Enabling your employees to do their greatest work

A people management gap exists in most organizations. Organizations tend to promote the best doers into management roles without the proper training and skills to effectively manage individuals and teams. Groove Management’s Essentials of Management program shapes first line and midlevel managers into competent people leaders. We facilitate learning that provides the essential tools required to enhance team performance, unlock individual potential and to drive personal growth. Success starts with engaged employees.

Balancing The Company needs with those of the individual- The WIIFM

While the company needs more capable and competent people managers, the Essentials of Management program is learner centered. We begin with the question, “What’s in it for you the program participant?”

Are you looking to become a well-rounded leader? The organization is looking to leverage your individual talents. The Essentials of Management Program will equip you with the tools you need to inspire, lead and thrive in your career. This program is not designed just for the company, but for you and your long term career growth.

Would You Thrive Working for You?

This is the existential question upon which the entire Essentials of Management program is built. Participants must be able to answer, would you thrive working for you with a resounding YES! If you cannot answer yes, then how can anyone else thrive while working for you? With this question as the foundation for the program, we unpack what it means to have responsibility for others and how to bring out the best in them. By unlocking their potential you accelerate your own growth and development as a people manager.

The Essentials of Management Modules

The Essentials of Management program is broken into modules. Our clients help determine the number of modules and the specific topics based on their organization’s needs. In many cases, we begin by helping our clients to create a leader competency model. The model helps inform the specific skills to address and provides a framework for being a people leader at the company. Below are the modules that we typically include in our Essentials of Management Program.

Leading @Company- Defining what is means to be a people leader at your company.

This module kicks off the program. In it we cover the overall goal of the program, we introduce the question, “Would you thrive working for you?” and we outline the program components and expectations. A key component of this first module is to differentiate between leadership and management. Through an interactive discussion and breakout group activity we delineate between leadership and management. Participants are challenged to answer the question, “Can you be a great leader and a poor manager or vice versa?” The program aims to challenge participants to be introspective and to take stock of their own beliefs and behaviors.

People Management- Managing and growing your talent.

This module delves into the tools required to effectively manage people. We discuss the responsibilities inherent in managing others, provide a framework for providing more impactful real time feedback and we explore the power of self-awareness. To aid in the self-awareness component participants complete the REACH Quotient personality assessment. During the session we walk through the individual results, discuss the requirement for people leaders to leverage situational leadership and we talk through a group report that plots all participants across the four REACH styles. This module lays groundwork for shaping individual management styles and approaches.

Execution- Driving accountability and execution within your team.

This module questions whether or not the company has an execution culture. We challenge the participants to define execution as being more than just getting things done. We discuss cadence, predictability, accountability and expectations. As people managers, there is a responsibility for being an accountability partner. This requires clarity of purpose and clearly articulated goals. We use examples of missed deadlines and the ripple effect that this can have on customers. We engage the participants to outline positive execution behaviors that they would like to see more of in their organization. We end with asking for individual commitments to strive to instill an execution mindset.

Charting the Course- How to set direction and communicate expectations for your team

This module explores strategic thinking. Understanding what problem the organization solves for and how each team plays a role in carrying out the strategy is at the center of this module. We explore playing offense (revenue generation) as well as defense (expense management). As a people manager, there is a role to articulate the direction and strategy plus hold team members accountable for their actions. This module is highly customized for each of our clients to ensure that it clearly represents the organizations approach to strategy.

Teamwork and Culture- Maximizing the performance and potential of the team

This module helps participants to understand team dynamics and how to leverage collaboration to drive results. We introduce the Tuckman model of forming, storming, norming and performing. In the session participants reflect on the best teams they have been a part of and we co-create a recipe for a high performing team. Through interactive exercises we model beneficial and disruptive team dynamics, helping people managers to create positive team norms for their teams.

Change/Innovation- Leading change and instilling a learning mindset

This module focuses on the need to drive change as a people manager. We introduce the flying trapeze change model which is Groove Management’s visual model for embracing change. We work through barriers to change as well as tool that will accelerate the adoption of new thinking and approaches. This bleeds into a discussion around failure, learning and innovation. The concept that “experiments never fail” provides participants with permission to try more innovative things and to create a learning culture.

Leaders as Facilitators

One of the keys to the success of the Groove Management Essentials of Management program is the collaboration between Groove Management’s team and the executive team at the client organization. The modules are co-facilitated by Groove Management expert facilitators in collaboration with C-suite members of the client organization. The CEO typically co-facilitates the first module and then members of their team including the CFO, CHRO, CMO and CRO play a role in leading the other modules. This provides all people managers with additional exposure to the executive team and shows the executive team’s overall commitment to the program and the learning initiative.