The FAQs About Management Development Training, Answered.

Once in a blue moon, does someone get promoted to management who is naturally gifted with the abilities, skills, and techniques needed to be a good manager. Instead, it is far more common for those promoted to management to need training, support, and experience to hit their stride.

Fortunately, this is exactly why management development training exists. But what is management training, really? Is it actually as important as they say it is? What topics should be covered in training programs for managers? If these are the types of questions you have, then you’ve come to the right place because this article contains the answers to those questions and more.

What Is Management Training?

As the name suggests, management training is training for those in management and leadership roles. The goal of it is to equip leaders with the skills, knowledge, and tools they need to lead others effectively in today’s workplace. Typical topics covered in management training include self-awareness and emotional intelligence, communication, change management, conflict resolution, and empowerment, to name a few.

What Makes a Good Management Training Course?

Every manager has different development goals, strengths, weaknesses, and learning preferences, which makes it almost impossible to answer this question definitively. However, several factors get brought up when you hear about an excellent management training course. Those include:

• The content is up-to-date and relevant
• The content is applicable
• The cost of the course is fair and reasonable
• The course is delivered/taught in a way that suits one’s learning style
• The timing of the course suits one’s schedule
• The provider of the course has a strong track record and a positive reputation
• The provider of the course provides testimonials from past participants
• The facilitator/teacher of the course receives strong reviews and has adequate experience

Why Is Management Development Training Important?

Investing in training and development for those in management isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have. In fact, according to LinkedIn, companies who invest in effective management development training are 8.8x more likely to have high-quality leadership, 9x more likely to outperform competitors financially, and 7.4x more likely to have highly-engaged leaders that stay with the company. In another study, it was also found to improve managers learning capacity by 25% and their performance by 20%

What Topics Should Be Included in Management Training?

For management training to be truly effective, the topics included in the program need to provide leaders with the information, tools, techniques, and confidence they need to lead others daily. That is why you will typically see the following topics included in management training:

1. Emotional Intelligence
2. Developing Others
3. Empowerment
4. Communication
5. Resilience and Agility
6. Strategy and Execution
7. Collaboration
8. Conflict Resolution
9. Business Acumen
10. Change Leadership

Emotional Intelligence

According to Harvard Business School, 90% of what sets high performers apart from peers with similar technical skills and knowledge is emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence in management is the ability to recognize and manage one’s own emotions and the emotions of others. To do this, one needs self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management skills.

Developing others

Developing others refers to a manager's ability to share knowledge, pass on their strengths, assess others, provide coaching and constructive feedback, and recognize others. It’s an essential skill for those in management as it helps employees improve and advance their skills, knowledge, and performance, which has been found to increase employee satisfaction, engagement, and retention.

Empowerment

There are many benefits when employees are empowered. From increased engagement to greater motivation and trust in management, learning the skills to empower employees and give them autonomy over their work should rise to the top of every management development training list. However, empowerment will not be successful without knowing how to set boundaries and hold people accountable, which can be acquired through training.

Communication

If there’s one topic that’s a cornerstone of nearly all management development training, it’s communication, and for a good reason! Leadership communication training gives managers the necessary skills and confidence to speak like a leader in all situations, whether it’s an impromptu hallway conversation, formal presentation, or a Zoom call with their team.

Resilience and Agility

We have been and will continue to live and lead in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world. For managers and their teams to succeed in such an environment, they need resilience and agility to bounce back from setbacks, pivot quickly, rally employees, identify creative solutions, and make sound decisions quickly.

Strategy and Execution

To excel in management, individuals must gain the ability to think strategically, plan cross-functionally, and oversee the execution. To do so successfully, they will require the skills and tools to develop and sell the strategy to others, create alignment, implement a tactical plan, and relay progress and feedback across departments.

Collaboration

Managers always have and always will need the skills and tools to break down silos, create psychological safety, encourage information/resource sharing, set clearly defined roles, and open the lines of communication. In addition, today’s managers need to know how to promote collaboration among employees both in-person and digitally, given the rise of remote and hybrid work arrangements.

Conflict Resolution

Those in management are not just responsible for navigating conflicts that they are personally involved in; they are responsible for monitoring their team and addressing disputes that arise so that they do not put the dynamics and culture of the team at risk. Fortunately, conflict resolution training can give managers a better sense of their own conflict style, help them build their confidence, and equip them with actionable techniques.

Business Acumen

Business acumen is the combined knowledge of strategy, financial acumen, operations, strategic HR, and marketing. Understanding these areas allows those in management, regardless of their department, to see the big picture and better comprehend the organization's interconnectivity so that they can make sound strategic decisions.

Change Leadership

Change will always be problematic in the workplace. It can be far less so, though, if those in leadership receive management training that teaches them about the nuances of change leadership. This includes teaching them how to cast a vision and unite employees around it, create buy-in for change, define expectations, answer complex questions, and celebrate milestones with employees.