Peter Drucker reminds us that, just as management is an organization's most critical resource, so is time the vital resource of managers.  However, unlike other resources, time is inelastic.  It is the one commodity that can't be stored - laid up in advance, held in reserve supply, put aside for a "rainy day." Effective managers are constantly aware of how well they are man-aging their time.  During the day they repeatedly ask themselves such questions as: Am I making the most of my time?  Should someone else be doing what I am now doing?  Are there things I'm doing that shouldn't be done at all?  Are there better ways of doing what must be done?  Am I working with freshness, or have I reached the point of diminishing returns?

Many managers are "workaholics" who see time management as a means of getting more work done per unit of time.  But our approach to time management is concerned with time effectiveness, not efficiency.  Hence, this module focuses on the concepts and skills that successful managers apply daily in managing their time effectively.  As a result, managers return to work with a plan for making time their servant rather than their master.
 

Learning Objectives for the Workshop

Participants who attend this workshop will be able;

• to identify the major time wasters common to most organizations;
• to assess their own assumptions about time management;
• to show how our assumptions about time affect our ability to manage it;
• to list twelve principles of time management;
• to differentiate between time invested and time spent;
• to describe how to log and analyze the use of time.
 

Performance Criteria In the Workplace

Participants who attend this workshop will be able:

• to prepare a daily "to do" list, ranking each activity according to priority;
• to apply techniques for controlling our time on the telephone;
• to  apply six methods for making sure that time in meetings is used effectively;
• to reduce the number and length of unscheduled, disruptive visits;
• to analyze a weekly time log and take appropriate actions;
• to apply twelve principles of time management in day-to-day work settings.
  RETURN

Organizations are concerned with achieving corporate goals through management by objectives (MBO).  Employees are concerned with making a meaningful contribution, having a say in decisions affecting their work, being committed to more than a job and a paycheck ... in short, improving the quality of work life (OWL).  The process that addresses both sets of concerns is one that involves the joint setting of goals and standards.  In most organizations, this is done at the upper levels of management.  But all too often employees and their supervisors have not been integrated into the process.  This module teaches goal setting as a tool of organizational and personal revitalization to obtain commitment and growth at all levels.
 

Learning Objectives for the Workshop

Participants who attend this workshop will be able:

• to state advantages and pitfalls in involving employees in goal setting;
• to identify their own attitudes on ten aspects of goal setting;
• to relate the need for challenge and security to goal setting;
• to define and illustrate by examples: objectives, goals, standards, quotas;
• to distinguish between wishes, activities, and goals;
• to assess the strength of each of ten barriers that cause resistance;
• to edit MBO statements to meet ten criteria of effective goal setting;
• to define the two roles of management: entrepreneur and steward.
 
 

Performance Criteria in the Workplace

Participants who attend this workshop will be able:

• to recognize poorly defined goals and rework them when possible;
• to involve their work group in the setting of goals affecting their work;
• to develop standards to give meaning (visibility, reward) to routine jobs;
• to analyze two aspects for their job: entrepreneurial and stewardship;
• to deal effectively with resistance to goal setting from employees;
• to identify the activities and resources needed to achieve a goal;
• to negotiate the value of different goals and thus establish priorities;
• to prepare MBO documents and develop other employees to do so also.
 RETURN

In a classic article printed in the July-August 1975 issue of the Harvard Business Review, Henry Mintzberg describes the discrepancy between the textbook view of management and the way managers actually spend their time.  Titled "The Manager's Job: Folklore and Fact," the article points out that managers pay lip service to planning, scheduling, directing, and con-trolling but spend their time at an unrelenting pace juggling activities that are characterized by brevity, variety, and discontinuity.

The studies by Peters and Waterman more recently support Mintzberg's description of effective executives as strongly oriented to action with a dislike of reflective activities.  On the average, managers shift activities every eight minutes.  While relatively little time is spent planning and scheduling, it is essential that this time be quality time - quiet, uninterrupted, Reflective time.  In this module, we strengthen the skills and impart the techniques for planning, scheduling, and organizing work.
 

Learning Objectives for the Workshop

Participants who attend the workshop will be able:

• to identify the major factors contributing to resistance to change;
• to describe at least five ways to manage change and deal with negative attitudes;
• to illustrate each stage of the management cycle with personal examples;
• to list the characteristics of goal-oriented and activity-oriented employees;
• to evaluate the feasibility of action plans against the goals they should achieve;
• to describe the procedure for preparing a Gantt chart and a PERT network;
• to identify the six work elements and the process of work simplification;
• to designate which planning techniques are appropriate for repetitive vs. one-time operations.
 

Performance Criteria in the Workplace

Participants who attend this workshop will be able:

• to cultivate commitment by involving employees appropriately in the planning process;
• to apply the four-stage management cycle to projects and daily routines;
• to supervise people based on how goal-oriented vs. activity-oriented they are;
• to use PERT to calculate the critical path and control time or costs;
• to factor one's time or cost estimates, based on the normal distribution curve;
• to prepare a Gantt chart to plan, schedule, and control a project;
• to analyze the present flow of work, using the six work elements;
• to apply work simplification techniques to repetitive tasks (work smarter, not harder).
  RETURN

Within the past few decades we have moved from an industrial age to an information age.  One of the major functions of employees at all levels (from mailroom to boardroom) is to process information.  Although much of this information is printed as hard copy (ink) or soft copy (CRT), most managers get the majority of their information via the spoken word.  And this means listening.

This workshop addresses the two types of listening we must practice: active and passive.  Most of our listening at work is active... we can interact with the speaker, asking questions, summarizing, restating, clarifying, giving confirming feedback, and so on.  But sometimes we cannot interact (e.g., with a radio or TV presentation, in a meeting - where we are a silent observer).  Here our role is more passive, although our mind may be every bit as active as when we can interact with the speaker.
 

Learning Objectives for the Workshop
Participants who attend this workshop will be able:
• to identify six guidelines to listening analytically;
• to distinguish between fact and opinion;
• to illustrate listening barriers with examples: emotional, semantic, physical;
• to convert loaded statements to their neutral equivalents;
• to use the communication model to show sources of distortion of meaning;
• to assess their comprehension and retention on a 100-point scale;
• to describe eight things speakers can do to help their listeners.

Performance Criteria in the Workplace
Participants who attend this workshop will be able:
• to listen for intent (action, purpose) as well as content;
• to give the speaker feedback (questions, summaries) to confirm understanding;
• to evaluate messages by filtering out bias (opinion, emotion, etc.);
• to organize complex messages for retention;
• to recognize gaps, omissions, inconsistencies, etc., and work for closure;
• to eliminate barriers relating to source, medium, and destination;
• to apply the six guidelines of effective listening.
 RETURN

In the world of work, managers and supervisors are expected to communicate clearly, concisely, completely, crisply, convincingly, and courteously.  Thoughts and information should flow logically and smoothly toward the accomplishment of each message's purpose.  Unfortunately, the free flow of thought from the human brain is rarely this well organized.  Often we regret things we said or did not say ... things that interfered with our objective.  Most of us need time to outline a message, whether written or spoken, before we begin to deliver it ... we need time to "load brain before firing mouth." In this module, we look at the process of giving information as a carefully planned sequence that moves both parties toward a desired outcome.
 

Learning Objectives for the Workshop

Participants who attend this workshop will be able:

• to recognize when comments are and are not relevant to Alm;
• to know when to exert high and low Bias in a message;
• to identify factors that help or hinder a positive Climate in our communications;
• to follow a three-step process for planning an interaction;
• to use a checklist for giving information effectively;
• to organize information into a concise, crisp, compelling message.
 

Performance Criteria in the Workplace

Participants who attend this workshop will be able:

• to apply the ABC's in interpersonal communications;
• to analyze and edit a script of an interview;
• to plan an interaction, following a three-step process;
• to prepare a script to show the giving and getting of information;
• to organize a written message effectively (combining, sequencing, etc.);
• to evaluate one's communication skills against twelve criteria;
• to rewrite a message to accomplish its objective.
 RETURN

Managers and supervisors tend to be far more adept at asking highly structured, direct questions than indirect, open-ended ones.  This is appropriate for obtaining certain kinds of information.  At other times, such an approach will bias the other party to say what is expected or expedient or pleasing.  No wonder the information managers obtain is often slanted or filtered or incomplete or whitewashed or dated or otherwise misleading.  Since the quality of decisions made, problems solved, and actions taken depends on getting clean, unvarnished information as input, it is essential that managers learn to be equally adept at direct and non-direct questioning techniques, and to recognize bias and correct for it in our daily communications.
 

Learning Objectives for the Workshop

Participants who attend this workshop will be able:

• to define the ABC's of interpersonal communication (Aim, Bias, Climate);
• to give examples of good and poor control of each;
• to describe the funnel technique for eliciting information;
• to give one example of each of the three types of funnel question;
• to illustrate by example the difference between a response and a reply;
• to identify five common types of probes and their advantages;
• to edit and rephrase questions that are poorly worded;
• to use each of the five probes in a typical interaction.
 

Performance Criteria in the Workplace

Participants who attend this workshop will be able:

• to recognize inadequate responses and probe for needed information;
• to manage the ABC's so as to steer an interaction to its desired outcome;
• to apply the funnel technique in eliciting personal information;'
• to conduct an effective selection interview;
• to prepare for fact-finding sessions (problem solving, counseling, etc.);
• to recognize ineffective questions and rephrase them;
• to improve the quality of interpersonal communication in their work group;
• to use non-directive techniques to elicit hard-to-get information.
  RETURN

The quality of work that you personally perform is important to achieving the daily, weekly, and monthly expectations of your manager and your unit.  However, taking a broader perspective (as measured in years), the best measure of a manager's contribution to the organization is in the quality of that manager's team ... how well people know their jobs and perform them, how challenged they are by new assignments, and how effectively the team members work together.  Training, coaching, and delegating are the tools a manager has to build the team and to achieve high productivity on both the personal and the group level.
 

Learning Objectives for the Workshop

Participants who attend this workshop will be able:

• to describe via example the ten principles of training;
• to identify and illustrate three components of behavior (K-A-S);
• to evaluate their own effectiveness as a trainer;
• to identify at least six benefits of delegating;
• to assess their own personal barriers to effective delegation;
• to describe four techniques for improving the delegation process;
• to evaluate any delegation session against 15 criteria.
 

Performance Criteria In the Workplace

Participants who attend this workshop will be able:

• to follow a six-step procedure in planning a training session;
• to use a four-page Training Planning Sheet to accomplish the above;
• to break large chunks of information (S) into interactive bits (S-R-F);
• to organize short training sessions according to the S-R-F ("micro") model;
• to apply the Acquisition-Demonstration-Application ("macro") model;
• to overcome barriers to delegating some tasks they now perform;
• to follow an eight-step procedure in planning a delegating session;
• to use a four-page Delegation Planning Sheet to accomplish the above.
  RETURN

Jan's reaction to being told that it's time for her annual performance review is typical: "I'll just be glad to get it over with." Unfortunately, most employees do not look forward to being appraised.  The reasons are many, but can be overcome by following a number of guidelines: appraisals must be frequent, informal, surprise-free, prepared for by both parties, conducted as a dialog and not a one-sided assessment, and focused on behavior (performance) and not on personality or character traits.  This module imparts the concepts and skills needed to make the appraisal process a year-round flow of feedback and not an annual day of judgment.
 

Learning Objectives for the Workshop

Participants who attend this workshop will be able:

• to assess their own assumptions and expectations regarding performance appraisals;
• to describe the criteria of an effective job description;
• to identify the benefits of having employees evaluate their own performance; 
• to list the steps in conducting a constructive performance appraisal;
• to describe at least six guidelines for giving employees feedback on the job;
• to evaluate the organization's present system for appraising performance;
• to distinguish between performance and personality statements;
• to translate critical statements into constructive feedback.
 

Performance Criteria in the Workplace

Participants who attend this workshop will be able:

• to prepare themselves and their subordinates for a constructive appraisal;
• to use feedback as a daily tool to shape and reinforce behavior;
• to elicit self-evaluations from subordinates;
• to use descriptive rather than evaluative comments when appraising;
• to conduct appraisals that meet the guidelines noted above (first paragraph);
• to prepare an action plan for a subordinate's development;
• to update job descriptions where needed to be accurate and complete.
  RETURN

It would be an ideal world (and a naive expectation of managers) to have all employees arrive at work on time every day, with a positive attitude, a strong willingness to work, and a commitment to earn their keep.  Unfortunately, in the real world of work, there are always some employees who are undisciplined or incompetent or committed to getting the most and giving the least.  This happens despite our best efforts in selecting and training employees.  Hence, it is sometimes necessary for a supervisor or manager to impose discipline when performance standards have not been met.  This module deals with how to counsel and discipline employees in a positive, constructive manner.
 

Learning Objectives for the Workshop

Participants who attend this workshop will be able:

• to define 15 guidelines for conducting effective counseling sessions;
• to distinguish between coaching, counseling, and disciplining;
• to describe how "positive discipline" differs from traditional discipline;
• to identify the major steps involved in the practice of positive discipline;
• to describe why asking questions is preferable to giving advice when counseling;
• to identify three steps to the planning of any interpersonal communication.
 

Performance Criteria In the Workplace

Participants who attend this workshop will be able:

• to describe the employee's deviant behavior and the desired new behavior;
• to specify the likely causes of the behavior to be changed;
• to develop a plan of action to get rid of the undesirable behavior;
• to apply a six-step disciplinary strategy for restoring performance;
• to use the "Discipline Planning Sheet" to apply the six-stage strategy;
• to apply a ten-step planning process in preparing for a counseling session;
• to use the four-page "Coaching and Counseling Planning Sheet";
• to counsel/discipline employees in a way that improves their performance;
• to establish ways to monitor and maintain performance over time.
 RETURN

Managers are expected to solve problems promptly and wisely, based on the best available evidence.  Unfortunately, most supervisors and managers have never been taught skills associated with problem solving: how to set measurable objectives, collect and evaluate information, separate fact from opinion, identify the problems they face, state and test action plans, and consider alternative steps to solve their problems.  Successful supervisors and managers, regardless of the type of organization, possess these skills.

Fortunately, they can be taught.  This module is designed to impart the skills for applying a problem-solving process that will markedly improve managers' ability to identify and systematically eliminate or reduce the barriers that stand between them and their objectives.  The course emphasizes analytical skills development, rather than how to follow a simplistic formula or rigid procedure.  This leads to a more positive attitude toward problem solving as managers apply their new cognitive skills.
 

Learning Objectives for the Workshop

Participants who attend this workshop will be able:

• to identify an eight-step process for identifying and solving problems;
• to describe the value of training subordinates in the skills of problem solving;
• to define: problem, symptom, cause, deviation, evidence, solution;
• to evaluate action plans for correcting a specific printing problem;
• to examine five options for dealing with a problem;
• to describe the two "Acid Tests" that any plan of action must meet.
 

Performance Criteria In the Workplace

Participants who attend this workshop will be able:

• to state the objectives that are not being met, thus verifying a problem; 
• to revise or edit objectives so as to meet five criteria; 
• to distinguish between problems/symptoms, and hard/soft evidence; 
• to evolve plans for action that include the "how" as well as the "what"; 
• to test the plan of action against the criteria of Acid Tests One and Two; 
• to evaluate and select the action plan with the best cost/benefit ratio; 
• to evaluate one's action plan during implementation, fine-tuning as needed; 
• to apply the eight-step problem-solving process at work and at home.
  RETURN

At work our day is filled with decisions.  Some are relatively automatic and involve little or no risk.  We make hundreds of these decisions every week.  This course does not deal with such decisions.  Rather our concern is with decisions whose outcomes have more at stake and whose inputs are more complex... many factors must be weighed.  Such decisions require care in specifying the desired outcomes, determining criteria, selecting and evaluating alternatives, assessing risk, and drawing up an implementation plan.  In short, this module teaches the process of preparing a decision matrix and using it to make the best selection(s), while reducing risk and fear of failure.
 

Learning Objectives for the Workshop

Participants who attend this workshop will be able:

• to distinguish between problem solving and decision making;
• to define four terms whose meaning is central to the decision-making process;
• to identify a ten-step decision-making process;
• to identify four types of decisions and compare them on two variables;
• to distinguish between limits, desirables, and options;
• to prepare and complete a decision matrix.
 

Performance Criteria In the Workplace

Participants who attend this workshop will be able:

• to define the situation that led up to and now requires a decision;
• to state the objective of a de6ision in a manner that meets the criteria taught;
• to specify the criteria that will influence the selection of options;
• to generate options by selecting from existing alternatives or creating new ones;
• to assign weights to the options identified;
• to perform a risk analysis and apply it to the final making of the decision;
• to implement the decision and monitor the results;
• to apply the ten-step decision-making process in a variety of situations.
  RETURN

If we were to reduce all the activities of managing people and tasks to their most basic underlying competencies, we might be left with two: communicating and thinking.  And an argument could be made to define communication as "shared thought" or as "thinking out loud." In short, the ability to think clearly and analytically is one that managers are drawing upon every minute of the day.

It seems surprising, then, that we have not had required courses in public schools and colleges on how to think.  Some aspects of analytical thinking are dealt with in courses on experimental design, statistics, English composition, logic, and so on, but the subject has been largely neglected in schools and in management development programs.  This workshop represents a bold departure from the traditional curriculum of such programs.
 

Learning Objectives for the Workshop

Participants who attend this workshop will be able:

• to assess their own thinking (left/right brain, inductive/deductive);
• to describe three ways to solve problems, with pros and cons of each;
• to break down propositions into premises, arguments, and conclusions;
• to test for the validity of each part of a logical proposition;
• to define inductive and deductive argument with examples of each;
• to identify three major barriers to effective reasoning;
• to list at least four ways of improving the quality of thinking at work;
• to analyze ten propositions (MAP situations) for their logic;
• to evaluate the assumptions they've made about thinking and intelligence.
 

Performance Criteria in the Workplace

Participants who attend this workshop will be able:

• to apply a 12-item checklist to their own thinking on major activities;
• to recognize personal bias (left/right brain) and compensate for it;
• to use inductive and deductive thought processes appropriately;
• to identify and correct fallacious arguments and faulty logic;
• to withhold opinions until the facts are collected and evaluated;
• to analyze how others think and draw on this to supplement one's own style;
• to generate lists of advantages/disadvantages before taking a stand;
• to apply the process of analytical thinking taught in this module. 

RETURN