Aliento Academy

The National Management Association

SUPERVISORY AND MANAGEMENT SKILLS PROGRAM

Aliento Academy is proud to be certified to provide the National Management Association’s SMS Program. This series of 10 coordinated 28-hour courses provides an interactive learning experience geared to assisting each participant in becoming a better leader, supervisor, or manager. Each of the 10 courses is designed to be facilitated in seven 4-hour reading and discussion sessions. Each course provides a participant manual and a videotape demonstrating the skills for each module.

Practical

The Supervisory and Management Skills Program's philosophy--in step with long successful NMA tradition--is to develop practical experience based on accepted theory. Commissioned at the request of member firms, the program addresses supervisors' needs as elicited by survey. The courses take an unpretentious, nonthreatening approach to a manager's daily challenges.

Flexible

Each course deals with the needs of managers/team leaders generally. The videotapes depict workplaces as varied as the shop floor, the hospital, and the office.

Proven

The Supervisory and Management Skills Program has been revised on the basis of user feedback. Its courses have been utilized in over 300 industrial and office facilities. And it's all based on NMA's over 75 years of help to organizations that care about their employees' talents and skills.

Participants Learn to:

Synopsis of the Supervisory and Management Courses

 

Course 1
INTRODUCTION TO SUPERVISION

The key to being an effective leader and the ability to facilitate a work group lie in understanding the very basics of working with other people. This course is geared toward the emerging 21st century leader.

Learning Objectives

  • To introduce the basic concepts of supervision
  • To develop a mental image of the supervising job and environment
  • To develop and exercise basic managerial and leadership skills

Modules

  1. The Challenge of Supervising
  2. What Supervising Is About: Responsibilities and Major Concerns
  3. Mapping the Work Environment
  4. Understanding Employee Behavior
  5. The Supervisor as a Leader
  6. The Supervisor as a Problem Solver
  7. The Supervisor as a Person: Managing Yourself

Course 2
MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES

Principles of managing is written for today’s manager and provides a firm foundation for management skills. Designed to present the basic concepts and techniques of managing, this course is written for practicing managers who wish to review and update their knowledge of basic management principles. Also, it is a good introduction to management theory and practice for those aspiring to become managers.

Learning Objectives

  • To present practical ideas and tools for managers, supervisors, and team leaders
  • To build a foundation of management concepts that will prepare the participant for further studies
  • To help with participant help each participant develop a positive and constructive philosophy of management

Modules

  1. The Contemporary Organization: A System What Managers Do
  2. The Basics of Planning
  3. Organizing and Organization
  4. Getting the Job Done: The Art and Science of Directing
  5. Control—The Key to Success
  6. Management Decisions and Information Systems
  7. Innovative Leadership and Decision Making

Course 3
COMMUNICATION SKILLS

The focus of Communication Skills is the fundamentals of effective communication. It presents the concepts and techniques that help leaders develop as communicators.

You will learn to—

  • Express yourself clearly— because you understand the key concepts in communication.
  • Minimize mistakes and misunderstandings.
  • Present comfortably in groups and meetings.
  • Get your ideas accepted more often.
  • Listen and understand what is not said.
  • Understand the communication ropes in your organization.

Learning Objectives

  • Introduce the principal concepts and techniques of communication
  • Develop an appreciation of the team leader/manager’s communication job and know what it entails
  • Help participants develop and exercise useful communication skills

Modules

  1. The Basics of Communication
  2. Tools for Resolving Communication Problems
  3. Developing Oral and Listening Skills
  4. Improving Writing and Reading Skills
  5. Effectiveness in Meetings and Presentations
  6. Communicating Effectively with Employees
  7. Communicating in Your Organization

Course 4
INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP SKILLS

The focus is on skills dealing with people. You will learn the under- lying concepts of why people act the way they do, the barriers and the promoters of good relationships, and much more.

You will learn about conflict—how to handle conflict better and to co-exist with difficult people. You’ll even learn how to know when YOU are the difficult one.

This is a “here’s what to do...” course that covers developing trust and teamwork, keeping a positive attitude, and being successful with others.

Learning Objectives

  • To develop an awareness of one's vulnerability to others' behavior
  • To develop an awareness of one's behavior and its effect on others
  • To learn to confront oneself and others
  • To overcome dysfunctional interpersonal behavior patterns and develop constructive human skills
  • To build a positive attitude toward oneself and one's ability to solve problems

Modules

  1. Fundamentals of Interpersonal Effectiveness
  2. Improving Skills in Dealing with People
  3. Handling Conflict in Interpersonal Relationships
  4. Group and Teamwork Skills
  5. Working with Peers and Higher Management
  6. Working with Employees and Team Members
  7. Building Effective Interpersonal Relationships

Course 5
DEVELOPING PERFORMANCE

Performance is the one thing that just about everyone believes in. It is the bottom line of the managerial job. To be effective, the emerging 21st century leader needs to understand that people want to perform, to be useful and valuable, and to be recognized for their contributions.

Learning Objectives

  • To understand clearly what makes people perform
  • To develop and use an effective system for managing performance, planning it, recognizing and reviewing it
  • To know and apply techniques that will maintain good performance and increase productivity

Modules

  1. The Nature of Work Performance: People and Quality
  2. Systems for Managing Performance
  3. Recognizing and Handling Work Problems
  4. Planning and Setting Performance Goals
  5. Monitoring and Managing Quality
  6. Reviewing and Appraising Performance
  7. Maintaining Excellence

Course 6
CHALLENGE OF A NEW EMPLOYEE

Challenge of a New Employee focuses on getting and maintaining optimum performance from new employees. The basic goal is to develop the skills and approaches needed to build performance and sustain it.

You will learn to—

  • Know what capabilities and proficiencies new employees need to develop
  • Orient, train, and develop new employees effectively
  • Use techniques that maintain good performance and increase productivity among new employees

Learning Objectives

  • To build knowledge and skill in selecting new employees
  • To explain methods of orienting, training, and developing new employees and associates effectively
  • To stimulate and build consistent performance in a new employee
  • To develop a positive attitude toward oneself and one’s ability to solve problems

Modules

  1. The New Employee And You
  2. Planning A Position And Selecting The Right Person
  3. Orienting The New Employee: First Things First
  4. The New Employee And The Work Group
  5. Teaching And Training
  6. Delegating And Building High Performance
  7. Working With Special Problem Situations

Course 7
COACHING AND COUNSELING

The basic goal of this course is to equip people with coaching and counseling skills that will make them more effective as managers. The emphasis is on learning the fundamentals and techniques of coaching, counseling, and interviewing, presenting up-to-date concepts that help managers develop themselves and become more effective in working with people.

Participants will—

  • Learn to understand the manager’s counseling role
  • Develop and use the skills for effective coaching, counseling, and interviewing
  • Develop a positive self-image as persons capable of helping others solve their problems effectively
  • Increase their awareness of and ability to respond to human problems

Learning Objectives

  • To develop awareness of your coaching and counseling role
  • To increase your skills in handling employees’ personal and work problems
  • To learn and exercise the techniques that are effective in coaching and counseling employees, applying them to different situations
  • To develop a positive self-image as a coach/counselor/helper

Modules

  1. The Manager’s Helping Role
  2. Basics of Counseling and Interviewing
  3. Counseling on Work Performance
  4. Coaching: Day-to-Day Guidance and Instruction
  5. Dealing with Personal Problems
  6. Career Guidance and Counseling
  7. Selection and Departure Counseling

Course 8
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

The demands of leadership are such that business leaders must develop an amazingly broad range of personal and professional competencies in order to meet the challenges coming their way. Tomorrow’s leaders must get ahead of the curve.

Learning Objectives

  • To develop awareness and understanding of a leader’s role
  • To improve leadership skills at all levels
  • To establish leadership ideals and develop qualities needed to achieve them
  • To understand leadership styles and increase a person’s capability to respond accordingly
  • To develop strategies for effectiveness as a leader

Modules

  1. Effective Leadership: Art and Science
  2. Leadership: The Role and the Setting
  3. Choosing the Best Leadership Strategy
  4. Innovative Leadership and Decision Making
  5. The Interpersonally-Effective Leader
  6. The Organizationally-Effective Leader
  7. Leading Yourself and Following Your Leader

Course 9
BUSINESS CONCEPTS

This course covers business concepts and practices that have proved their value over the years. The basic principles of business apply to all enterprises and to all management levels. By understanding the nature of your business and how information flows through it, you increase your effectiveness as a supervisor. Knowing about the economic system enables you to comprehend and handle issues that arise.

You will learn to—

  • Understand your business and the system in which it operates
  • Know your organization’s information system and how to use it
  • Work effectively with other units in your organization
  • Develop skills in using modern tools for productive, economical, and efficient operations
  • Handle yourself effectively as you face a changing work force in a changing world

Learning Objectives

  • To familiarize participants with basic business concepts and practices
  • To understand the nature of your business and how information flows through it

Modules

  1. Understanding Your Economic System
  2. Knowing Your Business
  3. Knowing Your Management Information System
  4. Knowing Your Financial Management System
  5. Improving Quality And Productivity
  6. Working With Other Parts Of Your Organization
  7. Dealing With A Changing World

Course 10
LAW FOR THE LAYMAN

Law for the Layman equips people with information about the law to make them more effective as leaders, managers and professionals. The emphasis is on presenting the fundamentals and basic concepts to help people become more aware of legal aspects of life and work.

Participants will—

  • Learn basic legal concepts
  • Become aware of how the law may dictate the way they should conduct their job activities
  • Discover when they need to seek legal counsel
  • Find how they can be more effective when acting both legally and ethically

Learning Objectives

  • To equip those in leadership positions with information about the law that will make them more effective as managers and professionals
  • To introduce basic legal concepts
  • To increase awareness of how law affects their actions as leaders and professionals
  • To know when to contact superiors, company counsel or ethics officers concerning what appear to be legal or ethical matters

Modules

  1. Law and the Legal Process
  2. Criminal and Tort Law
  3. Contract Law
  4. Uniform Commercial Code and Business Transactions
  5. Employee and Employment Law
  6. Government Regulation
  7. Ethics and the Law