Team Leader and New Manager Training

What new team leaders and managers can find hard

Almost all leaders come up through the ranks and are asked to lead people because they are good at the work. Often a promotion comes with a new role or even organisation, sometimes people are promoted to lead the team they were part of.

Either way, there are a lot of new things to get used to and good at. Some of the challenges new managers and team leaders can face are …

• Holding effective one-to-ones

• Giving feedback, especially when something isn't working

• Leading people who used to be their peers, a common start for first-time managers

• Delegating instead of doing it themselves

• Holding people to account without damaging the relationship

• Knowing when to manage and when to lead

• Balancing their own work with leading the team

• Prioritising when everything seems urgent

• Working out how decisions get made above them, and speaking up for their team

Research by the Center for Creative Leadership found that almost 60% of first-time managers never received any training for the role, and about a quarter felt they weren’t ready to lead.

What the training covers

Our new manager and team leader training is flexible. Once we understand the needs of your new managers or team leaders we will recommend content to help them grow as leaders. Some common topics are:

• Managing and leading: what each is, why both matter, and when to use each

• One-to-one leadership: regular, diarised conversations about each person's work and development, led by their agenda and ending with clear actions

• Why planned one-to-ones reduce interruptions and give leaders time back

• Feedback that is clear, specific and useful, including for problems that keep recurring

• Accountability conversations, practised on real examples

• Delegation

• Coaching basics: helping people think for themselves

• Leadership styles, using DISC profiles to understand your own

• Leading people who work remotely or in other locations

Formats

We run the training in whichever format suits your team leaders and the time they can spend away from their work:

• A one-day team leader workshop

• A two-day workshop with more time for practice

• A short series of workshops about a month apart, with one-to-one coaching in between

When we also work with your senior leaders, we draw team leader content from the same material, so both levels use the same leadership language.

Examples

We have run team leader development for Infracore's frontline ("Hi-Vis") supervisors, for team leaders from different business units at dentsu Aegis Network, and for culturally diverse team leaders at Quanton, building a common leadership culture.

See our clients →

What it costs

As a guide, a half-day workshop starts from $2,500 + GST and a full day from $3,900 + GST. Training is quoted up front, including tailoring and any coaching or DISC profiles, so you know the full cost before you decide.

Training or a qualification?

This is practical development, not an NZQA qualification. If your team leaders need a formal qualification, polytechnic and NZQA programmes provide that. Many organisations use both: a qualification for the credential, and in-house training for the day-to-day skills of leading their own people.

Next step

See all workshop topics →

In-house leadership development →