First Time Manager Course

Lesson 1 • Understanding Your New Responsibilities

Maps the core duties a manager owns versus delegates. Connects role clarity to team trust and organisational accountability.

Lesson 2 • The Individual Contributor Mindset Shift

Contrasts the contributor and manager roles to expose hidden assumptions. Establishes why old success habits can undermine new managerial effectiveness.

Lesson 3 • Building Your Management Identity

Guides reflection on personal values and leadership style. Helps managers project authentic authority from day one.

Lesson 1 • Delivering Difficult Messages

Equips managers to handle sensitive conversations with honesty and empathy. Builds the courage and skill to address issues before they escalate.

Lesson 2 • Active Listening and Questioning Techniques

Develops deep listening habits and high-value questioning skills. Enables managers to uncover real issues and build psychological safety.

Lesson 3 • Adapting Communication Style

Introduces style-flex models to match communication to individual preferences. Improves receptivity and reduces friction across diverse teams.

Lesson 4 • Communicating With Clarity and Purpose

Teaches structured messaging to eliminate ambiguity in directives and updates. Directly supports team alignment and reduces costly misunderstandings.

Lesson 1 • Setting Clear Role Expectations

Defines how to communicate behavioural and performance standards for each role. Reduces ambiguity that leads to underperformance and conflict.

Lesson 2 • Writing Effective Performance Goals

Teaches goal-writing techniques that are specific, measurable, and time-bound. Provides the language foundation for performance conversations.

Lesson 3 • Aligning Team Goals to Strategy

Shows how organisational strategy translates into team-level objectives. Prevents misaligned effort and wasted resources.

Lesson 1 • Giving and Receiving Feedback

Provides structured feedback models for both positive reinforcement and corrective guidance. Builds the feedback culture that sustains continuous improvement.

Lesson 2 • Identifying Development Needs

Teaches observation and assessment methods to pinpoint skill and knowledge gaps. Connects accurate diagnosis to targeted, effective development plans.

Lesson 3 • Creating Individual Development Plans

Guides managers through co-creating actionable development plans with employees. Links individual growth to team capability and retention.

Lesson 4 • The Manager as Coach

Distinguishes coaching from directing and explains when each approach is appropriate. Establishes coaching as a core managerial competency, not an optional add-on.

Lesson 1 • Managing Performance Improvement Plans

Guides managers through designing and executing structured improvement plans. Ensures fair, documented, and legally defensible performance management.

Lesson 2 • Recognising and Rewarding Performance

Explores intrinsic and extrinsic recognition strategies to reinforce high performance. Connects consistent recognition to engagement and retention outcomes.

Lesson 3 • Understanding the Performance Management Cycle

Maps the continuous loop of planning, monitoring, reviewing, and rewarding performance. Provides the structural context for all performance conversations.

Lesson 4 • Addressing Underperformance Early

Provides a step-by-step approach to identifying and correcting performance gaps before they become formal issues. Builds manager confidence in difficult conversations.

Lesson 1 • Building Psychological Safety

Defines psychological safety and its direct link to innovation and performance. Provides concrete behaviours managers use to create safe team environments.

Lesson 2 • Stages of Team Development

Introduces team development models to help managers diagnose current team maturity. Enables targeted interventions at each stage of team growth.

Lesson 3 • Fostering Inclusion and Belonging

Teaches practices that ensure every team member feels valued and heard. Connects inclusive leadership to broader team performance and retention.

Lesson 4 • Managing Conflict Constructively

Equips managers to distinguish healthy debate from destructive conflict and intervene effectively. Prevents unresolved conflict from eroding team trust and output.

Lesson 1 • Decision-Making Frameworks for Managers

Introduces practical models for categorising and approaching different types of decisions. Reduces decision fatigue and improves consistency across the team.

Lesson 2 • Structured Problem-Solving Approaches

Teaches root-cause analysis and structured problem-solving methods applicable to team issues. Builds a systematic habit that prevents recurring problems.

Lesson 3 • Managing Cognitive Biases

Identifies common cognitive biases that distort managerial judgment. Provides debiasing strategies to improve decision quality under pressure.

Lesson 1 • Managing Up Effectively

Provides techniques for proactively managing the relationship with one's own manager. Reduces friction, increases autonomy, and improves resource access.

Lesson 2 • Prioritisation and Resource Management

Teaches frameworks for prioritising competing demands and allocating team resources wisely. Connects strategic prioritisation to team focus and sustainable output.

Lesson 3 • Building Relationships With Senior Leaders

Teaches how to establish credibility and visibility with senior stakeholders. Enables managers to advocate effectively for their team and resources.

Lesson 4 • Influencing Without Authority

Equips managers to drive outcomes across functions without direct authority. Builds the coalition-building and persuasion skills essential for cross-functional leadership.