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Committed to the development of people and organizations

Interpersonal Skills for Managers


The role of a Manager is complex, and as managers progress in an organization, most develop their own individual styles of managing and interacting with others, often based upon their own experiences of being managed in a particular style. Whilst all styles have their strengths, there is no such thing as the perfect manager, and often people take on a style which is not suitable to them or in perfect alignment with the corporate culture.

Good management practice encourages those responsible for development and training to carry out appraisals, identify development needs, and apply relevant training solutions. Many development areas can be adequately targeted with tailored training courses such as Time Management, Persuading and Influencing Skills, Delegation Skills, etc., which provide the manager with particular tools and techniques. However, after a while, under the pressure of work, old habits creep back, and the benefit of the training is often lost.

Often, the fundamental problem is with the behaviour of the individual, and specifically, with the ways in which they interact with other people. Our patterns of behaviour are shaped and influenced not just by recent events, such as work, training and education but by almost everything that has happened to us since birth. Little wonder, that attending a training course seems to have so little long-term impact in terms of real changes in behaviour.

This programme focuses on the individual manager enabling them to develop their own personal style, drawing on their own strengths and experiences. The programme is supportive and enables each person to increase their potential for their personal success as managers.

Organisational Benefits

Through the Interpersonal Skills for Managers Programme, organizations will:

  • Enhance on-going manager and direct report relationships;
  • Improve employee retention and commitment;
  • Increase the overall effectiveness of the management team;
  • Enhance their managers’ effectiveness at dealing with conflict;
  • Decrease the time period taken for new managers to become effective within the organization;
  • Increase profitability through managers fully understanding their role;
  • Create a self-supporting management team;
  • Gain commitment to a best practice management model which supports the organizational philosophy and culture.
Individual Benefits

As a result of the Interpersonal Skills for Managers Programme, participants can:

  • Understand their own blockages to their personal success;
  • Have a clear understanding of how to reduce their personal blockages;
  • Achieve an improved understanding of their own and other’s behaviour and its impact on the business;
  • Understand how to develop and maintain enduring relationships with direct reports and others employees within the organization;
  • Deal effectively with conflict and difficult people;
  • Understand how to build effective teams;
  • Work more effectively as a team member;
  • Work effectively with teams that may seem to have differing needs;
  • Understand how to develop a supportive working environment.

Target Audience

  • All management staff including:
  • Project Managers.
  • Sales Managers.
  • Customer Services Professionals.
  • Professional Services Managers.
  • Professional Services Consultants.
  • Sales Professionals.
  • Technical Pre-Sales Consultants.
  • Learning Approach And Content

    The Interpersonal Skills Programme for Managers is designed around the specific needs, and ways of working of the client organization. This approach is to ensure that the workshop models the client’s specific internal processes.

    The programme is a three and half day with a two-day follow-up format working with eight to ten people at a time. Theoretical models are presented together with opportunities for experiential exercises to practice new skills and new ways of interacting. This provides participants with the opportunity to relate the new learning to their individual situations at work. Reference materials and visual aids help participants apply the learning both on the job and in the workshop.