Leadership & Management
Management Essentials for New and Developing Managers
A five-day foundation for people who have recently become managers, commonly delivered as two blocks so that participants can apply the first block before returning. It covers the transition from doing to managing, operational control, performance conversations and the routines that make a team function.
The business challenge
Why organisations commission this programme
Technical competence is the usual basis of promotion into management and is a poor predictor of management capability. Without structured development, new managers default to doing the work themselves, avoid performance conversations until they become formal matters, and escalate decisions they should be taking. The cost surfaces later as attrition, inconsistent performance management and an overloaded layer above them.
Technically strong people are promoted into management and left to work it out. The cost appears later as attrition, inconsistent performance management and escalations that should never have reached the top.
Who it is for
Participants
- Audience
- Newly appointed managers, team leaders, supervisors and technical specialists moving into management
- Recommended cohort
- 12 to 20 participants
- Prerequisites
- Appointment to a management or team leadership role, or identification as a successor to one. No prior management training assumed.
Outcomes
What participants will be able to do
- Apply a clear model of the manager's role and distinguish it from senior individual contribution.
- Plan and allocate work, set expectations and delegate with appropriate control.
- Hold structured performance and feedback conversations, including difficult ones.
- Run effective team routines — objectives, one-to-ones, reviews and escalation.
- Recognise when to escalate, when to decide, and how to manage upwards effectively.
Learning objectives
- Establish a shared, explicit model of the manager's role and its boundaries.
- Build competence in planning, delegation and operational control.
- Develop the confidence and technique to hold performance conversations early rather than late.
- Install team routines that make performance visible without constant escalation.
Indicative content
Programme structure
Content is confirmed during design and adapted to your context.
Day 1
The transition to management, role expectations, authority and accountability, and baseline assessment.
- From technical expert to manager
- Role, authority and accountability
- Expectations of the management population
- Baseline assessment
Day 2
Planning and organising work, delegation, workload control and operational discipline.
- Planning and allocating work
- Delegation and appropriate control
- Workload and capacity management
- Operational routines and controls
Day 3
Performance management: objectives, feedback, recognition, underperformance and documented conversations.
- Objectives and expectation setting
- Feedback and recognition
- Managing underperformance
- Documented conversations and records
Day 4
Team dynamics, motivation, conflict, inclusion and building a functioning team routine.
- Team dynamics and motivation
- Conflict and difficult behaviour
- Inclusion and fair treatment
- Building a functioning team rhythm
Day 5
Managing upwards and across, stakeholder practice, integration exercise, assessment and action planning.
- Managing upwards and across
- Escalation judgement
- Integration exercise
- Assessment and 90-day action plan
Delivery and customisation
Configured around your organisation
- Typical duration
- Five days (commonly delivered as two blocks of two and three days)
- Formats
- Classroom or blended; well suited to multi-cohort rollout
- Language
- English by default. Other languages subject to facilitator availability and materials translation, agreed during design.
How it can be tailored
- Client performance management policy, objective-setting cycle and documentation standards.
- Real escalation and performance scenarios from the client environment.
- Local employment practice and policy context for the delivery jurisdiction.
- Delivery as two blocks with an application period, or as a single five-day intensive.
- Inclusion of the client's own leadership behaviours or values framework.
Methods
- Observed practice conversations with structured peer and facilitator feedback against a rubric.
- Scenario work using realistic situations drawn from the client's own operating environment.
- Application period between blocks where the programme is delivered in two parts, with a review of what happened.
- Manager-of-manager involvement at the close, where the client supports it, to agree reinforcement.
Materials, assessment and completion
Materials
- Participant workbook containing session content, frameworks, exercises and space for applied work.
- Client-contextualised case material and scenario packs used during the programme.
- Job aids, checklists and templates designed for use in the role after the programme.
- Assessment instruments and the marking criteria applied to them.
- Individual action plan template and a manager briefing note.
- Conversation planning templates and a first-90-days management checklist.
Reinforcement
- Individual action plans agreed during the programme and shared with line managers where the client permits.
- Manager briefing material setting out what was taught and what should be reinforced in the role.
- Toolkits and templates issued in editable form for continued use.
- Follow-up session at 30, 60 or 90 days where commissioned, reviewing action-plan progress and obstacles.
- Peer support groups formed within the cohort, with a facilitated review at 60 days where commissioned.
Completion
- Attendance at no less than 80 per cent of scheduled contact time, recorded daily and reconciled against the registered cohort.
- Participation in the assessed practical components of the programme.
- Submission of the assessed work product and the individual action plan.
- Achievement of the assessment threshold where the client sets one; where no threshold is set, results are reported without a pass or fail determination.
Participants who meet the completion criteria receive a Knull certificate of completion recording the programme, dates, duration, content covered and, where assessed, the assessment outcome. Knull does not award accredited or regulated qualifications and does not hold third-party training accreditation. Attendance and assessment records are retained under the engagement terms and provided to the client with the completion report.
| Component | Weighting | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline and post assessment | 30% | Knowledge and situational judgement instrument administered before and after, reported as learning gain. |
| Observed practice conversations | 40% | Rubric covering preparation, structure, clarity, listening, handling of reaction and agreed outcome. |
| Team routine design | 15% | Practicality, completeness and fit to the participant's actual team and operating constraints. |
| 90-day management action plan | 15% | Specificity, realism and measurability, reviewed against defined criteria. |
Next step
Make it fit your organisation
Dates, cohort, format and fees are agreed in a proposal once scope is defined. To register interest in a closed cohort, use a corporate booking request — Knull reviews every request; it is not a confirmed reservation.
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Discuss this programme for your organisation
Tell us about your priorities, capability gaps or business challenges. We'll help identify an appropriate next step.