5 must-have new manager training tools

Whether it's leading a team, overseeing a project, or developing a new strategy, managers play a crucial role in your business’ success. The problem is, many new managers are thrown into their roles without proper training, leaving them feeling overwhelmed and ill-equipped to handle the responsibilities of their new positions. 

When people in management positions don’t feel properly supported, they can struggle to navigate their added responsibilities, leading to poor performance, decreased morale, and higher turnover rates. 

But there are things you can do to set new managers up for success. It starts with providing proper leadership training and coaching that will help to create a positive and supportive work environment and improve organizational performance. We know that truly effective coaching starts with changing mindset first and after that, equipping managers with tools that will help them navigate common challenges that arise within your business.

In this blog post, we'll explore some of the most effective training tools for new managers and how they can be used to ensure that your organization's leadership is equipped for success.

If you're a new to management, consider these tools:

1. Meet to Learn

Taking the time to meet and learn about your colleagues can help you establish stronger working relationships, build trust, and improve communication within your team—all things that are especially valuable as a new manager. This can lead to a more positive and productive work environment, and ultimately lead to better outcomes for your team and organization.

Arbinger’s Meet to Learn tool is designed to help uncover the objectives, needs, and challenges of others. It’s a tool for increasing your curiosity that then positions you to be more helpful to those around you. You can use it individually to get to know collaborators, customers, your direct reports, or with groups that your team interacts with regularly.

Download the tool here!

2. Job Map

Starting a new role can be overwhelming—and becoming a people leader means you’re adding a new set of people into the mix whose jobs you’re directly impacting. Considering only about 50% of the workforce strongly feels as though they understand work expectations, having an understanding of who your job impacts helps provide clarity around your role and responsibilities within the organization and positions you to help those you manage achieve the same clarity. Being able to identify your key stakeholders and their needs ensures that you are fulfilling your job requirements to meet those needs.

Arbinger’s Job Map tool orients people to their jobs in a way that promotes outward-mindset working. The tool will help to contextualize people’s work in terms of the people they affect and positions them to think about the key areas of responsibility (or roles) that make up their job. 

You can use this tool with new hires, new members of your team, and current members of your team in order to help them rethink their work and prepare to engage with an outward mindset. It’s great to do this use this tool to orient yourself in your role in management and to use it with your team to ensure they’re aligned on priorities. 

Download the tool here!

3. Outward Mindset Pattern (Apply S.A.M.)

At its core, the outward mindset pattern is a way of thinking and acting that outlines the steps we take when we do our work with an outward mindset: seeing others, adjusting efforts, and measuring impact (S.A.M.). By adopting this pattern, new managers can transform the way they interact with their teams, improve their leadership skills, and achieve better results. This tool easily helps those in management positions operationalize the outward mindset in their work as a manager.

Let's break down each component of the outward mindset pattern and see how it can help you as a new manager.

• Seeing others: Seeing others means recognizing that your team members are individuals with their own goals, desires, and struggles. It's about acknowledging their humanity and valuing their contributions. When you see others in this way, you'll be better equipped to understand their motivations and tailor your leadership style to their needs.
• Adjusting efforts: Adjusting efforts means being willing to change your approach based on what you learn from seeing others. It's about being flexible and adaptable, and making course corrections when necessary. By adjusting your efforts, you'll be better able to meet your team's needs and achieve your goals.
• Measuring impact: Measuring impact means tracking your progress and evaluating your results. It's about being accountable and taking responsibility for your actions. By measuring your impact, you'll be able to identify what's working well and what needs improvement, and adjust your efforts accordingly.

To use the tool, identify a current situation you’d like to improve. Then apply the outward mindset pattern—S.A.M.—to that situation by answering the prompts in the downloadable template below.

Download the tool here!

4. Start in the Right Way

Whether you’re kicking off a challenging project, addressing a difficult coworker, or facing a contentious situation, it can be tempting to turn inward and operate from a place of blame, resistance, or disregard. New managers especially might find themselves in these positions more than they were used to before as an individual contributor. That’s why it can be helpful to have a tool on hand to stop any negative patterns before they start.

This tool allows managers to evaluate how they’d approach a situation from an inward mindset, and how things would change if they were outward. By clearly comparing the two, managers can catch themselves if they turn inward, and instead strive for accountable, collaborative, and engaged behaviors.

Starting in the right way helps managers stay motivated throughout a project, even when they encounter unexpected obstacles. It helps keep their teams aligned and engaged—ultimately boosting morale. 

Download the tool here!

5. 3A+ Development Framework

According to Gartner, 95% of managers report they are “unhappy” with traditional performance reviews. On the flip side, Lattice states that employee engagement is strongly correlated to review cycle frequency. In our increasingly fast-paced working world, it’s more important than ever that employees and managers align on expectations and performance in a way that works for everyone.

Performance conversations aren’t always easy though, and especially for new managers, it’s extremely helpful to have a framework for approaching these discussions. Arbinger’s 3A+ development framework invites an outward focus into the review process, making it an easy way for managers and employees to regularly check in on their effort and impact.

This tool is valuable for new managers looking for help evaluating their impact, and also as a way to help them get comfortable leading and evaluating a team. Management can use this tool to build the outward mindset into their employees' understanding of their performance.

Download the tool here!

Start empowering your organization’s future leaders

New manager training is essential for ensuring the success of both individual managers and the organizations they lead. By having a set of situation-based tools on hand, organizations can set their new managers up for success and ensure a strong leadership pipeline for the future. 
The tools listed in this blog post are part of a suite of 50+ situational frameworks that are part of our Outward Leadership solution. From selecting a new hire to resolving conflict, Arbinger has a tool for every situation your leaders encounter. Contact us to learn more about our leadership development programs here.