Manager Development Program: That's a Wrap!

Last week we wrapped up the first running of our new Manager Development Program - a six week program designed to help managers have a greater impact on their teams and organizations. We had a great time creating and delivering MDP, but now that it is over we are quickly shifting our focus to the future and making the program even better.

With all of our work at Floricane we try to help folks identify and leverage their strengths. As we continue to gather feedback from participants and begin an in-depth post-mordem on MDP, we've realized we need to do the same with ourselves. It has already become clear that there is some content in this program that we need to jettison. Not because it isn't useful, but because it just doesn't play to Floricane's strengths. Likewise, we have heard from participants that the content with the most impact is firmly seated in Floricane's wheelhouse. 

We're looking forward to rebuilding MDP and keeping in touch with the 28 managers who took part over the past six weeks. We'll be running a new and improved version in the fall, so keep your ears to the ground.

On the last day, participants were asked to creatively display their own personal management vision, developed over the course of the program. 

Getting to Better Managers

I wrote a blog post last fall about the importance of good management in organizations. Three months later, I’m excited that we’re kicking off our new Manager Development Program with almost 30 participants from 12 very different organizations.

In fact, it is happening RIGHT NOW. Here’s evidence:

For the next two months, we’ll collectively examine the best (and the worst) practices and qualities of managers who create stronger teams and better results for their organizations. I anticipate that the Floricane team will actually learn as much, if not more, than the participants along the way.

For me, one of the more exciting aspects of this new program is that it is a collaborative effort involving all six members of the Floricane team. (Seven, actually, as we’ve put our intern Austin Collett to work on it!) I think it’s a much better product as a result.

We’ll wrap things up in March, gather feedback from participants, deconstruct the program, and offer it again in the fall. Stay tuned for updates from the classroom…

Thoughts on the Manager Development Program

“This might be the most comprehensive offering we’ve created in Floricane’s six years.”

To say I’m excited about our new Manager Development Program would be an understatement. The six-day event – which runs over three months – is a direct response to something we’re seeing every day in our client organizations.

For a variety of reasons – the economy and a generational shift top the list – we’re seeing more managers who haven't had an opportunity to develop core management skills. In some cases, it is because the managers are young, and haven’t had time to build skills. In other cases, it is the result of an underinvestment by employers.

Whatever the cause, the result is the same – less organizational alignment, decreased team effectiveness, lower employee engagement.

Recently, our team sat down to work through a framework to help managers better identify what sits squarely in the intersection of their organization and their team. Here’s a hint – managers do.

From this vantage point, managers are uniquely qualified to build the relationships, provide the clarity, develop the talent and coordinate the solutions that help good teams become great teams – and that achieve tangible business results.

In our first two days on the Manager Development Program, we’ll spend a lot of time exploring the skills of effective managers. We’ll also help participants better understand why each skill matters, and how each skill drives results. As the program continues, participants will be introduced to a set of management fundamentals – self-awareness, effective communication, giving and receiving feedback, strategic thinking, decision making and the like. We’ll wrap up with individual action plans.

This might be the most comprehensive offering we’ve created in Floricane’s six years. I’m excited to see it come to fruition – and to learn with an amazing mix of people from a broad range of businesses and nonprofits.

click here for program details.