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Management Extra

FACILITATOR’S GUIDE
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Management Extra

FACILITATOR’S GUIDE

AMSTERDAM ● BOSTON ● HEIDELBERG ● LONDON ● NEW YORK ● OXFORD ● PARIS ●

SAN DIEGO ● SAN FRANCISCO ● SINGAPORE ● SYDNEY ● TOKYO
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Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann
Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP
30 Corporate Drive, Burlington, MA 01803

First published 2005

© 2005 Elearn Limited

Published by Elsevier Ltd
All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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ISBN 0 7506 6829 6

For information on all Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann publications

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Printed and bound in Great Britain

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Contents
Preface vii

1 Changing directions in management 1

development
Focusing on the learner 2
The role of Management Extra 2
About this book 3

2 The Management Extra series 5

Key features of the books 5
ManagementExtra.com 8

3 Making learning flexible 9

Getting the balance right 9
A transparent and structured learning process 10
A framework for learning 10

4 Management Extra in practice 15

Example 1 – Skills and knowledge learning 16
Example 2 – Leadership development 18
Example 3 – Accredited learning – Certificate in Management 20
Example 4 – Accredited programme – S/NVQ in Management 22
Example 5 – Attitude driven learning 24
Finding the right blend 26

5 Customising Management Extra 31

6 The Management Extra books 35

Business Environment 36
Change Management 37
Development for High Performance 38
Financial Management 39
Information and Knowledge Management 40
Managing for Results 41
Reputation Management 42
Managing Yourself 43
Project Management 44
Quality and Operations Management 45
Recruitment and Selection 46
Leading Teams 47
Positive Working Relationships 48

References 49

Appendix – Useful weblinks 51

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Preface
In recent years there has been a shift in thinking about the role of a
manager, much of it articulated in the concept of transformational
leadership. Ideas have also been changing about how best to help
managers learn. Managers need relevant skills to help them be
flexible and manage their demanding lives.
Management Extra is a series of books designed for self-paced
learning. Each combines core concepts in a topic area with a rich
mix of activities. A companion website provides resources that
complement the books including diagnostics, workshop materials
and assessments.
This guide is written for management development practitioners. It
describes the Management Extra series and how you can use it for
formal and informal management development activity including:
♦ Skills, attitude and competency based programmes

♦ Qualification based programmes including vocational and

academic management programmes.
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1 Changing directions in management development

Changing directions in management

1 development

‘New business forces demand a different approach to the development

of employees. Capable and committed people have become the critical
source of competitive advantage. Emphasis must be shifted from
training as a series of top-down interventions to a focus on individual
learning.’

Focus on the learner,

Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (2003)
Until not so very long ago, management development meant going
on a course. Now there are a plethora of approaches to choose from.

20 ways to learn

360-degree feedback Qualification based programmes

Psychometrics Internet searches

Performance review Communities of practice

Coaching Action learning

Mentoring Development centres

Buddy systems Outdoor learning

Secondments and job swaps Learning from others

Books and learning resources Acting up

Workshops Project working

Elearning Reflection on experience

Table 1.1 20 ways to learn

In particular, there has been a surge of interest in more personal

forms of learning support including elearning, mentoring, coaching,
360 degree feedback, action learning sets and secondments – all of
which are situated in the workplace. There are various reasons:
♦ The development of personal leadership skills is a high priority
that is not easily achieved through classroom training.
♦ The competitive pressure to respond rapidly to new business
conditions and opportunities means that training needs to be
responsive and able to be implemented in a faster moving
environment.
♦ The onus is now on managers to take responsibility for their
personal development and this is fuelling a demand for learning
that can be applied instantly to workplace issues.
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Facilitator’s Guide

♦ Managers need learning that is flexible and fits with their

demanding role.
♦ Research indicates that managers would prefer to learn in the
workplace than the classroom (Logenecker,2002).
Despite their popularity, informal learning processes pose issues for
employers. They are more labour intensive to support and are
difficult to evaluate. They presuppose the workplace to be a
supportive learning environment and individuals to have the
motivation and skills in self-reflection to learn from it.

Focusing on the learner

The challenge then for management development practitioners is
how to exploit this diversity of learning opportunity in a way that
meets the needs of both the organisation and the individual.
Pressing questions include:
♦ How can development be fitted into the busy lives of managers?

♦ How should management development take on board research

about how managers want to learn?
♦ Which is best: a holistic approach to management development
or an approach in which relevant training is accessed as and
when required?
♦ How can managers access learning to solve problems at work?

♦ Can development meet the needs of the individual and the

organisation?
The transition from a trainer-led approach to one that focuses on
learner choice and flexibility is challenging and demanding. But the
end destination is compelling – the potential of an organisation
composed of self-confident individuals with an active desire and
capacity for learning is a striking vision for most employers.

The role of Management Extra

Management Extra is a series of books designed to support a self-
directed approach to management learning. The books offer a wide
range of benefits:
♦ They offer flexibility to the learner, empowering them to choose,
what, when and where to learn.
♦ They provide a challenging, but accessible body of management
knowledge.
♦ Learning is continuously applied to the workplace through
activities.
♦ The high quality format raises the image of a training
programme and helps to impress on the participants that they
2 really do matter.
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1 Changing directions in management development

♦ They comprehensively cover a wide range of management and

leadership topics and can be used as knowledge inputs for most
qualification based management programmes (see cross
matching schemes on www.managementextra.com).
♦ The books are a cost and time-efficient approach to development,
reducing the time required in the classroom.

About this book

This book is about the Management Extra series and how to use it to
develop learning programmes that increase flexibility and choice for
the learner. It is divided into five sections:
♦ The Management Extra series highlighting how the books and
website are designed to support learning and facilitation.
♦ Making learning flexible exploring the design principles for
successful flexible learning programmes.
♦ Management Extra in practice providing examples that show
Management Extra books and resources can be used to support a
variety of management development programmes.
♦ Customising Management Extra providing advice on how to
extend and tailoring the content to achieve a better fit.
♦ The Management Extra resources describing the content of the
books and the website.

3
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4
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2 The Management Extra series

2 The Management Extra series

Management Extra is designed to help learners put ideas into

practice. Each book combines thought-provoking ideas, examples
and theories about the key management concepts of our time with
activities to help learners see how the concepts work in practice. If
you include time to complete activities, each book provides about
30 hours of learning material.
Titles include:
♦ Managing Yourself ♦ Change Management
♦ Positive Working Relationships ♦ Business Environment
♦ Leading Teams ♦ Project Management
♦ Development for High ♦ Information and Knowledge
Performance Management
♦ Managing for Results ♦ Reputation Management
♦ Financial Management ♦ Recruitment and Selection
♦ Quality and Operations
Management

Key features of the books

The books are written to support learning:

Introduction

Taking control of your life Themes

and work Books are organised into manageable sized themes (4–6
This book is about managing yourself and your professional
development. You will explore what you need to do to achieve your
per book) that the learner can complete in between four
work objectives and your personal or career goals. Managing
yourself means taking responsibility for various aspects of yourself: and six hours.
how you learn and understand, how aware you are of your actions,
feelings and preferences, how you build self-discipline through
managing your time and stress and how you balance your home
and work lives.

The opportunity to change

This book introduces the ideas behind the wide range of tools and
approaches you can draw on to improve the way you manage
yourself. Overall these approaches make work easier to deal with
and life in general more exciting. As well as personal benefits, self-
management will strengthen relationships with colleagues and
increase your effectiveness at work.

Your objectives are to:

♦ Take responsibility for your learning and planning your
personal development
Learning objectives
♦ Become more self-aware and understand your perspective on
the world Each theme opens with objectives and an introduction
♦ Identify ways of using your time more effectively and
efficiently explaining to learners what they will get out of it.
♦ Find ways to manage your stress more effectively

♦ Plan your life to reduce home/work conflicts.

xiii

Figure 2.1 Features of the Management Extra books

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Positive Working Relationships

The systems approach

Engaging and accessible Both the models we have described so far look principally at

The books address topical issues of relevance to most communication between individuals. The next two models focus
more on communication within the wider organisation. The first is
the systems approach shown in Figure 1.4.
managers and are written using straightforward
language that assumes no prior knowledge. The wider environment

Teams and departments

within the organisation

Suppliers

Examples
Examples and case studies that show how the theories Customers
The organisation

and concepts work in practice.

Legislation

Figure 1.4 The organisation as an open system

The systems approach gives a model for analysing communication

within and beyond the organisation. You can analyse who needs to
communicate with whom, how effectively they communicate, and
so on. People developing computer systems for organisations often
draw on the systems model.

Attractive layout Codification and diffusion

Designed as an interactive workbook with space for notes The ideas contained in the systems approach help us to picture
the patterns of communication within an organisation, and
between an organisation and the wider environment. However,
and activity responses. they give us limited information about the nature of the
communication itself.
In recent years, we have become increasingly aware of the
importance of cultures within organisations. The culture can be
defined as the set of values, norms and behaviours that are typical of
the organisation – it is the way that people tend to think and act
within the organisation.

Max Boisot: Codification and diffusion

Anthropologist Max Boisot uses the following matrix – what he
calls the ‘C-space’ – to show how organisations codify and
10 diffuse information. Here are some examples:

Positive Working Relationships

Activity 5
Review your verbal communication skills

Objective
Activities with formative feedback This activity will help you to review how you used the skills of verbal
communication in a recent conversation at work.

Each book contains a rich mix of activities that help Task

learners develop their learning, apply it to live work 1 Use the following questions to help you to review your verbal
communication skills. Your perception of your own skills may be

issues and keep track of their progress.Typical activity different from how others see them, so we suggest you make two
copies of the questions and do a swap with a colleague whereby you
each fill in the questions for yourself and then for the other person.
formats are: 2 Respond to the questions in the grid by ticking the appropriate box
at the end of each question.

– Know yourself type assessments How good are you/is your colleague at: Very
poor
Poor OK Good Very
good

Listening

– Reflective activities ♦ giving the other person your full attention?

♦ seeing things from their point of view?

□

□
□

□
□

□
□

□
□

♦ listening between the lines? □ □ □ □ □

– Right way – wrong way case studies Reflecting and summarising
♦ periodically reflecting back in your own words what you have □ □ □ □ □
understood in a conversation?
– Application activities to bring in information from the ♦ summarising what has been said/agreed? □ □ □ □ □

♦ relating the summary to the objective of the conversation/ □ □ □ □ □

workplace agenda item?

Questioning
♦ knowing which type of question to use when you need □ □ □ □ □

Feedback helps the learner to assess their answers and to more information?

♦ avoiding using leading questions? □ □ □ □ □

♦ using ‘what if?’ questions to help unblock the other □ □ □ □ □

compare their thinking with those of the author. person’s thinking?

Responding
♦ knowing when a supportive response is needed? □ □ □ □ □

♦ knowing how to give an interpretive response? □ □ □ □ □

♦ avoiding giving a habitual type of response? □ □ □ □ □

28

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2 The Management Extra series

Positive Working Relationships

♦ Recap Recap
Explore models of effective interpersonal communication A summary concludes each theme recapping the key
♦ Communication involves an exchange of meaning, achieved
through the processes of coding, transmission, decoding and
feedback.
issues against each of the objectives.
♦ Transactional analysis describes three ego states (behaviour
patterns) that each of us can adopt when interacting with others:
Parent, Adult and Child. The ideal transaction is Adult to Adult.
Identify factors influencing organisational communication
♦ Organisational culture has an impact on communication,
influencing the extent to which organisations codify and diffuse
information.
♦ Organisational trends, including new media, team and project
working and delayering, mean that communication is now more
direct, informal and immediate.
Identify the main barriers to effective communication
♦ The main barriers include physical surroundings, language and
jargon, and cultural diversity.
♦ Barriers can be overcome by paying attention to the context of
communication, selecting the right medium and trying to see
things the way the receiver does.
Skills for improving verbal communication
♦ Listening, reflecting, summarising, questioning, responding and
feedback are essential skills for verbal communication.
♦ When your body language or tone of voice is inconsistent with
the words you are using, your overall message is diminished and
can even be contradicted.

䊳䊳 More @ More@
Adair, J. (1997) Effective communication: the most important Books and website links are recommended for further
management tool of all, Pan
This book explores basic communication skills and then goes
further to look at presentations, visual aids, interviews, appraisals,
reading on each theme.
giving and receiving criticism, and communication between
departments

30

References

References Full references

Adair, J. (1997) Effective communication: the most important
management tool of all, Pan
Full references are provided for further advanced study,
Adair, J. (1983) Effective Leadership, Gower assignment or project work at the end of each book.
Alberti, R. E. and Emmons, M. L. (1978) Your Perfect Right, Impact.
Back, K. and Back, K. (1999) Assertiveness at Work, McGraw-Hill.
Barker, A. (1997) How to Hold Better Meetings, Kogan Page
Barker, A. (2000) Improve Your Communication Skills, Kogan Page.
Barlow, J. et al. (2002) 1st edition, Smart Videoconferencing: New
Habits for Virtual Meetings, Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc.
Berne, E. (1968) Games People Play, Penguin
Boisot, M. (1987) Information in Organisations: The Manager as
Anthropologist, Fontana
Caunt, J. (2000) Organise Yourself, Kogan Page
Covey, S. R. (1992) The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Simon
& Schuster
Dickson, A. (2000) Women at Work, Kogan Page
Fayol, H. (1916) General and Industrial Administration, Dunod
Fisher, R., Ury, W. and Patton, B. (1991) Getting to Yes, Century
Fleming, I. (1997) 4th edition, The Time Management Pocketbook,
Management Pocketbooks Ltd
Gillen, T. (1992) Assertiveness for Managers, Gower
Goleman, D. (2000) Working With Emotional Intelligence, Bantam
Guirdham, M. (1995) Interpersonal Skills at Work, Prentice Hall
Handy, C. (1993) Understanding Organisations, Penguin Business
Harris, T. (1995) I’m OK – You’re OK, Arrow
Hawkins, P. and Shohet, R. (1998) Supervision in the Helping
Professions, Open University Press
Heller, R. (1998) Communicate Clearly, Dorling Kindersel
The Herald (2001) ‘Raising confident children’, Part 3, 26 May
Supplement
Hindle, T. (1998) Managing Meetings, Dorling Kindersely
Holland, S. and Ward, C. (1990) Assertiveness: A Practical Approach,
Winslow
Hunt, J. (1982) Managing People in Organisations, McGraw-Hill

105

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ManagementExtra.com
ManagementExtra.com is a companion website to the series. It
offers management development practitioners a range of
stimulating and relevant resources that can be integrated into
learning programmes that use the Management Extra books.

Figure 2.1 ManagementExtra.com

Site registration is free and provides access to:

♦ a download version of this guide

♦ sample themes from the Management Extra books

♦ cross-matching schemes against national qualifications and

standards.
Subscription to the site provides access to current and relevant
programmes resources that have been developed to support
Management Extra including:
♦ Workshop programmes including facilitator guides, activity
handouts presentation aids for each of the books.
♦ Sample assignments.

♦ Programme and project briefing resources.

♦ Further reading articles.

For information on how to subscribe to website or to access the free

8 resources, visit www.managementextra.com
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3 Making learning flexible

3 Making learning flexible

At a strategic level, there might be consensus on the need to make

learning flexible, but at a tactical level it is more challenging. This
section explores the issues and provides guidance on how to create
flexible programmes of learning.

Getting the balance right

What exactly are you empowering learners to do? This question
forms the start point for our design process; there are two aspects to
consider:
♦ Who decides the objectives of learning – the individual or the
organisation?
Learners will be more engaged and committed if they can decide
for themselves what to learn and apply. The extent to which this
is possible is contingent on the situation. Health and safety is an
obvious example where the organisation has to prescribe the
objectives. Compliance based training is another. Most
management development programmes though – even academic
programmes with a recognised curriculum – can be designed to
offer learners scope to realise their personal and workplace
performance goals.
♦ Who decides the means for learning – the individual or the
organisation?
Choosing how to learn is a decision that traditionally has been
taken by the organisation and all too often means a ‘one size fits
all’ training course.
Standard taught courses with pre-determined goals and learning
methods typically offer little choice to the learner. They are rigid
in approach and are often disconnected from the live issues that
managers face in the workplace. That said, the training course is
still an extremely effective vehicle for developing managers, but
it needs to be re-positioned alongside other learning approaches
as part of an overall blend that recognises diversity of individual
learning need and preference.
The move from the periphery to the mainstream of workplace
learning support tools like coaching, 360-degree feedback and
self-paced learning resources greatly increases the potential to
help managers link learning more closely with their work and to
offer them flexibility to choose how, what, where and when
they learn.
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Individual

Learning is demand led –

individuals choose what, when,
where and how they learn.

Objectives

Learning is supply led – the

organisation chooses what, when,
where and how individuals learn.

Organisation

Deciding how to learn

Organisation Individual

Figure 3.1 Demand versus supply led learning

A transparent and structured learning process

While there has been an enthusiastic embracing of more flexible
forms of learning by organisations, learners may not be ready for
the form of self-directedness demanded by flexible learning; nor
necessarily are their employers equipped to support workplace
learning that is flexibly delivered.
An essential difference between flexible learning and classroom-
based training lies in the transparency of the learning process. It is
the individual learner not the facilitator who steers the learning and
it is crucial that the programme provides them with the support and
information they need to manage their learning.

A framework for learning

Brokers of self-managed learning advocate that organisations need
to develop a strong architecture for management development and
create within it a capability for individuals to manage their personal
learning.

‘It is about being responsible to learners by providing appropriate

support (structure) so that they can really take charge of and be
responsible for their own development.’

Cunningham, 2000
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3 Making learning flexible

The framework in Figure 3.2 identifies four critical stages in a

learning programme and highlights for each the types of support
that a learner might need.

Developing positive and open minds

© Knowing what they want to learn and why
© Believing they can do it Setting learning direction

1 © Assessing their present experience and abilities

© Deciding what they want and need from learning
© Deciding the best way of achieving it
© Planning a development route
Acquiring learning
© Creating learning opportunities and challenges
2
© Reflecting on learning experience
© Relating learning to work
© Learning from other people
© Challenging their viewpoint
© Improving learning skills
Measuring learning achievement
3 © Negotiating standards by which they will be assessed
© Gaining feedback on how they are progressing
© Learning to assess their progress realistically
© Preparing for assessments
Figure 3.2 A framework for supported learning
4
1 2 3 4 Developing positive and open minds

A positive and open mind is one that is receptive to new ideas and
information. The key question that you are seeking to satisfy at this
stage is ‘Why should I join this programme?’
How people feel about learning is very important to the success of
the learning experience. People’s attitude to learning is shaped by a
combination of the extent to which they believe the training is
relevant to them, their past experiences of training, and their own
levels of self-confidence.
Here are some ways you can help learners develop a positive and
open mindset.
♦ Consider how you can make the learning feel fun and exciting or
have interest to the learner before they start.
♦ Encourage learners to explore how they can achieve personal and
workplace goals through the programme.
♦ Run launch events and emphasise what’s in it for the learner; be
clear about why a busy person invest their time in this
programme.
♦ Provide colourful and stimulating handbooks or welcome packs
that provide road maps for the programme, identify contact
points, resources and sources of information.
♦ Discuss barriers to learning and ask learners to identify how they
might overcome them. 11
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♦ Find ways to raise learner expectations and help them visualise

success.
♦ Engage line managers so that they can encourage learners.

♦ Raise curiosity by posing intriguing questions.

1 2 3 4 Planning learning direction

Planning learning direction is about supporting learners to reflect
on their skills and experience, helping them to identify performance
gaps and to plan for learning. It is is about answering ‘What do I
want to learn?’ and ‘How and when should I learn it?’
Here are some techniques to consider:
♦ Provide activities, self-assessment diagnostics or psychometrics to
help learners recognise strengths and limitations.
♦ Encourage learners to develop self-awareness by seeking feedback
from others. Use feedback activities like 360-degree appraisal,
development centres or collate information from performance
reviews.
♦ Help learners make sense of conflicting information.

♦ Offer coaching support to encourage setting of personal and

meaningful goals for the programme.
♦ Provide development planning tools to help the learner map the
programme to their personal and workplace goals and to set
targets.
♦ Create opportunities for early wins.

1 2 3 4 Acquiring learning
People learn in different ways. We need to embrace this fact and
create learning that is truly learner centred and appeals to the range
of ways that people learn:
♦ Use a blend of learning approaches to suit the context and
training need.
♦ Create flexibility so that people can select what to learn.

♦ Provide coaching support to develop learning skills, in particular

skills in self-reflection and the skills to integrate learning from
diverse sources.
♦ Encourage learners to tackle live managerial problems and issues
during the learning.
♦ Encourage the linking of theory to practice through action
learning, work projects, assignments or coaching.
♦ Create opportunities to learn from personal experience and from
the experience of others.

12 ♦ Build in opportunities and provide support for critical reflection.

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3 Making learning flexible

♦ Offer feedback and challenge, most people have deeply ingrained

patterns of behaviour and providing opportunity for reflection
may not be enough to encourage personal change.

1 2 3 4 Measuring learning achievement

Assessment is often associated with qualification programmes, but
assessing learning and the impact of learning is particularly
important for self-managed learners. Assessment needs to provide
direction and motivate the learner through the learning process,
providing a sense of achievement as they confirm newly developed
skills and knowledge and apply them to real work issues at each
stage.
There are three types of assessment to consider:

Diagnostic assessment Formative Assessment Summative assessment

© Assessment before learning © Assessment for learning © Assessment of learning
© Informal © Informal © Formal
© Identifies Knowledge and © Provides feedback © Assesses what was learnt
skills gap 1 © Helps learner measure progress © Makes a judgement on learner
© Helps learner set direction and and adapt learning plan achievement and provides learner
plan for learning with results and feedback

Figure 3.3 Programme assessment

In practice the different functions of assessment are not clear-cut

but properly overlap and integrate. Consider how to:
♦ Measure whether learners have become better managers, not just
whether they have better management knowledge.
♦ Integrate a mix of formative activities within the learning process
that help learners develop and assess their own learning.
Management Extras provides a wide range of formative activities.
♦ Encourage regular review of achievement against learning goals
and critical reflection on learning.
♦ Situate assessment in the workplace so that learners can link their
learning with their work.
♦ Provide flexibility within the assessment process for learners to
tackle live work issues.
♦ Consider assessment options beyond written assignments or
computer-based tests; for example, performance feedback,
achievement of goals, project presentations, presentation of
workplace evidence.
♦ Provide group and individual support activities to help learners
understand the assessment process and to develop the skills to be
successful.
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4 Management Extra in practice

4 Management Extra in practice

In this section, we provide examples that show how Management

Extra can be used alongside other development approaches to create
learning programmes that offer flexibility and choice to the learner.
The examples have been derived from actual programme structures
to illustrate how Management Extra is used in practice.
The examples explore the following aspects of learning:
♦ Skills and knowledge learning, which combines self-paced
learning with facilitator support to develop specific knowledge
and skills.
♦ Leadership development, which blends performance support
tools with learning resources, coaching and action learning to
develop leadership capability and increase corporate business
knowledge.
♦ Accredited learning, which combines a programme of self-paced
learning with workshops and workplace assignments to achieve
fixed assessment outcomes and a qualification. Examples are
provided for both academic and vocational qualifications.
♦ Attitude-driven learning, which mixes various events and
delivery media to develop specific behaviours and change
attitudes.
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Example 1 – Skills and knowledge learning

This example shows how Management Extra can be used to
introduce flexibility into a short project management course. This is
a popular application for flexible learning that works best when
people are learning at the content or at the application level. It
enables workshop contact time to be focused on skills development
and applying learning in context rather than on the knowledge-
related learning which is achieved through the learning resources.
The benefits extend beyond creating a time-efficient blend. This
format aims to foster longer-term commitment to project
management principles than a taught workshop might achieve, by
involving substantial practical elements with constructive feedback
and good follow-up after the course is completed.
The programme offers learners self-paced learning from Project
Management, a skills development workshop and coaching support
to apply their learning to a workplace project.

Identify Evaluation
workplace Eight weeks
project and after workshop
agree with © Implementation Complete
© Coaching Self-paced Project
line manager of project Project review
session learning Management
using workshop © Self-paced and evaluation
© Develop report
Management learning using
learning
Project Extra Management Feedback and
goals
management Extra planning
skills and offuture
knowledge development
check from coach

Figure 4.1 Using Management Extra for short courses

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4 Management Extra in practice

How it works

Developing a ♦ Learners receive the Project Management book and a

positive mindset Welcome Pack describing the course, the benefits that
accrue from it and how to prepare for their first coaching
session.
♦ As part of their preparation, learners are asked to
develop an idea for a ‘live’ project to work on during the
course. Activity 3 of the Management Extra book
provides guidance.
Setting direction ♦ A skills and knowledge check helps learners assess their
present ability.
♦ With the support of a coach, learners set improvement
goals and explore how they can use the course to achieve
these.
Acquiring learning ♦ Learners use concepts and activities from the first three
themes of Project Management to improve the definition
of their project and to create a project plan.
♦ Weekly contact from the coach helps motivate learners to
prepare for the workshop.
♦ During a one-day workshop, learners work in small
groups to share key learning from the project definition
and planning stages and to provide feedback to peers.
Skills development activities focus on project
implementation and in particular project leadership.
♦ Learners use the final two themes from Project
Management to support implementation of their project.
Measuring learning ♦ Learners are asked to assess the strengths and
achievement weaknesses of their project and to submit an evaluation
report to their coach. A date for the evaluation is agreed
at the workshop, nominally six weeks.

Resources to support this programme are available from

ManagementExtra.com.

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Example 2 – Leadership development

This programme, which is designed to develop management talent
and increase corporate knowledge, is needs based and uses the
workplace to develop leadership and job competencies. It is the
most learner-centric of the examples in this section, creating the
potential for individual managers to develop entirely personalised
programmes of learning and assessment. Commitment and support
for learning from line managers and senior managers are both
critical components for this programme.
Individual learning needs are met through a combination of
coaching, learning resources, learning events and action learning
based around live workplace issues. Management Extra provides the
core learning resource and is supplemented by strategic documents
from the organisation including business plans, annual reports,
market research and so on to form a knowledge hub for learners.

Launch event Optional learning events

Group Management
events Programme Development
launch Centre conference

Coach facilitated
Self-directed learning Evaluation of
Individual Awareness Development
Management Extra modules performance
learning raising planning
Coaching improvement
360-feedback

Action learning
Collaborative Form Identify Evaluation of
Problem solving Application of
learning action learning projects/ achievement
Dialogue and learning
sets challenges improvement
support Feedback and
challenge

Figure 4.2 Using Management Extra for leadership development

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4 Management Extra in practice

How it works
Developing a positive ♦ Individuals attend a launch event that explains the
mindset learning process, emphasises the benefits and provides
opportunity for learners to meet and form a support
network. A launch pack offers guidance on the learning
process.
Setting direction ♦ The emphasis is on developing self-awareness and
planning a learning route.
♦ Learners work with their coach to reflect on their skills
and behaviour using feedback from an observed
development centre and a 360-degree feedback activity
against a framework of leadership capabilities.
♦ In consultation with their line manager, learners plan
strategic opportunities and challenges in the workplace to
help develop their capability. A development plan
captures goals, learning events and targets achievement
levels.
Acquiring learning ♦ Learners work in action learning sets (4-5 people) to
provide peer support and coaching around workplace
issues.The set facilitator directs learners to relevant
resources, including Management Extra.
♦ Optional learning events including skills development
workshops and topical presentations from internal and
external people is available to all learners. Learners
collaborate to identify learning events and themes.
♦ Regular coaching sessions encourage participants to
critically reflect on progress against their development
plan and to apply new learning.
Measuring learning ♦ The main measure of achievement is against the goals set
achievement out in the development plan.
♦ Learners present an assessment of their learning and on-
the-job performance at a management conference, six
months after the start of the programme.The aim is to
bring together ideas, encourage knowledge sharing and to
raise awareness of future learning options.

Resources to support this programme are available from

ManagementExtra.com.

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Example 3 – Accredited learning –

Certificate in Management
Providers of qualification-based programmes are recognising the
benefits of a modular structure and flexible delivery to their
learners. The example below uses Management Extra as the primary
means of learning for a Certificate in Management programme.
The programme offers the flexibility of self-paced learning within a
tightly scheduled group learning plan which includes start and end
dates for modules and assignment submission deadlines. Sustaining
momentum for the duration of a qualification based programme
can be challenging, and the group schedule is an important element
in encouraging learners to make continuous progress.

Programme Startup 4 x 12 week modules

Programme Brief Workshop Learning support Workshop Work-based

launch line managers Key concepts groups Skills assignment
and development
Assignment and assignment
Form peer Companion
briefing planning
learning support website
groups
Management
Extra
modules

You and Work

Quality and improvement
© Managing Yourself
© Quality and Operations
© Business Environment
© Project Management
© Positive Working
© Change Management
Relationships

Your Team Managing Resources

© Development for High © Financial Management
Performance © Information and Knowledge
© Managing for Results Management
© Leading Teams © Recruitment and Selection

Figure 4.3 Using Management Extra for a Certificate in Management

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4 Management Extra in practice

How it works

Developing a ♦ Most learners joining a qualification programme will be

positive mindset motivated by the prospect of the qualification. Partly
their mindset will be won.
♦ Despite a positive desire to join the programme, learners
are often concerned about their ability to succeed; they
might not have learnt for some time or they might be
concerned about finding time. A vital element of
induction is to help learners visualise and plan for
success.
♦ The learning support group is an important support
network. Forming the groups and helping them to gel is
also imperative.
Setting direction ♦ Workplace assignments are provided as flexible
frameworks within which learners can create a focus for
their own learning for each module.
Acquiring learning ♦ Management Extra resources are matched against the
syllabus and grouped into module clusters.The books that
are required for each module are distributed at the key
concepts workshop at the start of each module.
♦ Workshops focus on capturing and contextualising key
points from the learning, on skills development and on
assignment planning.
♦ Management Extra activities are for self-study and also
as the basis of group activities in workshops.This helps
learners to access the books.
♦ Assignments encourage consolidation and further
development of learning using live workplace issues.
♦ A learning portal provides supporting articles from
management journals and useful websites.
Measuring learning ♦ The assignments play an important part in enabling
achievement learners to measure achievement and plan for
improvement. Constructive feedback is provided in writing
but also discussed with learners.
♦ Support for assignment work plays an important part of
both module workshops. Initially this focuses on helping
learners to apply the assignment framework to their own
workplace issues and on providing an environment in
which they can test their thinking with peers.

Resources to support this programme are available from

ManagementExtra.com.

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Example 4 – Accredited programme –

S/NVQ in Management
This vocational qualification offers learners a programme of on-the-
job development activities with coaching and self-directed learning.
The programme encourages a learning cycle of development
planning, knowledge acquisition, practice and reflection. Each
learner follows a personalised programme of development created
from the management standards.

Professional
Briefing Diagnostic Portfolio development Final
development activities
workshop workshop and presentation Assessment
to produce evidence

© Knowledge development using

Management Extra
© Regular cohort meetings using action
learning
© Formative assessment and coaching
with Development Adviser

Figure 4.4 Using Management Extra for a S/NVQ in management

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4 Management Extra in practice

How it works

Developing a ♦ A briefing workshop and welcome pack explain the

positive mindset programme.
Setting direction ♦ An interactive workshop of diagnostic tools and planning
activities helps learners to create individual development
paths against the standards.
♦ Learners are coached in a process to create workplace
development activities based on the standards.
Management Extra activities support this.
♦ Consultation with line managers forms a crucial part of
developing feasible workplace activities.
♦ Learners consolidate the diagnostic and planning work
into a development plan.
Acquiring learning ♦ Management Extra resources are matched against the
management standards.
♦ Professional development activities created by the
learners with the support of their Development Advisor
form the main focus for learning.
♦ Facilitated action learning sets provide a supportive
environment for learners to share learning practice.
♦ 1:1 coaching sessions each month with the development
adviser focus on critical reflection and planning.
Measuring learning ♦ Formative assessment is provided on an ongoing basis by
achievement the Development Adviser.
♦ Final assessment involves presentation of a portfolio of
evidence.

Resources to support this programme are available from

ManagementExtra.com.
These include a cross match of Management Extra against the
management standards.

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Example 5 – Attitude driven learning

The desired outcome for this programme is to change the behaviour
of first line managers to increase their focus on developing their
teams. Collaborative workshops and action learning sets are an
important focus for the programme providing a risk-free
environment for practising new skills and sharing tacit knowledge.
Management Extra resources are used to challenge people’s mindsets
by exposing learners to new ideas, concepts and best practice. The
line manager plays a key role in supporting and providing feedback
to learners.

Regular 1:1s with line manager to agree learning objectives,

refine and update development plans and measure progress

Orientation Self-directed Manager as Self-paced Workshop

session learning developer learning 1/2 day 2–3 months

workshops after workshop

Leading Teams Development for
11/2 days
high performance Presentations
Management
Skills development identifying actions
diagnostic Managing for
completed,
Form action Results
Team survey including business
learning sets
Create development benefits
plans Action planning
Sharing what has
worked well
Identifying barriers
to change and
effectiveness

Action learning Measurement

sets Six months
after workshop
Meetings take place
2–4 weekly Learners complete
face-to-face, leadership
facilitated by a diagnostic, identify
coach benefits achieved
and outstanding
development needs

Figure 4.5 Using Management Extra for behaviour change

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4 Management Extra in practice

How it works

Developing a ♦ At an orientation session learners receive an induction

positive mindset pack describing the course. Motivational resources
including guru videos are used to raise enthusiasm.
Setting direction ♦ Feedback from diagnostics and a Team Motivation and
Performance survey is used by participants and line
managers to identify development direction.
♦ A development and action plan captures how they will
develop their own leadership skills and the capabilities of
their team over a 3 month period.
Acquiring learning ♦ Leading Teams sets the context for the workshop.
♦ The role of manager as developer of people is the focus
for the workshop .The workshop provides a risk-free
environnment for role playing and trying out new
behaviours.
♦ Facilitated action learning sets provide an opportunity for
exploration of issues and reflection on practice as
learners implement their development plans.
♦ Additional Management Extra resources are used to
challenge and develop participant mindsets.
Measuring learning ♦ Learners present the outcomes of their work at a
achievement workshop, sharing what has worked and the barriers they
face in change.
♦ Six months after the start of the programme, learners
repeat the diagnostics.

Resources to support this programme are available from

ManagementExtra.com.

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Facilitator’s Guide

Finding the right blend

The examples all seek to optimise flexibility and choice for learners
by providing a mix of learning experiences and delivery channels.
Blended learning is now quite commonplace in learning design but
it varies quite considerably in its execution.
The most powerful blended learning takes place when the
components are designed to reinforce and cross-reference each other
within an overarching and cohesive framework. Cohesion is
achieved, not only through good design of learning resources, but
also by incorporating collaboration and workplace learning which
take the learner beyond the boundaries of the learning programme
and into real issues that they face in the workplace.

Learning
components

Workplace

Collaborative environment

Figure 4.6 Blending learning (adapted from Content and Context in elearning,
Epic plc)

So how should you choose the right blend of learning channels?

While there is no formula for optimising the blend, some
organisations have developed semiformal methodologies to support
decision making about what methods to use and when to use them.
The following model which is adapted from IDC’s Blended Learning
and Business Change study (2003) proposes four criteria to consider:

Some combination of:

♦ Learning resources
♦ Workshops
Training conditions
♦ Action Learning
+
♦ Coaches
Resources available
♦ Digital Communities
The blend +
♦ Conference calls
Content characteristics
♦ Elearning
+
♦ Portals
Target audience
♦ Workplace learning
♦ Job aids
Etc…

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4 Management Extra in practice

♦ Conditions in which an initiative is undertaken.

Is it urgent to complete the training?
Will results be reported externally?
♦ Resources available for a particular training need.
Do we have the resources to cope?
Do we have the development expertise?
What is our budget?
Is the blend scalable?
Is the blend sustainable?
♦ Target audience.
Do learners have access to physical classrooms?
Do they speak the same language?
How much time off the job can we support?
Are they in the same time zone?
Does the blend fit the culture of the organisation?
♦ Characteristics of the content.
How valuable is the subject matter to the organization?
Is the content informational, procedural, behavioral or
conceptual?
Which learning approaches are most effective for delivering this
type of content?
Resources to support this process are available from
ManagementExtra.com

Support for implementation

You can also obtain help to develop and deliver a blended approach
from the authors of this Facilitation Guide:
Elearn Contact: Tony Horsfield
Gables House Office: 0870 142 5697
29 Gateforth Lane Direct: 01757 228882
Hambleton Mobile: 07770 350 857
Selby Fax: 01757 228823
YO8 9 HP [email protected]
www.elearn.co.uk
Alternatively contact one of the following who are able to provide
training services in support of the Management Extra series
Acorn Learning Solutions
Somerton House Contact: Sarah John
Hazell Drive Tel: 01633 663000
Newport Fax: 01633 810400
South Wales [email protected]
NP10 8FY acornlearning.co.uk

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Access Training Contact: George Grandison

Ferintosh Business Park Tel: 01349 865777
DINGWALL Fax: 01349 865865
Ross-shire [email protected]
IV15 9TE
Amaranth Consulting Ltd
PO Box 5277 Contact: Jane Burns
Milton-Keynes Tel: 01908 671500
MK7 6BS Mob: 07714 607115
[email protected]
www.amaranth-consulting.co.uk
Crownship Development Ltd
Charlton House Mews Contact: Helle Smith
Bridge Street Tel: 01652 658151
BRIGG Fax: 01652 658221
North Lincolnshire [email protected]
DN20 8NQ www.crownship.com
CTC Contact: Karen Trem
South Glebe Farm Tel: 01302 773277
Old Bawtry Road Fax: 01302 772757
Finningley Mobile: 07811 328529
Doncaster DN9 3BU [email protected]
www.ctc4business.co.uk
Ellerton Training Services
125 Grange Loan Contact: Judith Warren
EDINBURGH Tel/fax: 0131 667 5570
EH9 2HB [email protected]
www.ellertontraining.co.uk
Genesis Training Contact: John Davies
Alston House Tel: 01524 843800
White Cross Fax: 01524 843806
LANCASTER [email protected]
LA1 4XQ www.genesistraining.co.uk
GLC Management Solutions
7 Hillside Park Contact: Michael Crothers
Bangor Tel: 02891 455415
Co. Down [email protected]
N. IRELAND
BT19 6TU
The Learning Approach
Tower House Contact: John Dyson/Kate Williams
Fishergate Tel: 01904 567 313
York Fax: 01904 567 336
YO10 4UA [email protected]
www.thelearningapproach.com

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4 Management Extra in practice

Management Services (Midlands)

Calver House Contact: Ken Ellis, June Hawkins
30 Marston Crescent Tel: 0116 277 6330
Countesthorpe Fax: 0116 278 0500
LEICESTER [email protected]
LE8 5PY www.m-s-m.co.uk
Open Learning Centre International
24 King Street Contact: Max Faulkner
CARMARTHEN Tel: 01267 235268
SA31 1BS Fax: 01267 238179
[email protected]
www.olcinternational.com
Vector Training Ltd
14 Clifford Street Contact: Brin Bendon
York Tel: 01904 621199
North Yorkshire Fax: 01904 658845
YO1 9RD [email protected]
www.vectortraining.co.uk

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5 Customising Management Extra

5 Customising Management Extra

There are three main options for selecting learning resources to

support a programme:
♦ Use off-the-shelf learning resources like Management Extra

♦ Plan and develop custom made resources

♦ Tailor and extend learning resources

Generally speaking, it is more cost efficient to buy or adapt proven

resources than it is to create your own, but it does depend on how
close the match is between your requirements and the package in
the first instance. Table 5.1 highlights issues to consider.

Audience ♦ Who are the resources written for?

♦ How similar is the target audience to your own?

Objectives ♦ How closely do the learning objectives match those of your

own learners?

Coverage ♦ Are there areas of the text where you require more or less
breadth or depth?
♦ Does the text address topical issues in a ‘up to date’ way?

Relevance ♦ How relevant are the examples and activities to your learners?
♦ Will the materials help our learners tackle current issues?
♦ Are there other activities and examples that might be more
helpful or relevant?

Pitch ♦ Are the resources pitched at the right level for your learners
e.g writing style, vocabulary, sentence length.

Table 5.1 Evaluating learning resources

In most instances the match does not have to be perfect. A set of

good core learning materials can be adapted to improve their
relevance and coverage. For example, you might want to fill in gaps,
provide more depth, offer contrasting viewpoints or provide local
examples and activities. Here are five strategies to consider.

1. Add additional resources to create a knowledge bank

There are plenty of resources, which although not designed for
learning, do an excellent job of getting the message across and
provide very credible resources within a bank. Possible sources
include:
♦ Websites. Links to management websites that provide
information to support Management Extra is provided as an
appendix to this book
♦ Journal articles

♦ Newspaper articles
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♦ Company intranets and newsletters

♦ Policy documents and company handbooks

♦ Textbooks

2. Develop new resources

Creating new resources to add to the core package is another
way to make the package more relevant and meaningful to your
learners. Examples include:
♦ Locally relevant activities with feedback

♦ Case studies with organisation or sector relevance

♦ Organisation specific examples

3. Develop an Application Guide

An Application Guide or Study Guide advises learners how best
to use the resources in context. It acts as a ‘wrap around’ helping
to bind resources that are diverse in origin and format into a
coherent and accessible whole for the learner. Depending on the
context, an application guide might offer:
♦ Study guidance

♦ Learning objectives

♦ A road map through the resources and the programme

♦ Editorial to introduce resources

♦ Summaries of key learning points

♦ Advice on how to select and use resources

♦ Learning support tools like development plans and

diagnostics
♦ Assignments for discussion with tutors or colleagues

4. Provide a learning portal

Learning portals present the learner with access to learning
resources and information on demand. A learning portal could
be used in conjunction with Management Extra to:
♦ Provide searchable access to further reading for each book

♦ Provide weblinks to other websites

♦ Offer scope for collaborative discussions

♦ Provide programme guidance

♦ Offer editorial and programme news

♦ Offer learning in other formats, in particular elearning and

video

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5 Customising Management Extra

5. Tailor the resources

There might be occasions when you feel that additional
resources are not the answer and you would prefer to tailor the
Management Extra book itself. The two most common forms of
customisation are:
♦ Badging which involves changing the physical appearance,
for example the logo, cover style and print colours, to match
an organisation’s style and image.
♦ Tailoring which involves editing the content to achieve a
better fit with the needs of a particular organisation, industry
sector or training programme. This might include:
– adding examples that have greater resonance with the
target learners
– tailoring the activities to support transfer to specific work
environments
– adding or removing some of the content within a book
– re-arranging content between books so that they can be
used more easily to support a particular course structure.
For more information on tailoring the Management Extra series
contact:
Elearn Contact: Tony Horsfield
Gables House Office: 0870 142 5697
29 Gateforth Lane Direct: 01757 228882
Hambleton Mobile: 07770 350 857
Selby Fax: 01757 228823
YO8 9 HP [email protected]
www.elearn.co.uk

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6 The Management Extra books

6 The Management Extra books

This section describes each of the books that make up the

Management Extra series. Current titles in the series are:
♦ Business Environment

♦ Change Management

♦ Development for High Performance

♦ Financial Management

♦ Information and Knowledge Management

♦ Managing for Results

♦ Reputation Management

♦ Managing Yourself

♦ Project Management

♦ Quality and Operations Management

♦ Recruitment and Selection

♦ Leading Teams

♦ Positive Working Relationships

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Business Environment
Business Environment looks at the major factors that influence an
organisation’s strategy. It equips learners with a portfolio of tools
including PESTLE, portfolio analysis, capability audits, SWOT and
stakeholder analysis to analyse the internal and external
environment within which their organisation operates and
challenges them to develop their understanding of their
organisation’s strategic direction.

Objectives
♦ To explore the nature of your organisation.

♦ To assess the impact of internal factors such as culture and

structure on organisations.
♦ To conduct an internal environment analysis.

♦ To identify stakeholders and their impact on the business.

♦ To evaluate trends in the external environment that will affect

organisations in the future.
♦ To explore your organisation’s position in the marketplace.

♦ To use analytical techniques to uncover the opportunities and

threats to your business.

Themes
The organisation in context
The organisational landscape
The key players
The macro environment
SWOT analysis

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6 The Management Extra books

Change Management
This book explores change from the perspective of the organisation
and from the individual manager. It considers how change affects
organisations; how they respond to changes in the business
environment, influence that environment and use change processes
to gain competitive advantage. It explores the role of the change
agent, and introduces tools and techniques for planning, launching
and managing change programmes successfully. It describes the
impact of change on individuals and emphasises the role of the
manager in supporting individuals through the change process.

Objectives
♦ To understand your role in the change process and why change is
necessary.
♦ To investigate external and internal forces for change.

♦ To explore how to develop and implement a change strategy,

including launch strategies, management styles and targeting
change.
♦ To use your knowledge of individual reactions to change to help
you adapt your behaviour and achieve successful change.
♦ To adapt your approaches to cultural change.

♦ To explore the dynamics of organisational change and how they

can be harnessed for success.

Themes
Why change?
The conditions for change
A framework for change
Individual and organisational change
Techniques for sustainable change

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Development for High Performance

A key feature of the role of managers is to develop the people who
make up their team. This book explains the development process
and contextualises it against the overall aims, strategies and business
plans of the organisation. It explores the role of the line manager in
creating development opportunities and provides examples to show
how managers can use coaching, mentoring, delegation and
performance management to help their team develop skills and
learn to work together effectively.

Objectives
♦ To identify how employee development is linked to
organisational performance.
♦ To develop employees by leading, coaching, mentoring and
delegating.
♦ To identify opportunities for people development when faced
with organisational changes.
♦ To explore the competency framework and use it to highlight
individual and team development needs.
♦ To apply the key steps within a performance management
process.
♦ To evaluate the effectiveness of training and development
activities.

Themes
Development for improved performance
Leading and coaching
Mentoring and delegating
Change and performance
Evaluating performance

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6 The Management Extra books

Financial Management
To gain competitive advantage all parts of an organisation must be
able to talk to one another. It follows then that all managers must
be, in some sense, financial managers who are able to speak the
common language of finance. This book aims to provide learners
with the necessary understanding to input into the financial
management of their organisation.

Objectives
♦ To be able to contribute more effectively to the financial
planning process in your organisation.
♦ To investigate the relationship between costing and pricing of
products.
♦ To learn to prepare capital investment proposals.

♦ To use the main financial statements and key financial ratios to

evaluate an organisation’s performance.
♦ To identify the main sources of funding for an organisation.

Themes
Key financial statements
Preparing and monitoring budgets
Pricing for profitability
Reviewing financial performance
External reporting

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Information and Knowledge Management

Individuals and organisations rely on their ability to select and
process information, both to make sense of their local environment
and to try to understand the bigger picture. This book approaches
information management from two key perspectives:
♦ The skills of the individuals manager to source, manage and
communicate information
♦ The organisational processes and systems for managing
information and knowledge.

Objectives
♦ To identify sources of information relevant to your needs inside
and outside of your organisation.
♦ To evaluate and improve the quality of your information sources.

♦ To learn how to manage information overload.

♦ To describe key principles for communicating effectively in

writing.
♦ To identify the principles behind information system design and
management.
♦ To explain the features of knowledge management.

Themes
Information, data and decision making
Evaluating information
Communicating information
Information systems
Knowledge management

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6 The Management Extra books

Managing for Results

Managing for results focuses on how to get the best out of people
and celebrate the diversity of perspectives and experience that
people bring to your organisation. The book explores motivation
and how peoples’ needs affect the satisfaction that they get from
their work. Practical activities encourage learners to consider a
number of strategies for increasing the motivation and effectiveness
of their team.
The book also considers how dissatisfaction impacts on performance
and assesses the role of the grievance and disciplinary processes in
managing performance.

Objectives
♦ To contribute more effectively to the overall goals and objectives
of your unit and the organisation.
♦ To develop an understanding of how individuals and teams
harness motivation to achieve results.
♦ To identify how individual expectations affect performance.

♦ To explore the nature of the rewards that individuals expect and

link them to the results that are expected of them.
♦ To explore new ways of balancing the varying needs of
individuals and the team when managing for results.

Themes
Specify the results
Motivation theory
Motivation to achieve results
Grievance and disciplinary procedures
A balancing act

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Facilitator’s Guide

Reputation Management
This book provides a clear insight into the meanings that people
attach to popular notions such as reputation, image, brand, public
relations (PR) and corporate governance. It explains how
organisations use reputation and image to create competitive
advantage and how to manage situations where the corporate
reputation is at risk. It also explores the role that the manager plays
in building and managing the business reputation and image both
inside and outside the organisation.

Objectives
♦ To determine the features that characterise the reputation of your
organisation and the trade-offs that have been made to create an
image that matches the corporate and business context.
♦ To assess the effectiveness of your organisation in creating and
maintaining an appropriate image at corporate and business
levels.
♦ To identify what is being done and what needs to be done to
maintain effective brand images for both the organisation and
the products and services that the enterprise depends on for
growth and survival.
♦ To evaluate the value of techniques used in managing internal
and external public relations.
♦ To assess how effective your organisation is at providing
corporate governance and dealing with crisis situations where
reputations may be at risk.

Themes
Image and reputation
Creating a corporate image
Managing brand image
Managing the internal image
Managing the external image

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6 The Management Extra books

Managing Yourself
This book is about the skills of personal effectiveness and
professional development. Learners are introduced to a wide range
of tools and approaches that will enable them to realise their
personal and work performance goals by improving the way in
which they manage themselves. It highlights how managing
yourself means taking responsibility for various aspects of yourself:
how you learn and understand, how aware you are of your actions,
feelings and preferences, how you build self discipline through
managing your time and stress and how you balance your home
and work lives.

Objectives
♦ To take responsibility for your learning and planning your
personal development.
♦ To become more self-aware and understand your perspective on
the world.
♦ To identify ways of using your time more effectively and
efficiently.
♦ To find ways to manage your stress more effectively.

♦ To plan your life to reduce home/work conflicts.

Themes
Learning and reflection
Personal development and self-awareness
Exploring perceptions and diversity
Time management
Stress and life balance

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Facilitator’s Guide

Project Management
This book focuses on the activities involved in initiating, planning,
implementing and completing a project successfully. As well as
covering the tools and techniques of project management, it also
pays attention to the soft issues involved – how to manage the
people side of project management.

Objectives
♦ To explore what differentiates a project from other types of work
and identify the essential stages in the project lifecycle.
♦ To define the vision, objectives and scope of a project with the
project sponsors and key stakeholders.
♦ To identify the key elements of a project plan and practice
network analysis techniques for project planning.
♦ To learn how to identify and manage potential risks in relation to
the project.
♦ To find out what is involved in leading and monitoring a project
effectively.
♦ To explore how to bring a project to closure, evaluate its success
and capture learning points for the future.

Themes
What is project management?
Project initiation and definition
Project planning
Putting the plan into action
Project completion

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6 The Management Extra books

Quality and Operations Management

This book considers the associated concepts of quality and
operations and places customers at the heart of a quality business
operation. It explains how organisations that are focused on
delivering quality products and services continuously improve the
design, planning and control of their operational processes so that
they meet the developing needs of their customer.

Objectives
♦ To develop your understanding of quality as an organisational,
team and customer concept.
♦ To explore and practice the application of quality tools and
techniques to improve the quality of products, services and
processes.
♦ To evaluate how you can plan and control quality in the
processes you manage.
♦ To assess health, safety and the environment as quality issues.

Themes
The language of quality
Improvement
Quality in operations planning and control
Techniques for planning and control
Quality in health, safety and the environment

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Facilitator’s Guide

Recruitment and Selection

The red-hot competition for talented employees is still news.
Employers everywhere recognise that they must evolve better
recruitment, selection and retention strategies if they are to compete
effectively with their rivals for the best people. This book discusses
current practices in recruitment and selection and offers advice on
how to take an approach that is strategically focused, effective, fair
and based on best practice.

Objectives
♦ To determine the essential stages of the recruitment and selection
process and the manager’s role within it.
♦ To consider how to take account of equality and diversity issues
including legislation and related codes of practice.
♦ To assess alternative approaches to external recruitment for
addressing shortfalls in the pool of skills, knowledge, and
experience.
♦ To profile a job role and develop information that describes the
vacancy in fair, clear and accurate terms.
♦ To evaluate methods for attracting people from a wide pool
of talent.
♦ To explore methods for selecting the candidate who is likely to
perform most effectively.
♦ To develop a process for ensuring a positive start for a new
employee.

Themes
Essentials of recruitment and selection
Profiling the role
Recruitment strategies
The selection process
Keeping new recruits

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6 The Management Extra books

Leading Teams
Building and leading a successful team is one of the most valuable
and rewarding management activities. This book explores why team
working has become such a prevalent force in the global workplace
and looks at the many different types of teams that now exist. It
explores contemporary thinking on leadership, particularly
situational leadership, action-centred leadership and ethical
leadership and provides practical techniques to build teams and
develop their performance.

Objectives
♦ To appreciate the pivotal role of teams in the workplace and the
characteristics that differentiate high performing teams.
♦ To analyse your own leadership style and plan to develop your
leadership skills.
♦ To explore ways in which you can build a high performing team.

♦ To plan to improve team working using the techniques of

empowerment, team decision-making and team learning.

Themes
The shape of teams
Approaches to leadership
Leadership in practice
Team building
Strengthening the team

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Facilitator’s Guide

Positive Working Relationships

This book explores the skills of communication and assertive
behaviour and how they enable openness and honesty to be
brought into a relationship. It looks at how to develop better
working relationships by applying these skills in three specific areas:
negotiations, meetings and conflict management.

Objectives
♦ To become a more effective communicator.

♦ To master your ability to think and behave assertively in difficult

situations.
♦ To develop your skills for leading and participating in meetings.

♦ To find out how to negotiate win-win solutions.

♦ To improve your ability to manage conflicts of interest and

disagreements.

Themes
Communicating to connect
Behaving assertively
Making meetings productive
Negotiating win-win solutions
Recognising and managing conflict

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References

References
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (2003), Focus on
the learner, www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/6EF2BB45-6C9F-4744-
8611-B856D2833C23/0/2837focuslearne03.pdf
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (2004).
Reflections – new directions in training and development
www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/3D57B6FA-81C6-41BB-8A21-
D5717600A43E/0/2958reflctnstrndstraindevt.pdf
Bennett, B. and Dawes, G., edited by Cunningham I., (2000)
Self Managed Learning in Action, Gower
Cunningham, I. (1999), The Wisdom of Strategic Learning, Gower
Epic plc, (2003) Content and Context in elearning, www.epic.co.uk
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Facilitator’s Guide

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Appendix – Useful weblinks

Appendix – Useful weblinks

The section offers useful weblinks to support learning from the
ManagementExtra books.

Working Relationships
Personal development skills including communication, problem
solving, time management
www.mindtools.com
The Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in
Organisations
www.eiconsortium.org/index.html

Recruitment and Selection

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development offer
excellent resources on recruitment and selection, workforce
development and resourcing
www.cipd.co.uk
The Equal Opportunities Commission
www.eoc.org.uk

Leading Teams
Classical Leadership Models
www.infed.org/leadership/traditional_leadership.htm
Leader to Leader Institute – an excellent source of articles and
opinion
www.pfdf.org/leaderbooks/l2l/index.html
Provides access to the 2005 management standards
www.management-standards.org
Belbin’s team roles
www.belbin.com

Reputation Management
Corporate Reputation Institute at Manchester Business School
www.mbs.ac.uk/research/centres-projects/corporate-
reputation/index.htm
Useful resources for managing PR agencies
www.prca.org.uk/sites/prca.nsf/homepages/homepage.
American Marketing Association website providing extensive
marketing resources
www.marketingpower.com.
Another useful marketing portal
www.knowthis.com
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Facilitator’s Guide

Quality and Operations

Excellent toolkits providing practical advice from the Dti on
business topics including quality, flexible working, diversity and
communications
www.dti.gov.uk/bestpractice/people/flexible-working.htm
European Foundation for Quality Management
www.efqm.org
Institution of Operations Management
http://iomnet.org.uk/index.htm
Health & safety law
www.open.gov.uk/hse

Project Management
The Association for Project Management offering access to the
Project Management Body of Knowledge
www.apm.org.uk/copyright/next.htm
Online library of free papers and articles. Particularly good for
operations, IT and finance.
www.bettermanagement.com

Information and Knowledge Management

An excellent portal for exloring knowledge management
www.kmresource.com/exp.htm

Financial Management
Online learning resources in business, particularly finance and
economics.
www.bized.ac.uk/learn/learn.htm
For annual reports
http://annualreports.money.msn.co.uk

Business Environment
Excellent overview of strategic analysis and planning tools
www.tutor2u.net/revision_notes_strategy.asp
Office of the Information Commissioner
www.dataprotection.gov.uk
Consumer law for competition and fair trading
www.tradingstandards.net
www.oft.gov.uk (Office of Fair Trading).
Office for national statistics
www.statistics.gov.uk

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Appendix – Useful weblinks

Change Management
Change management resource library
www.change-management.org/articles.htm
The change management section of this business portal is a useful
resource
www.business.com/directory/management/change_management/
reference/

Development for High Performance

American Society for Training and Development
www.astd.org/astd
Investors in People
www.investorsinpeople.co.uk
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
www.cipd.co.uk

Managing for Results

Motivation theories
www.accel-team.com/motivation/
ACAS – the UK arbitration site
www.acas.org.uk

Managing Yourself
Learning and learning styles from the guru, Peter Honey
www.peterhoney.com/product/brochure
Interesting articles about beliefs, emotions and positive thinking
www.personalpowernow.com.au/Articles/index.asp
Centre for Applied Emotional Intelligence
www.emotionalintelligence.co.uk/eitheory.htm

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