Team leader development program

How to be a team leader

Our team leader training online classes bring the training to you, wherever you are in Aotearoa New Zealand.

We support people in small businesses to build essential team leadership and management skills.

Our team leader training program covers …

Workshop 1: team leader training program kick-off

This workshop is essential for our whanaungatanga – we get to know you and for you and your classmates to get to know each other. We discuss our kaupapa and learning principles, and you will collaborate on designing the classroom protocols. This workshop also gives you the opportunity to test out all the tech you’ll be using so that you are ready to learn without a hitch.

Workshop 2: mindset for learning

Having insight into how you prefer to learn is going to help you get the most out of your team leader training and ensure the training sticks. For us, knowing what everyone’s learning preferences are will ensure we can tailor the training to cater to everyone’s learning needs.

Workshops 3-4: mindset for management

We start exploring what leadership means. We take a deep dive into why the actions and behaviours that got you the promotion into leadership, could bring you down as a team leader or manager. We’ll explore different leadership styles, and the situations in which they will and won’t work. Team leaders who are new in their position will create a 90-day plan for success.

Workshops 5-7: advanced communication skills for team leaders

No team leader training program is complete without diving into communication skills! But what makes someone a good communicator? In these workshops we cover the concepts of noise and what distorts messages and gets in the way of real understanding, such as cognitive biases. You will build skills in active listening and questioning techniques. We cover non-verbal communication and touch on some fundamental writing skills.

Workshops 8-9: empowering your team using basic coaching skills

People often ask, ‘how do I motivate my team?’. It’s a great question that’s always asked in team leader training workshops. We believe that you motivate your team members by empowering them. But how do you do that? Through a range of coaching techniques. Coaching sounds hard but in fact it’s really easy. Things like effective delegation, stepping back from being a perfectionist, and recognising micromanagement are three essential skills for empowering your team that you’ll learn. You’ll also learn to approach problem-solving using coaching techniques – letting your team members discover the answers to problems without you giving them.

Workshop 10: giving constructive feedback

Giving constructive or developmental feedback is one of the hardest things about being a team leader. We break it down into the BE COOL feedback model. Using this model, you can give constructive feedback with confidence and in a way that upholds the dignity of the person receiving the feedback. Learn how to finish a feedback session with feed-forward and setting SMART goals. We also explore the difference between praise and feedback, which will really lift your leadership game and gain the respect of your team members.

Workshops 11-12: mindset for success – resilience, growth mindset and change agility

When you are a team leader or manager, you must lead through change while also being affected by it. Your team members will be watching how you react to change and setbacks, to decide how they feel about these events. So, it’s important for you to build your resilience, change agility and growth mindset so that you can role model the associated behaviours and lead through tough times. This is a condensed version of our half-day resilience workshop (find out more about that one here).

Workshop 13: essentials of time management

Team leaders are often pulled in all directions. Fire-fighting, attending meetings, coaching, getting stuff done and attending to a landslide of emails. We dive into a few essentials of time management. This is a condensed version of our half-day time management training (find out more about that one here).

Workshops 14-15: magic meetings

Team meetings, one on ones, wellbeing check ins and goal reviews – they’re all important for strengthening your relationship with your team members. How do you make sure your team meetings are inclusive and a good use of everyone’s time? How do you initiate meetings that involve difficult conversations? How do you handle difficult behaviours in meetings? What does an ’employee-led development meeting’ look like? All is revealed in these two workshops.

Workshop 16: psychological safety, reflection and graduation

Psychological safety is an important element of employee engagement. In psychologically safe environments, people bring their best selves to work, ideas flow freely, and healthy debate occurs. Great team leaders consciously work on having a psychologically safe working environment. We cover the essentials in this team leader training workshop.

This is an extended workshop for course reflection and graduation.

Frequently asked questions about our team leader training program

I’m a new team leader, is this course the right level for me?

Definitely! If you’ve been promoted into a team leader role, then left to figure it out for yourself then you need this team leader training course! As well as exploring the new ‘working mindset’ that you need to adopt, we cover all the foundational skills that you need to be a great team leader. It really is a ‘leadership 101’ course covering very practical and fundamental skills of managing people.

I’m an experienced team leader. Is this team leader training course right for me?

That’s great that your career has progressed to managing people and you’ve stuck at it for a while – we know it’s not easy managing people, especially if you’ve not had any team leader training. You may have been promoted into leadership because you’ve got great technical skills. It’s very common for this to happen, and then you get left to ‘wing it’ and figure out for yourself how to be a manager. You may already be doing a great job, or you might not be doing a great job – but no one is game to tell you. The fact that you are here reading this means that you have the desire to be a great team leader or manager.

So why do our team leader training? In this course you’ll either confirm that you’re doing everything well, or some things well and others not so well. Regardless, you’ll pick up lots of tools and techniques that are foundational for good leadership, such as communication and delegation. And you’ll learn things that will help you to really lift your leadership game, such as coaching skills.

Is this the same as management training?

Whether your job title says ‘team leader’, ‘manager’, ‘supervisor’ or ‘foreman’ your job includes managing people, so you could argue that this is the same as management training. No matter the job title, you must know how to allocate and delegate tasks, step back from micromanaging, monitor performance and provide feedback. Your job also includes coaching and mentoring those in your team so that they can grow and progress their career just like you have. Note though that our team leader training covers the essential, foundational skills of managing people and won’t cover things like project management, or strategy.

How easy is it to implement what I learn in your team leader development program?

It’s very easy. At each team leader training workshop you will learn just a small handful of concepts or techniques that you can implement straight away. We provide you with conversation models, frameworks and other tools that will help you with the day-to-day business of being a team leader.

Why is the learning spread out over eight weeks?

Our team leader training program is delivered over eight weeks as we believe it’s a smarter way to learn. Here are some of the reasons:

 

• • spend smaller chunks of time away from the workplace, meaning work isn’t piling up while away learning, 

• • easily implement what’s been learned on the job (instead of catching up on the work that piled up while away training).

• • practice and hone each skill before learning the next one, 

• • grow new skills in a logical order, with each workshop building on skills already mastered. 

How are team leader development workshops delivered?

Our team leader training workshops are delivered as virtual classrooms over Zoom. You can learn from home, the office, your car, anywhere! No travel, no parking, no working around school drop-offs.

What equipment do I need for a virtual classroom?

You will need to have a laptop or computer with webcam and microphone. Headphones are recommended if you are attending at work or there are going to be other people around you. This is important because in our workshops, we like to simulate the classroom as much as we can. By being able to see each other and talk to each other, the learning process is enriched, and you will get more value from the training. You may also need to download software that allows you to connect to the classroom. We recommend that this is arranged with your workplace or sorted on your home equipment well in advance of the workshop, so you are up and running on the day.

Can you deliver this team leader training at my workplace?

Yes, we can! We love doing face to face training. If you have a minimum of four people that need team leader training, contact us to discuss options, including customisation of the program. We can deliver workshops at your workplace all the main centres: Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill. If you’re elsewhere in New Zealand, we may still be able to come to you; just give us a shout and we’ll see what we can do.

How much time do I need to commit to this training?

Each workshop is around 75 minutes long. They’re twice a week, so that’s two and a half hours per week of formal learning time. We recommend that you block out at least 15 minutes after each session to reflect on the learning, write in your learning journal (which we will give you) and plan how you are going to use each new skill.

Should my manager be involved in my learning journey?

We always recommend that you are having regular conversations with your manager about what you are learning in your team leader training and how you are implementing your new team leadership skills. This helps to keep you accountable and will give them confidence that you are serious about becoming a great team leader. They will also know that the investment in your development is worthwhile.

Are the virtual classrooms interactive?

Yes! We encourage discussion and sharing of ideas and experiences as much as possible. Ako (reciprocal learning) enriches everyone’s learning journey. Where possible, we use collaboration tools such as whiteboards and online brainstorming spaces.

We understand that not everyone wants to contribute to group discussions or speak up in class. So, we also use cool tools that you can use anonymously, like word clouds, quizzes, polls, voting and other techniques.

How do I book a course?

Head straight on over to our booking site to lock in your course. We run team leader training courses only during school term time, avoiding school holidays. Or contact us to register your interest if the scheduled dates don’t suit you.

What other training complements this course?

All our training complements this team leader training! Find out more about stress management, time management, resilience and social intelligence training which will elevate your team leadership capabilities.

Can I pay for the course in instalments?

Yes! We’re here to help small businesses, and we know that cashflow management is super important. Our ‘pay as you learn’ option allows you to spread your payments out. Choose weekly or fortnightly payments. If you want to spread your payments out, you need to contact us to book your course instead of using our online course booking tool.

What if I can’t attend. Can I get my money back?

Ideally, we will reschedule your team leader training, or we can do a one-on-one intensive training at a time that suits you. Contact us if you’ve booked a program and can’t attend.

I’m part way through the course and I can’t finish it. Can I get a partial refund?

While we prefer to reschedule the training you’ll miss, we understand that it’s not always possible to do that. If we can’t work out a reschedule or some one-on-one training, we’ll refund you for the unfinished part of the training, less a 10% administration fee.

How many sessions do I need to attend to complete the course?

You must attend 15 out of the 18 classes to graduate from your team leader development program. If you are going to miss more than that for unavoidable reasons (eg childcare, sickness), you could contact us to arrange a one-on-one session to make up for a missed class (there may be an extra fee for this). If you’re going to be on holiday for one or more sessions, contact us before you go to discuss your options.

Can I get a refund at the end for any classes that I missed?

No, you can’t apply for a partial refund at the end of the team leader training program. We want you to commit to the whole program. If you miss a class due to something unavoidable (eg sickness or childcare) we will provide you with the learning materials, so you don’t miss out. Also, we may be able to do a one-on-one make-up session, which may incur an additional fee. If you are going to miss a class, contact us in advance if you can.