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Management Training Programs: 5 Things to Know

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Management training is one of the most important development courses you can offer your team to strengthen your business. It’s also a great way to level-up your leadership skills.

What is management training?

Management training courses are specialized programs designed to help leaders learn new techniques and refine basic management skills. A great management training course can strengthen businesses by helping teams to run more efficiently.

Whether you are feeling a bit lost after stepping up to a new position or after decades of experience you feel like you need to keep on top of your game, management training can help you reach your true potential and bring out the best in your team.

What is the difference between management training and leadership training?

Leadership and managership are often interchangeable as if they were the same words. However, though they share some common traits, there is a distinct difference.

A leader isn’t necessarily a manager, but a true manager must be a leader. 

For some people, leadership skills come naturally, for others they are skills they need to learn, but for most people it’s a bit of a mix.

Almost every manager will benefit from some type of management training on top of their leadership training.

Types of Managers 

You might already know your personality type but do you know your management type? There are five key management types, and identifying your style can help you understand your strengths and weaknesses.

What type of manager are you? What type of manager do you want to be?

Knowing your management style is important when you are managing people and projects to give a better understanding of your own strengths and weaknesses, and learning how to use your management style to your advantage.

A good management training program will help you identify your management style, but here’s the basics.

Autocratic

Autocratic managers make decisions without taking any input from other members of the team. This type of manager can be perceived positively as decisions tend to be made confidently and quickly. However, employees can become quickly demotivated if they don’t feel their ideas are being taken on board. People who belong to this management type really come into their own in times of emergencies.

You know you have the autocratic management style if you:

  • ____ Are very decisive and typically make decisions on your own.
  • ____ Are very self-reliant
  • ____ Are great in a crisis

Consultative

This type of manager takes a business-focused approach while still considering the best interest of the team, though make final decisions themselves. Teams run by consultative managers often foster a sense of loyalty in the group, but sometimes can cause a team to become dependant on management rather than using their own initiative.

You know you have the consultative management style if you:

  • ____ Think loyalty is the key ingredient on any team.
  • ____ Love collaboration
  • ____ Are very involved in your team members decisions

Persuasive

A persuasive manager makes decisions by being persuaded by options put forward by their team. Though they make the final decision themselves, they will take on board the benefits of each option put forward by their employees. Persuasive management can be effective and often builds a strong team, but relies on employees supporting and trusting management. 

You know you have the persuasive management style if you:

  • ____ Only make decisions after speaking with everyone on your team
  • ____ Highly value the ideas of others
  • ____ Make decisions more slowly

Democratic

Democratic managers make sure all decisions are made by the majority of the team. This management style is particularly helpful when making complex decisions, though it can slow down the decision-making process as it can be time consuming.

You know you have the democratic management style if you:

  • ____ Make decisions by committee
  • ____ Prefer to have everyone  weigh in
  • ____ Have a complex decision making process internally

Laissez-faire

This style of management is centered around allowing employees to make the majority of decisions, and management only stepping in to provide guidance when needed. Laissez-faire management is popular in technology and start up companies, where risk taking is part of the team culture. 

You know you have the laissez-faire management style if you:

  • ____ Don’t micromanage
  • ____ Rely heavily on your colleagues opinions
  • ____ Encourage independence on a team  

Most people want to be a good manager, but all five management styles have advantages and disadvantages.

You might already have some idea of your management style (knowing your personality type might give you a hint) but a management training course will go into these subjects in more detail, perhaps breaking each style into further subtypes.

Types of Management Training

Management training courses are taught using a variety of methods, including (but certainly not limited to!) lectures, demonstrations, virtual learning, role playing, active learning, or simulations. In addition to basic leadership skills, management training includes learning;

  • Change management
  • Coaching and mentoring
  • Communication training
  • Compliance
  • Decision making
  • Financial management
  • Managing talent
  • Managing Up
  • Measurement and metrics
  • Performance management
  • Project management
  • Risk management
  • Strategic planning 

Manager in Training

A manager in training is an employee who is either hired as a manager with a probationary period while they receive the necessary training, or an employee hired as part of a trainee management program where they can learn on the job.

Managers in training are some of the employees who can benefit the most from management training programs.

Whether you are a manager in training, or an experienced manager, considering enrolling on a course yourself or thinking about introducing a training scheme at your company, here are some vital facts you need to know about management training,

Fact #1: Managers are Vital to the Success of the Entire Business 

Managers make the majority of decisions, lead and guide the team through obstacles, and have the ability to bring out the best of their team. It’s no surprise that managers are important to the success of the business, but their contribution extends far beyond guiding a teams actions and day to day work towards company goals.

Managers account for at least 70% of employee satisfaction scores.

This means that managers are largely responsible for their teams happiness (and as we already know, a happy team is an efficient team).

However, poorly trained managers can actually hold teams back. A study by Middlesex University’s Institute for Work Based Learning found that 74% of employees felt they lacked sufficient training at work, and this was a barrier to achieving their full potential.

Fact #2: Digital Competence Helps Team Performance 

Everything these days is digital. Documents can sync with remote colleagues. Video calls can be done across oceans. We can use social media to connect with clients. The world is moving into the digital era at breakneck speed. 

Have you been keeping on top of your digital management skills? 

Digital competency can increase efficiency by more than 100% (with one London consultancy agency reporting saving more than 240 hours of work per month using the right software).

A good management training course can teach you all of the latest project management software, effective ways to communicate with your team using technology, and other digital skills you can use to manage your team. There are many digital skills you might not have thought of that can help you as a manager: 

  • Remote team communication
  • Body language for video calls
  • Psychology of words on instant messaging
  • Professional email etiquette

Fact #3: Ineffective Training Costs Money 

Ineffective training can be caused by a number of factors. Perhaps the presentation wasn’t engaging, so people switched off (this is why it’s so important to make your presentations engaging!) Perhaps it was presented too complicated, and people weren’t able to take much away from the course, or perhaps it was just entirely irrelevant to people in that area of the business. 

One thing we do know is:

Ineffective training will cost your business a lot of money.

The total loss to a business from ineffective training is estimated to be around $13.5 million per year per 1,000 employees. The flip side of this is that implementing effective training will save your company money

When you’re choosing a management training program, either for yourself or for a manager in your company, check that it will be taught effectively. Ask yourself, or your team, what management training is really needed? What do they need to know, what are their weaknesses? 

It’s also important to assess how you, or your managers, learn – are they visual / audio learners who would benefit from watching lectures, or are they more hands-on and more likely to benefit from an online course that offers interactive activities?

Once you’ve established this, you’ll be on your way to implementing effective management training. 

Fact #4: Management Training Helps Employee Retention 

Incredibly, a survey revealed that 70% of employees say that job-related training and development directly influences the employee’s decision to stay with a company or not.

A manager that doesn’t feel able to manage their team properly is more likely to leave and join a competitor. Not only can this mean incurring the costs of training someone new to replace them, but also that your company might be losing your best members of staff.

Effective management training is a win-win for everyone, because everyone wants to be happy at work

The best way to keep hold of your talent is to make sure that everyone is trained correctly, have clear achievable goals, and are recognised for their work. 

Fact #5: Most Managers Don’t Receive Any Management Training 

Okay, this is a shocking statistic.

Studies suggest that about 58 percent of managers don’t receive any management training.

At all.

This can’t be good for business. Without management training, managers are left to their own devices to figure things out. Not only is this a huge waste of time, but it doesn’t create a healthy team environment. Instead, they are more likely to be stressed, which can cause rising tensions within the team, and everyone will be working less efficiently.

How to pick the best management training program for you 

So do we have you convinced that management training is hugely important for your success and the success of your company?

We hope so, and if you are convinced, you’ll be wondering how to choose the best management training program for you. 

There are loads of great management training programs out there, so where do you start when you are trying to pick one?

First, check to see if there are any courses specifically aimed at your field. There are plenty of management training courses which have been tailored to different fields, whether you’re in the business of real estate or technology or catering.

You also should investigate courses that specialize in an area that you’ve identified as a weakness. Perhaps you know that you need to brush up on your digital skills, but you’re not sure where to start, or you know you need to improve your conflict management skills as your team are struggling a bit. 

The rest of choosing a management training course really just comes down to:

Our flagship course, People School is a 12 step completely online management training program like no other in the industry. We take a science-based approach to soft skills. Want to learn more? Get on the waitlist and read more here:

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What Are Online Management Training Courses?

We’re in the digital age. We have artificial intelligence making decisions in our home, robots to clean homes, and more computing power in our mobile phones than the computers used in the rockets that landed men on the Moon. So, it’s no surprise that some of the best management training programs are online. 

Can you really beat the experience of sitting in a classroom with a real teacher right there? Absolutely.

Online management training programs are usually available 24/7, and should include interaction with your teacher through comments or office hours. For example, in People School we reply to every comment and assignment, and have live office hours every few weeks as you learn and try out the material.

Online programs also typically have lots of ways you experience the material. This can be better than an in-person day where you have to consume all the content at once and might miss some of it.

Most online management training gives you access forever. Our videos never expire, so you have access to re-watch as your business grows. We also deliver the content to you through videos, a physical workbook, downloadable reading material, and even interactive question and answer sessions. 

Online management training is also great for people who need to fit their learning around a busy schedule. 

Interested in our next class of People School? Let us tell you more! I would love to meet you and help you achieve your management training goals.

Intensive online training to level up your charisma, communicate powerfully, and take command of your presence.

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