Management Matters

A comprehensive, three-session workshop focuses on simple principles and guidelines that, once learned, can make the process of managing others enjoyable and effective, and help you succeed in whatever career path you choose.

Managing people can be the most stressful part of any job – but, if done well, can also be one of the most rewarding. Whether you’re managing “up” (working effectively with your faculty advisor or future boss), “across” (collaborating with current and future coworkers or teams) or “down” (supervising staff or junior colleagues directly), the challenges can be enormous.

Each session will focus on one aspect of people management:

Working with Different Styles: We’re all different, and understanding these differences helps us successfully manage others. In the first session, we use an assessment tool to help you identify your primary behavioral style and then expand your repertoire of interacting modes so you can deal with other styles effectively.

Making Expectations Clear: Clear expectations are the basis for all effective management and, remarkably, are as crucial to managing “up” as to “down.” We will build on the first session to determine how to establish clear expectations with people of different styles and in different roles.

Giving and Getting Feedback: The art of providing and soliciting effective feedback is also crucial to all work relationships. This is as much true of “feedback for continuation” (when the behavior is one you want to encourage) as it is of “feedback for change.” The sequence concludes with strategies for effectively dealing with management conversations that may be particularly challenging.

This series complements two related offerings: Negotiation Matters and Communication Matters.