Managing Engineering & Technical Training Course:Professionals  

In the fast paced and competitive environment of today's global economy, the work of technical professionals is often the difference between success and failure in an organization. Providing leadership for engineers is uniquely challenging, and the transition from working engineer to first-line technical supervisor is one of the most difficult career challenges that an engineer may face. First-time engineering supervisors and mid-level managers who wish to sharpen their skills and learn new techniques for guiding, coaching, and motivating working engineers, technicians, and designers will find this seminar valuable. A mix of lecture and attention-grabbing exercises are used to develop intense and lasting learning results.

Learning Objectives:

By attending this training, you will be able to:

• Describe the basic value proposition of management: what managers bring to an organization that makes them worthwhile

• Avoid the most common errors that supervisors and managers make

• Describe the evolution of management thought, and utilize the latest proven concepts for improving the performance of people in complex organizations

• Explain the issues that drive the psychology of effective leadership and develop greater emotional intelligence

• Implement strategies to enhance your skills in meeting management, coaching, and performance review that are essential in today's professional workplace

Who Should Attend?

Engineers and technical professionals who are either recently promoted into a management position, or have some experience as a manager but would like to learn how to become more effective will benefit from attending this workshop. The concepts and skills developed during this interactive experience will be of interest to those involved in product development, manufacturing, service, or quality engineering, and all related technical activities in automotive, aerospace, manufacturing, and off-highway industries.

Outline:

DAY ONE

• The Management Perspective - How Managers Earn Their Keep

  • The value proposition of management

  • The "Peter Principle" and how to avoid this trap

  • Understanding the most important errors that managers commonly make - and how to steer clear of major supervisory pitfalls

  • Why people usually struggle to cooperate, and how you can reduce this

• What You Need to Know about Today's Workforce

  • The evolution of leadership thought, and why recent events have significantly changed effective leadership methods

  • Understanding what leadership is really about

  • Why teamwork and cooperation are necessary in modern corporate structures

  • How you can generate consistent focus and daily commitment among technical and engineering professionals

  • Playing "The Tower Game" - applying focus and commitment

• The Psychology of Successful Modern Leadership

  • Process centered leadership: getting sustained results

  • Task and relationship balances

  • Why "Output Leadership" is ineffective and counter-productive

  • Different kinds of team models - and which is most effective

  • How to reduce the influence of "bad" politics in an organization through constructive decision making processes

DAY TWO

• The Psychology of Change

  • Why change is often stressful

  • Five stages of change

  • How to make change exciting and interesting

• Emotional Intelligence: Building an Effective Leadership Style

  • Why "emotional intelligence" is important - the research results

  • The five elements of emotional leadership

  • How to practice and develop greater emotional intelligence

  • Solving typical meeting problems with emotional intelligence

• Coaching in Supervision

  • Building trust

  • Coaching roles

  • Improving communication for constructive coaching

• Using Meeting Time Effectively

  • Five key issues for successful meetings

  • How teamwork breaks down in meetings, and how to correct this

DAY THREE

• Dealing with Practical Issues

  • Dealing with difficult people

  • Learning how to delegate effectively

• Basic Negotiation Principles

  • Soft & hard negotiating approaches

  • Win-win negotiation

  • Positions, interests, & goals

• How to Make Performance Reviews Constructive

  • Legal requirements

  • Style issues

  • 360 reviews