Course information

Stepping into a management role for the first time is exciting, but it can also feel overwhelming. Managing people requires a whole new skill set, from communication and delegation to motivation and managing performance. The Toolkit for New Managers course gives you the practical skills, tools and confidence to make a successful transition into a management role.

This hands-on program uses real-world examples and practical frameworks to help you lead effectively, whether your team works in person, virtually or in a hybrid environment. You’ll learn how to move from peer to manager, communicate with clarity and emotional intelligence, and balance empathy with getting results. The course also covers how to engage and motivate team members, delegate effectively, build psychological and psychosocial safety, while managing wellbeing and resilience for both you and your team.

You’ll gain confidence in holding one-on-one and team meetings, navigating conflict and difficult conversations with fairness and composure. By the end of the course, you’ll walk away with a personalised management plan and a toolkit you can immediately apply in your day-to-day management.

This course is ideal for new and emerging managers, team leaders and supervisors who want to develop strong management foundations, build a positive team culture, and achieve great results without burning out.

Aims

This course aims to equip you with a toolkit of practical management skills that you can draw on when leading and managing your team.

Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• transition confidently from peer to manager, establishing credibility and clarity in your new role
• balance empathy with accountability, achieving both strong relationships and results
• apply practical strategies to maintain wellbeing and resilience while managing the demands of leadership
• design and implement a personal productivity planner to maximise focus, prioritisation and output
• communicate with emotional intelligence, adapting your approach to different people and situations
• effectively lead and manage in-person, virtual and hybrid teams, ensuring clarity, connection and collaboration
• identify and adapt your own personal leadership style to suit your organisation, team and context
• engage and motivate team members, fostering trust, belonging and psychological safety
• build and sustain a positive team culture that supports collaboration, accountability and high performance
• conduct regular one-on-one and team meetings that build alignment, trust and accountability
• delegate tasks and responsibilities effectively to develop others and deliver results
• provide clear and confident feedback that reinforces strengths and addresses challenges constructively
• hold performance and difficult conversations using structured coaching and feedback tools
• recognise and address conflict triggers and patterns, using templated conversations to restore alignment
• recruit, interview and onboard new team members to build engagement and capability from day one
• lead growth and career conversations that inspire and retain high-performing team members
• promote psychological safety and manage psychosocial risks, ensuring a supportive and compliant workplace environment
• develop and implement a management action plan to apply course tools and practices in your day-to-day leadership.

Content

Module 1: Kick-off: stepping into management

• Your management journey so far - where you’ve been and where you’re headed
• Making the shift: transitioning from peer to team manager
• Manager vs leader
• Balancing getting results, while engaging your team
• Take-away tool: Self-assessment for new managers

Module 2: Managing self – wellbeing and resilience

• Mindset of a Manager - great management starts with self-management
• Wellbeing and resilience
• Tools to master time and priorities
• Energy and boundaries for sustainable performance (mindset, energy, time and focus)
• Take-away tool: Personal productivity planner

Module 3: Talk like a manager – communication and emotional intelligence

• The emotionally intelligent manager
• Communicate with impact
• Better questions, deeper listening, stronger teams
• Practical tips for communicating in hybrid work environments
• Take-away tool: Emotional intelligence grid

Module 4: Leadership styles and motivation

• Discover your natural leadership style
• Situational leadership and adaptability
• What drives them? Unlocking individual motivations
• Recognition and engagement strategies
• Take-away Tool: Leadership styles snapshot

Module 5: Building relationships and team culture

• Managing teams in person, virtual or hybrid
• Role clarity - expectations that set people up for success
• Making one-on-one and team meetings matter
• Building belonging - psychological safety, psychosocial hazards, and inclusive culture
• Take-away tool: Team charter template

Module 6: The modern manager – managing in-person, hybrid and virtual teams

• The leadership challenge – getting results AND engaging your people (even if they used to be your peers)
• Team dynamics
• Aligning individual and team goals with organisational outcomes
• Delegating and decision making like a boss
• Take-away tool: Delegation formula

Module 7: Talent matters – hiring, onboarding, and team growth

• Your role in selecting the right people
• Interviewing that works
• Team selection and onboarding
• Growth conversations - long-term retention, career conversations and development
• Take-away tool: Interview guide and scorecard

Module 8: Managing performance and development

• Coaching vs Correcting in performance management
• The performance cycle – set, monitor, review
• Giving feedback with confidence
• Problem solving and decision making
• Take-away tool: Performance conversation template

Module 9: Courageous conversations – handling conflict and tension

• Recognising conflict triggers and patterns
• Understanding your personal response to conflict
• Staying calm and leading in the heat of the moment
• Using structured frameworks for difficult conversations
• Take-away tool: Conflict management conversation framework

Module 10: Bringing it all together – your management action plan

• Reflecting on your leadership toolkit
• Identifying your top 3 tools to implement immediately
• Creating a 30-60-90-day action plan that sticks
• Peer coaching: share, commit, and step forward
• Take-away tool: Management action plan

Intended audience

Ideal for new and emerging managers, team leaders and supervisors, whether your team works in person, virtually or in a hybrid environment.

Prerequisites

None. However, you are encouraged to come to this course with your own examples of managerial and leadership practices, so that discussion can be tailored to individual work requirements.

Delivery modes

• Face-to-face, presenter-taught workshop
• Online workshop via the platform Zoom

Delivery style

Two-day interactive workshop, including real-world examples, case studies, group exercises, tools, templates, reflection, self-assessment tools, group discussions and a personal management action plan.

Materials

All course materials are provided electronically (via Dropbox). Printing services are not provided.

Recommended reading

Bungay Stanier, M. (2016) The coaching habit: Say less, ask more and change the way you lead forever. Toronto: Box of Crayons Press.

Edmondson, A.C. (2019) The fearless organization: Creating psychological safety in the workplace for learning, innovation, and growth. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Goleman, D. (2020) Leadership that gets results. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press. Available at: https://www.cdfifund.gov/sites/cdfi/files/documents/(51)-leadership-that-gets-results.pdf (Accessed: 22 October 2025).

Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. and McKee, A. (2013) Primal leadership: Unleashing the power of emotional intelligence. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.

Course Brochure