Much is written and said about management training, but it is worth making sure that everyone understands the same things when they hear those two words.

Management training, in its broadest sense, refers to anything that helps a manager to work more effectively. This is particularly important nowadays as there is greater scrutiny than ever before of every organisation’s effectiveness and ability to deliver on time and within budget.

A large part of the management training, inevitably, is in soft skills. A manager needs to be charismatic and show leadership qualities. They should inspire loyalty and people should enjoy working for them.

A good manager must be skilled at team building. They need to understand the different qualities that the various people who report to them bring to the table and utilise those skills effectively. They should also be looking to the personal development of their staff.

Delegation is key. A good leader knows how to get people to accept responsibility. They also understand the importance of empowering those people so that they can act on their responsibilities.

The training can take the form of lectures or be interactive, desk based. It may also contain an element of involvement for the delegates, such as role plays.

Management training should equip you with the analytical tools to be able to make difficult decisions. However there are often so many imponderables that some choices can seem more like gambling than well reasoned decisions. Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring.

There are some directions which you may feel forced to take, but you always need to take a balanced view. We are currently undergoing a world recession, or if you prefer, economic downturn. Companies need to trim their costs, we are told. How can they do that quickly? Well, they can shop around for better deals on some of their overheads like power and telephones, but the biggest overhead is usually staff costs. Unfortunately, the quickest way to reduce costs is to reduce staffing.

This, in turn, means that as the upturn in business arrives, there is pressure not to over commit on the wages bill. This leads to considering outsourcing. However, there are a number of arguments against this.

It is expensive. There may be short term savings but the money could be spent on the personal development and training of your current employees. It can affect company morale negatively and the outsourcing company can’t possibly know your business as well as you do.

There are a number of things that any business can do, or at least consider, to improve its bottom line. You do not need to wait until you have had an extensive management training course to examine the following areas. By all means, get the best training you can, but in the meantime, start reviewing these key areas.
Most of your sales will come from a small number of your clients. Don’t be afraid to skew your priorities towards these bigger clients. In fact, you should even consider getting rid of customers who produce more problems than profit. A good way of redefining those relationships is to increase the prices you charge them.
Similarly look to up sell or cross sell existing clients rather than focussing all your sales efforts on new clients.
Don’t forget reciprocity or even bartering if you and a customer or supplier has something that the other wants.

Cash flow should always be a priority. Ensure that you are collecting money in the quickest, most efficient and cost effective way. Think of incentives to your customers to encourage prompt payment.
Manage poor performers effectively. If they are not contributing to the business or performing to an expected standard take steps to ensure they improve, or if necessary leave.

Many people find it puzzling how vast sums of money are spent each year on management consultancy. Surely, they argue, individuals who have attended detailed management training courses and have been given the necessary authority are in a much better position to review the company’s strengths, weaknesses and systems. In fact, with some thought it is possible to do a DIY consultancy. Here are some areas which will repay some consideration.

A regular training needs assessment should be done. In times of recession this is often left as; it is argued, there is no budget for training. In fact, this should be kept updated at all times.Training, particularly that which focuses on specific requirements, can make a huge difference to your company’s’ efficiency and effectiveness.

Ensure that is it not only managers who review the business. Get everyone on board by encouraging staff to come up with ideas on how to do things differently. Maybe even come up with a staff incentive scheme to reward good ideas. Better still, develop a culture within your organisation where everyone feels they can make a difference by their contribution. The key here is to ensure you have no passengers, that is staff who see work as purely a way to pay the bills and do nothing beyond turning up at nine and going home at five.

Here are some ideas which you may find useful when considering the question of staff motivation.

New managers, in particular, often feel constrained to do things the way they have always been done. In fact, your management training course should have given you the confidence to look at everything with a fresh eye and work out the most effective way to proceed.

It is vital that, as a manager, you show true leadership. Good leadership is a difficult thing to define. Generally, you will know it when you see it. Some people find it helpful to think of themselves as the captain of a ship. You decide where you’re going, how you’re going to get there and then let the crew get on with it.

Effective delegation is a good way to help employees feel they are genuinely valued. Good delegation means that you do not only pass jobs on to individuals but you also give them the power to complete those jobs effectively.

The training of key staff is a good idea. People feel valued and return from the courses you send them on refreshed, full of new ideas, and raring to go.

Always remember to practice what you preach. Be an exemplar to your staff.

There are many theories and ideas in management training about how to get the best out of staff members. Many practitioners boil this down to two alternatives; ‘carrot’ or ‘stick’. That is, you either offer rewards, financial or otherwise, to encourage the staff, or you threaten them with dire consequences if they fail to live up to the standards you set for them.

Here are some ideas on how to get the best out of people.

Any company serious about motivating staff will have an appraisal system in place. However, this should not be a once-a-year occurrence. Personal development reviews should be held regularly. In fact whilst the formal reviews only need take place between 2 and 4 times a year, it is hard to see how there can be too many reviews. Managers should see their staff most days, at least in passing, and should be reviewing their progress on a weekly or fortnightly basis.

Another part of the appraisal system is the setting of goals. These need to be clear and to use one of management training’s most enduring acronyms, SMART. That is, specific, measureable, achievable, realistic and timed. These should be discussed with the individual concerned and agreed.

One of the key elements of any management training course should relate to a manager’s ability to lead and motivate their staff. Here are some ideas which will help you consider whether you are doing all you can and should to ensure your staff are motivated.

One very important attitude which you need to demonstrate is the encouragement and indeed nurturing of innovation. Don’t micro-manage your staff. Instead, trust them to know their own jobs better than anyone else, including you. Give them the opportunity and time to think about how they could do things differently or how their colleagues doing things differently could positively impact on their own performance.

Set a good example to your staff. By taking a positive attitude yourself you will encourage your juniors to follow your example. It is always good to put yourself in the shoes of your employees and consider your own behaviour from their point of view. Don’t assume you are a great manager. Nearly every manager could improve in some way. Take time to consider your own training needs.

Open communication is always the right way to operate. Hold regular team meetings and make sure that your staff know as much as you do.

Management training explains the importance of a good appraisal system for any company that is serious about the personal development of their employees. Essential to any such system are the metrics for measuring performance.

The key to good appraisals is achievable targets. Some targets lend themselves to measurement very well. For example, expenditure targets can be measured to the penny. They are, by definition, fixed targets and, unless they are reviewed regularly throughout the year can seem very unfair to the person who has been given them. Equally, if they can be changed easily there seems little point in setting them in the first place.

Customer satisfaction is a popular area for setting targets. For example the company as a whole may be tasked with achieving a 98 percent customer satisfaction rating. This can be cascaded down to the company’s front line staff. How is the satisfaction measured? One way is to ask customers to give feedback each time they receive an order. This usually excludes customers who have complaints as they tend not to fill in unnecessary forms.

There are of course many skills which should form the basis of targets that can only be measured in a highly subjective way. An example of this is communication skills.

Meetings are often the butt of everybody’s cynicism. They can be regarded as a complete waste of time at worst and a necessary evil at best. However, management training does focus on the positive aspects of meeting and it is worth reminding yourself of what they are good for.

A meeting can be a terrific morale booster and act as a launch pad to greater things. If individuals feel that they are being kept fully informed and that their input is valued, they will be spurred on to greater things.

A meeting can be used to make members of your team feel empowered. If an individual has the opportunity to present to a meeting, they will naturally feel important and their self esteem will be increased. In fact, allowing people the right to call meetings is an indication of peoples’ input being valued at all levels.

Meetings can be a great way to improve training. They are an ideal opportunity to share experience, and allow both the individuals and the organisation to develop.

The fact is that while technology now allows people to video conference, meetings still take place even when one of the parties to the meeting travels across the world. People like to deal with people.

Any management training course will acknowledge that there are a number of ways to motivate your team. Certainly, you need to be charismatic and ensure that you communicate honestly and openly with your team. However, the most immediate way to motivate anyone is to reward them.

When you talk of reward, the first thing that comes to mind is money. Indeed, if you manage a sales team, you will know that they can become very motivated when there is a financial prize on offer. To be fair, almost anybody can be motivated by money if the sum is sufficient. In fact, if an employee cannot be motivated by money, you might question why they are working for you.

Some employees respond well to the idea that they will receive an award. Actually, what they are responding to is the idea of recognition. One of the easiest ways to give staff the reward of recognition is to simply thank them.

This can be simple verbal thanks given one to one. A written word of thanks is also appreciated. In fact, many companies have certificates which are given out for exceptional performance. Often, cynical employees will not see certificates as a personal and sincere form of thanks. However a personal letter will be appreciated. Giving thanks in a group setting can be most effective.