Developing management skills

Syllabus

Thematic definition of lectures: 1. Management skills introduction – critical role of management skills. Leadership vs. management. The importance of competent manager. Essential management skills. What are management skills? (Studies). Improving management skills. An approach to skills development. 2. Self-recognition and personal branding – Personality diagnostic tools. Tools of self-reflection and self-evaluation. Personal brand building, principles and tools of personal brand formation. External and internal diversity. Types of diversity in the workplace, diversity management, diversity concepts. 3. Self-awareness I. – assessing emotional intelligence, key dimensions of self-awareness, the enigma of self-awareness, understanding and appreciating individual differences, five core aspects of self-awaress: identifying cognitive style, attitudes towards change, values: cultural values dimensions, personal values, the core self-evaluation: the effects of core self-evaluation. 4. Critical thinking – definition, basic and importance of critical thinking, logical and critical thinking, attributes of critical thinking, techniques of critical thinking, action strategies in practice. 5. Stress management - stress management, time management, improving the management of stress and time, major elements of stress, managing stress, eliminating stressors, temporary stress-reduction techniques. 6. Creative problem solving – problem solving, creativity and innovation. Creative vs. analytical problem solving. Multiple approaches to creativity. Conceptual blocks. Conceptual blockbusting. Effective applying of problem-solving techniques. Fostering creativity in others. 7. Presentation skills - preparation and implementation of a meaningful and engaging presentation. Clear and convincing written expression. Leading a discussion, answering questions, responding to challenges. Principles of effective presentation. Stages of creating a presentation. The principle of form supports content. Modern presentation technologies, presentations without technology. Construction of written speech. Writing styles. 8. Gaining Power and influence – building a strong power base and using influence wisely. A balanced view of power (lack of power, abuse of power). Sources of personal power (expertise, attraction, effort, legitimacy). Sources of positional power. Influence strategies: the three “R”. Acting assertively. 9. Motivating others - increasing motivation and performance, diagnosing work performance problems, fostering a motivating work environment (relationship between satisfaction and performance), elements of effective motivation programs (establishing clear performance expectations, remove obstacles to performance, provide salient rewards, provide feedback). 10. Conflict management - interpersonal conflict management, diagnosing the type of interpersonal conflict (conflict focus, conflict source), approaches and strategies to select appropriate managing conflict style (two dimensional model of conflict behavior, collaborative problem solving 11. Empowering and delegating – definition and theoretical background. A management dilemma involving empowerment. The meaning of empowerment. Historical background of empowerment. Dimensions of empowerment. The ways to develop empowerment. Practical suggestion to empowering others. Delegating work. 12. Teamwork and building of effective teams - developing teams and teamwork, the advantages of teams. Team development (forming, norming, storming, performing) and leading teams (ways to build a team leader credibility). Team membership. Team roles. Working in virtual team (pros and cons). Attributes of high-performing teams. 13. Building relationship by communicating supportively – building positive interpersonal relationship. The importance of effective communication. Supportive communication: definition attributes. Couching and counseling. Principles of supporting communication. The personal management interview. Thematic definition of seminars: 1. Management skills introduction – General info and course introduction. Exercise: teamwork – what are the core management skills of today and why? Personal assessment of management skills. 2. Self-recognition and personal branding: Personality testing, personality types. Exercise: Testing personality traits. Exercise: Testing personality typology. Exercise: Diagnostics of own managerial skills. Personal Ikigai model. 3. Self-awareness - self-awareness assessment. Cases involving self-awareness: Communist Prison Camp, Computerized Exam. Activities for developing self-awareness. Cognitive style indicator. Case study: Decisions dilemmas. Exercise for improving self-awareness. Activities for developing self-awareness. 4. Critical thinking - Practical application of selected strategies and techniques of critical thinking within tasks (printed reports and videos). Discussion: Is critical thinking important? Why do people trust hoaxes? How to validate resources and support critical thinking? 5. Stress management – stress management assessment, time management assessment, Cases involving stress management: The turn of the tide, The case of the missing time. Exercise for long-term and short-run stress management. 6. Creative problem solving – testing: How creative are you? Creative style assessment. Case study: Creativity at Apple. Exercises for applying conceptual blockbusting: Individual analytical problem solving vs. creative teamwork problem solving. Creative problem solving in practice: four problems/different approaches to solve. 7. Presentation skills - teamwork: oral presentation based on Zen presentation requirements, Pecha Kucha style of presentation. Practicing in online tools for effective presentation. 8. Gaining power and influence – cases involving power and influence: River Woods Plant Manager. Exercise for gaining power, exercise for using influence effectively, exercise for neutralizing unwanted influence attempts. 9. Motivating others – Case study involving motivating others: Electro Logic. Exercise for diagnosing work performance problems. Activities for motivating others: four activities and practical application. 10. Conflict management - Case study: Netflix and conflict management. Exercise for diagnosing conflict sources: Software Management Problems. Exercises for selecting appropriate conflict management strategy: Avocado computer, Phelps Inc. Activity for improving managing conflict skills (teamwork). 11. Empowering and delegating - case study involving empowerment and delegating: Minding the Store. Exercises for empowerment. Practical activities for empower and delegation: four activities and preparing action plan. 12. Teamwork and building of effective teams – case studies involving building effective teams: The cash register incident. Team diagnosis and team development exercise. Activities for building effective teams. 13. Building relationship by communicating supportively – case study: Find somebody else (focused on building positive relationship). Exercises for diagnosing communication problem: United Chemical Company, Active Listening Exercise.