
Identify different behavior styles among employees
Recognize signs of stress and burnout by noticing an individual's behavior style cues
Use Behavior Styles theory to enhance meetings, decision-making, and communication
Choose three custom-fit growth opportunities you can begin practicing right away
DAY 4: PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Managers provide feedback in hopes of getting employees to do more of what's working and less of what's not. But let's be honest: that doesn't always happen. Efforts to provide feedback, even if well-intentioned, can easily backfire and cause hurt, confusion, and apathy among employees. This workshop equips managers with techniques that maximize the effectiveness of workplace feedback and coaching.
Skills and Learnings:
Explore the ways accountability builds and maintains morale
Discuss the manager's role as mentor and coach
Practice the art of giving feedback in a way that communicates clearly and keeps you connected relationally
Learn how to have that second and third conversation, when the first one doesn’t do the trick
Master the art of building relationship while giving challenging feedback
Learn the ten tools for coaching employees toward improved outcomes
Practice performance management skills for coaching employees toward success
DAY 5: WORKPLACE CULTURE: BUILDING FOR SUCCESS
In this workshop, we will start out the day by digging into some important information about the brain, human needs, and the psychology of workplace culture in our continuing journey toward management excellence. We’ll learn why we need to turn our 15 management skills up to 11 in a hybrid work environment and discuss strategies for achieving fairness, autonomy, employee involvement, reliability, and connection.
Skills and Learnings:
Learn the SCARF model as a way to increase psychological safety and achieve employee engagement
Navigate the challenges of managing in a hybrid work environment
Explore ways to build and maintain a fair and equitable workplace
Discover new ways to provide autonomy to your employees
Practice using “by-whens” as a way of building trust through reliability
Learn the six decision-making styles that increase employee buy-in and ownership
Find out what SPA is and why you really need more of it
Explore the positive power of providing employees with recognition and appreciation
DAY 6: COMMUNICATION & SUSTAINING CHANGE
In this final workshop, we will tackle the all-important management skill of effective communication in terms of information distribution, the use (and not over-use) of email, how to become an “information curator” for your team, how to make it more likely that everyone gets pertinent information (and feels acceptable for that information), and how to achieve meetings that are both effective and enjoyable.
Finally, we’ll turn our attention to the vital topic of sustainability and how to avoid the “flavor-of-the-year syndrome” in terms of applying The Top 15 Management Skills to your workplace. Our goal is to work with you to help ensure that you and your fellow management team members implement and sustain the skills from this workshop in order to achieve long-term success.
Skills and Learnings:
Work on improving your organization’s communication and information distribution practices
Create a new set of norms for email use
Learn how to plan and prepare meetings that really work
Become a facilitation rock star for running enjoyable and effective meetings
Learn to effectively sponsor change and create long-term commitment
Plan strategies for sustaining the leadership skills learned throughout this workshop, thereby creating long-term success