Life isn’t just an end of day quiz
Being a manager means making decisions all the time. That’s what it takes to be a successful manager with a motivated and productive team. The Managing People elearning course series is like real-life. Each course is based on an episode in a soap opera. The learner plays the manager, leading a virtual team. Along the way their knowledge is topped up with what they need to know. They make a whole series of choices on the best thing to do and when in various scenarios. That’s what they’re measured on, just like real-life.
Have a go at just one of the decisions in this performance management objective setting course
Here’s just one of the scenes from the Preparation course, to give you an idea of what’s in store for our virtual manager. Before you make your choice, have a look over the backstory to this situation:
Newly appointed Rise and Dine manager Charlotte has arranged one-to-one meetings with each of her team. She wants to get to know them better and identify how she can get the best out of them. Her first meeting is with Tom, who she already knows is a little resistant to change.
This Managing People episode focuses on these key skills:
trust, communication and knowledge
Watch the scene below then decide how you’d respond.
How should Charlotte respond to Tom in this meeting?
Answer 1
Well, excellent hygiene and customer satisfaction are important, but there are things that need to be improved here and it’s my job to figure out how we make that happen. I am interested in hearing what you’ve got to say, you’ve got a lot of experience and knowledge, but I was thinking we’d actually start by finding out a bit more about each other first.
Answer 2
Tony says he’s not happy about this place as a whole. We may be doing well with our food hygiene ratings but he’s told me there’s a few issues with recording deliveries. I also noticed the other day that you didn’t wash your hands after taking a cigarette break. I’m not singling anyone out here. I just want to get the bottom of what’s going wrong around here. Before we go on, please don’t interrupt me and make that the last time you call me ‘love’, okay?
Answer 3
Well, we should be aiming for excellence in hygiene and customer waiting times, so well done. That’s great. I would say that any problems the team have are problems for all of us to work together to fix – I’m not looking to single anyone out. You’re one of the most experienced people here, and I’d really appreciate your input into how we start to turn things around. Perhaps you’d like to get straight to it then? Is there something in particular on your mind?
What would you say next?
Scroll down to see what we think…
Answer 3!
We think this is the best answer. By reiterating Tom’s achievements and acknowledging the work he does, which is good performance management, Charlotte is in a better position to convince him she wants to work with the whole team (TRUST & COMMUNICATION).
By inviting him to speak openly and honestly, he will feel respected and listened to, and that his opinion is important. This will help Charlotte find out more information to help her gain a wider perspective of the outlet’s issues (TRUST & KNOWLEDGE).
She’s not happy with him interrupting her, or calling her ‘love’, but given his clear frustration, she’s mindful that perhaps she should give him the benefit of doubt – on this occasion (TRUST, COMMUNICATION & KNOWLEDGE).
That’s just one of the many decisions from the Preparation elearning course. The stories develop and become more challenging, just like the real-world situations your managers experience.
Put practical skills in your teams’ hands. Starting now.