⚠️ Our phones are currently down. Please email us at info@brightstar.co.nz and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. We apologise for the inconvenience.

Save 15% off Brightstar owned or partnered conferences and training courses – use promocode ‘SPRING15’ at checkout. View All Events.

Management Skills for New Managers, Team Leaders & Supervisors

Management Skills for New Managers, Team Leaders & Supervisors

Do you ever feel like you were just thrown into the deep end of management?

Most new managers and supervisors are literally thrown in the deep end, but managing people require a completely different skill set than managing tasks. The transition from being an individual contributor to someone responsible for the work of others and the team’s performance, results in a steep learning curve.

Learn how to motivate, delegate, communicate and lead. Play to your strengths and improve on key weakness areas. With an emphasis on building high achieving teams, dealing with an increased workload, and developing the influence, assertiveness and confidence necessary to be an effective manager or supervisor – this course will ensure you hit the ground running.

Key Learning Outcomes

  • How to grow successfully into becoming a manager or supervisor
  • Defining your new role and responsibilities so that you have clarity of purpose
  • Keys to motivating and engaging your team
  • Tips & tricks to communicating effectively with different personalities in your team
  • How to assert yourself as a new manager
  • Handling difficult situations with success
  • The fundamentals of managing & motivating people for improved performance
  • Set team goals, roles and expectations
  • Plan and manage your new and greater workload
  • Know what success is as a manager

Your new role and responsibilities

  • What makes a great manager?
  • The transition to your new role
  • Building on your current strengths
  • Establishing your credibility from the start
  • What you should no longer be doing

Managing and motivating people for improved performance

  • Developing an effective people management style that works for you
  • Setting team goals and roles, and allocating tasks
  • Setting expectations for your direct reports
  • Understanding what motivates different personalities
  • Leading by example to gain commitment
  • Developing people to realise their individual potential
  • Engaging your team and recognising achievements
  • The benefits and challenges of delegation
  • Turning around poor performers

Time Management

  • Prioritising – why this is important if you want to be an effective leader
  • How to manage the negative impact of interruptions, so that we get more proactive work done & find time for coaching our team members
  • How to confidently say “no”/ “not now” without offending people

Managing other people

  • Identify & address specific ‘challenges’ you face when managing your team
  • Leader as coach – an analogy for what good leadership looks like, in your role
  • Setting expectations of performance & behaviour: Helping people understand what ‘good looks like’ in their role, so they can confidently deliver results
  • Recap: Leader as coach analogy from module 3 & link to today’s session
  • How do we define feedback?
  • How to prepare for feedback: collecting and articulating the correct information so that our team members remain engaged in the conversation
  • Giving effective feedback:
    • Praise – ‘catching people doing things right’ to continue to motivate them
    • Developmental feedback & coaching – how to support people who are below your expectation, so they can ‘get back on track’
    • Practise the above conversations, using real-life scenarios

Developing your communication style

  • Opening the lines of communication with and amongst your team
  • Matching your communication style to the needs of individual team members
  • Staying connected with your team
  • What to tell your team and what not
  • The importance of face-to-face communication
  • Tackling those difficult conversations
  • The art of giving constructive feedback in a positive manner
  • Developing your listening skills
  • Understanding what can cause misunderstandings and disengagement

Using assertiveness to manage difficult situations

  • Projecting confidence and assertiveness in your role
  • Handling conflict within the team
  • Dealing with resistance from previous peers
  • Protecting your team from unreasonable external pressure
  • Dealing with disciplinary issues – some key rules to get you started
  • Picking your battles – knowing when to take action

Managing your growing workload

  • What to do when you are being pulled in multiple directions?
  • Techniques for coping with a large and growing workload
  • How to prioritise and focus on your core KPIs
  • Setting time aside for people management
  • Using meetings effectively to achieve progress
  • How to delegate and still achieve results
  • Minimising disruptions and reducing time spent reacting

How to avoid committing common management mistakes

  • What are the main causes of management failure?
  • Common pitfalls to avoid as a new manager
  • Understanding what works for you and your team
  • Building up your team’s abilities rather than trying to do everything yourself
  • Letting go of tasks

Continuing to grow as a manager

  • Defining success as a manager: group discussion
  • Taking a proactive approach to your own professional development
  • Core management skills to focus on next
  • Spotting opportunities for growth in your role
  • What could hold you back?

Before moving to New Zealand, Elaine started her career in training, HR and recruitment roles in South Africa. For the last six years she has worked as a management and training consultant for a number of large organisations, focusing on the areas of personal efficiency, performance management and appraisal, presentation, facilitation, sales and customer service.

Elaine’s enviable academic achievements and international experience as a management training specialist is complimented by her friendly and open style. With an obvious talent for facilitation, her well known professionalism and her knowledge and understanding of the topic, you can count on a practical and results oriented course.

Elaine McMeeking

Training Consultant - People & Team

Register for this Event

This is a 2-day course.
Courses start 9am (coffee & registration from 8.30am) and run until 4.30pm / 5.00 pm each day.

Expand dates below for more details.

2 day course. Register $2399+gst by midnight, 27 October.
2 day course. Register $2399+gst by midnight, 21st January, 2026.

Brightstar Spring Sale Promotion Terms & Conditions

1. The Offer

This promotional offer is for a 15% discount on the current advertised price of eligible Brightstar owned and partnered conferences and public training courses.

2. Promotional Period

The Spring Sale promotion is valid only from 13 October 2025 through 15 November 2025 (the “Promotion Period”).
All course and conference registrations must be fully completed, paid for, and confirmed by Brightstar within the Promotion Period to qualify for the discount.

3. Eligibility and Redemption

3.1 Eligible Products

The discount applies only to the standard price of Brightstar’s public training courses and conferences as listed on the Brightstar website.

3.2 How to Redeem

To receive the 15% discount, customers must enter the promotional code SPRING15 during the checkout process.

3.3 Exclusions and Limitations

The discount does not apply to, and cannot be used for:
• Custom, private, or in-house training programs.
• Courses or conferences already registered for, or attended, prior to the Promotion Period.
• Any associated costs, including but not limited to, taxes, travel, or accommodation.

3.4 Discount Stacking

This 15% discount cannot be combined with any other offer, promotion, coupon, or discount code. If an eligible course is already subject to another discount, the customer will receive the greater of the two discounts, but not both.

4. Payment and Enrollment

4.1 Full Payment Required

Full payment of the discounted course or conference fee is required at the time of registration. Enrollment is not confirmed until full payment is received and processed by Brightstar.

4.2 Standard Terms Apply

All bookings are subject to Brightstar’s standard terms and conditions of sale for training and conferences, which are available here.

5. Transfers, Cancellations, and Refunds

5.1 Refund Policy

In the event of a cancellation or request for a refund, the refund amount will be calculated based on the actual discounted price paid by the customer, not the original standard price. Standard Brightstar cancellation policies apply.

5.2 Registration Transfers

If a registration is transferred to another individual, no further or additional discount will be applied to the new registration.

6. General Provisions

6.1 Right to Modify

Brightstar reserves the right to modify, suspend, or terminate this promotion, including these Terms and Conditions, at any time without prior notice. However, all registrations completed and fully paid for prior to such modification or termination will be honored.

6.2 Acceptance of Terms

By proceeding with a registration using the promotional code [SPRING15], the customer agrees to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.