Leadership Fundamentals - Part II - a PDH Online Course for Engineers, Architects and Surveyors

Leadership Fundamentals - Part II

Course Outline

This online course provides practical and easy-to-follow guidance for new leaders who want to develop effective leadership skills without the pain of a trial-and-error approach. It is also effective for seasoned leaders to use as a guideline in mentoring newer ones. Systematic guidance helps users identify the clues associated with the escalating potential of employee conflict; identifying different behavior styles of handing conflict (their pros and cons); a "do-it-yourself" guide to developing an effective work team and how to use persuasion to retain good will and get what you want at work. There is also a simple, yet powerful, way to get line employees taking ownership of identifying workflow problems.

The objective of this course is to help participants develop effective leadership skills that will increase their value to their employer and their career satisfaction.

This course includes a multiple choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

If you are a supervisor or manager taking this course, you will learn how to:

Deal with employee conflict
Spot the clues that tell you how serious it is becoming
Identify causes of employee conflict
Reduce causes of employee conflict
Take steps to minimize conflict
Select an appropriate strategy to handle conflict
Counsel employees on work performance issues while retaining good will
Initiate a counseling session with an employee
Identify what is keeping an employee from doing what you expect
Document your meeting to the satisfaction of the "ORPman"
Test your reasons for terminating an employee against potential questions you may be asked by the ORPman
Prepare yourself to develop an effective work team
Prepare the environment for an effective work team
Prepare the employees to function as an effective work team
Increase work production and quality in your department through increased teamwork
Identify and develop future leaders from among existing departmental employees
Increase employee participation in the decision making process
Reduce some of your workload by distributing it among strong team leaders
Solve workflow problems with employees
Isolate the cause of a workflow problem.
"Fish bone" when looking for all the possible causes of a problem.
Present a problem and recommend a solution to senior management.
Persuade and influence to achieve desired results
Determine features and benefits associated with an idea and present them to an employee in a way that encourages their agreement.

Course Content

The course content is in a MS Word file (1605 KB) Leadership Fundamentals - Part II. You need to open or download this document to study this course.

Table of Content

COURSE OVERVIEW
DEALING WITH EMPLOYEE CONFLICTS
THREE STAGES OF CONFLICT
STAGE ONE
Characteristics of Stage One
Ways to Handle Stage One Conflict
STAGE TWO
Characteristics of Stage Two
Important considerations for Stage Two:
Ways to Handle Stage Two Conflict
STAGE THREE
Characteristics Of Stage 3
Ways to Handle Stage Three Conflict
CONFLICT ASSESSMENT CHECKLISTS
Stage One Conflict
Stage Two Conflict
Stage Three Conflict
PERSONAL CAUSES FOR EMPLOYEE CONFLICT
Differences In Values
Assumptions
Competing For Scarce Resources
The Inability To Handle Change
ENVIRONMENTAL CAUSES FOR EMPLOYEE CONFLICT
Stress from vague expectations, directions, and procedures
REASONS WHY EMPLOYEES MAY TRY TO AVOID RESOLVING CONFLICT
ACTION ANXIETY
NEGATIVE FANTASIES
REAL RISK
FEAR OF SEPARATION
FEAR OF CONFLICT
THE BASIC STEPS TO MINIMIZE CONFLICT
STRATEGIES FOR HANDLING CONFLICT
The "COMPETITOR " Style
The "ACCOMODATOR " Style
The "AVOIDER " Style
The "COLLABORATOR " Style
COUNSELING EMPLOYEES ON WORK PERFORMANCE ISSUES
SEPARATING THE PERSON'S BEHAVIOR FROM THEIR NATURE
WHY PEOPLE DO NOT ALWAYS DO WHAT THEY ARE TOLD.
Reason #1
Reason #2
Performance Problem Flowchart
Reason #3
TWO BROAD REASONS FOR DISCHARGE
TIPS ON SUCCESSFUL EMPLOYEE COUNSELING STRATEGIES
DEVELOPING AN EFFECTIVE WORK TEAM
PREPARATION FOR EFFECTIVE WORK TEAM DEVELOPMENT
PREPARING THE WORK ENVIRONMENT
PREPARING YOU - THEIR LEADER
PREPARING THE TEAM MEMBERS
A STRATEGIC PLANNING MODEL FOR WORK TEAMS
PROBLEM SOLVING WITH EMPLOYEES
THE "IGNORANCE ICEBERG"
ADVANTAGES OF USING A VISIBLE PROCESS IN PROBLEM SOLVING
ISOLATING POTENTIAL CAUSES OF PROBLEMS
"FISHBONING"
Step #1 - Setting Up the Fishbone
Step #2 - Labeling the Fishbone
Step #3 - Analyzing the Fishbone
PRESENTING YOUR PROBLEM - RECOMMENDING A SOLUTION
PERSUADING AND INFLUENCING OTHERS
The Persuasion Process
Step #1- Interests and Positions
Step #2 - The Other Guy's Viewpoint
Step #3 - Features and Benefits
Step #4 - Persuading the Execs
ABOUT OUTSOURCE TRAINING.BIZ LLC

Bonus Materials

The author would like to offer his "The Volunteer Organization's Development Handbook" free of charge to users who take this course. Just download the handbook in PDF at the beginning of the quiz!

If you are part of a volunteer organization whether it is a professional engineering chapter, a youth sports league, or a booster group at your child's school, this handbook will be useful. Please feel free to share it as much as you want.

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDHonline.com or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered professional engineer. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.