Supervisor Training
The Leadership Journey™ is a turnkey supervisor training program for team leaders, supervisors, and managers. Using burst learning, short modules teach supervisors practical how-to skills.
Using personal action plans, supervisors apply their new skills to real workplace challenges. Follow-up tools hold supervisors accountable for applying their new skills on the job.
Supervisors Develop Ten Essential Skills
-
- Accountability & Taking Ownership
- Change Management
- Coaching & Mentorship
- Communication
- Conflict Resolution
- Empowerment
- Motivation & Attitude Improvement
- Professionalism
- Relationship Building
- Teamwork
Supervisors are usually promoted based on their job and technical skills, rather than leadership potential. They often don’t receive formal, ongoing training on how to be a good manager and lead other people.
The Leadership Journey teaches supervisors how to hone their skills through a series of easy-to-digest, practical modules that cover ten key supervisory skills.
Who Should Participate in This Supervisor Training Program?
The Leadership Journey provides frontline leaders with both the skills and experience they need to excel in their leadership roles.
Even seasoned leaders pick up new techniques for successful management to help them develop their team members and achieve personal and professional goals.
This supervisory training program is for both new and experienced:
- Supervisors
- Team leaders
- First-time supervisors
- Managers
- Future supervisors & managers
When you improve the skills of your supervisors, you also drive the performance of your organization.
Supervisors learn new skills like how to communicate effectively, how to motivate and hold their team members accountable, and how to resolve conflict.
Problems that require your time are greatly reduced as your organization begins to run like a finely tuned machine.
Get a Free Course
Try a course, print support materials, review key learning objectives, and access white papers.
“The action plans helped us achieve a change in their behavior. They take a nugget from the material, develop and work on it for 30 days, making it a habit.”
Todd Weber
Executive VP of Tire Sales Operations
Bauer Built, Inc.
“People are loving and energized by The Leadership Journey! They are always excited to take the next module.”
Lori Bruder
Human Resources Manager
Pentair Water
“The Leadership Journey materials are interactive and engaging. Many of the other products we evaluated were boring.”
Tom Fredrickson
Director of Human Resources
Consolidated Utility Services, Inc.
Table of Contents
Show Key Learning Objectives for Each of the Ten Core Skills
Supervisors Learn and Apply Ten Core Skills
These brief summaries focus on the highlights of what is covered for each competency, including:
1. Accountability
To achieve their teams’ goals, supervisors must hold themselves and their teams accountable. High-performing supervisors don’t sit back and wait; they take action and provide direction.
Supervisors will learn:
- A six-step accountability model.
- How to find time to hold employees accountable.
- Follow-up strategies that ensure accountability and improve trust.
2. Change Management
Change in the workplace often signifies growth and new opportunities. But change can also be disruptive and often happens at a rapid pace. It is essential that supervisors learn to leverage change to drive organizational performance.
Supervisors will learn:
- How to prepare themselves and their teams for change.
- How to respond to adversity with positive thinking and positive actions.
- How to use change to propel their teams to new performance levels.
3. Coaching & Mentoring
Effective supervisors are skilled coaches, helping their team members identify areas for improvement and adopt new behaviors that will lead to greater performance.
Supervisors will learn:
- How to overcome resistance, denial, and defensiveness when coaching.
- How to turn coaching moments into action-orientated results.
- How to leverage experience and potential from both newer and more seasoned employees.
4. Communication
To maximize team and organizational performance, your supervisors must be high-performing leaders who know how to communicate effectively. Without effective communication skills, they can’t do all the things they need to do, like hold people accountable, resolve conflict, motivate their teams, assign responsibilities, and provide feedback.
In this supervisor training program, participants have an opportunity to learn and practice effective communication skills, including verbal and written skills, listening skills, and interpersonal communication.
Supervisors will learn:
- A simple five-step method for giving clear directions.
- How to give constructive negative feedback in a way that boosts morale.
- How to ensure that employees take action—the first time they are asked.
5. Conflict Resolution
Supervisors and team leaders will learn practical skills to shift potentially negative confrontations into a future-focused, problem-solving dialogue.
Supervisors will learn:
- How to gain the confidence to proactively address issues and create buy-in.
- Techniques to manage emotions before they get out of control.
- How to rebuild difficult relationships.
6. Empowerment
As supervisors move from individual contributor roles to management roles, they need to shift their focus to managing rather than doing.
Supervisors will learn:
- How to give clear directions and confirm understanding.
- How to define their teams’ priorities.
- How to transfer knowledge and empower their teams to do the work—instead of doing the work themselves.
7. Motivation & Attitude Improvement
Finding ways to summon more intentional and enthusiastic effort from their team members is a critical skill supervisors can learn to improve their organization’s productivity.
Supervisors will learn:
- How to overcome obstacles they may unknowingly be creating.
- How their attitude affects motivation.
- Five things they can do to maximize effort from their entire team, even the poor performers.
8. Professionalism
Through participation in The Leadership Journey, supervisors will understand that they reveal a lot about their character and abilities to their employees and superiors by the way they conduct themselves.
Supervisors will learn:
- How to develop productive habits that will improve effectiveness.
- The “magic” that results from doing more than is expected.
- How to be consistent in words and actions.
9. Relationship Building
A supervisor’s success depends on their ability to develop strong interpersonal relationships and positively influence others. They must earn the trust and respect of others, be the type of leader people will listen to and follow, and be candid and truthful.
Supervisors will learn:
- How to develop strong relationships with their teams.
- How to be the type of supervisor their team members come to with problems.
- How to build camaraderie between departments while breaking down workplace silos.
10. Teamwork
Working together to achieve common objectives is foundational to organizational excellence. Supervisors will learn how to quickly get team members working in unison to achieve team objectives by leveraging the six key characteristics in all high-performing teams.
Supervisors will learn:
- How to leverage each team member’s unique skills.
- How to overcome communication challenges.
- How to build accountability among team members.
Supervisor Training Delivered Using a Burst Learning Model
The Leadership Journey uses a proprietary burst learning model with a focus on practical application.
Rather than pull supervisors off the job for large blocks of time and overwhelm them with too much information, this customizable program offers bite-sized modules that are spaced out over time. This gives supervisors the time to develop and apply each new skill set before learning the next.
The Leadership Journey has been fine-tuned over the past two decades. Built around adult learning principles, it uses five simple but extremely powerful steps:
Step 1 – Learn
Supervisors learn practical how-to skills from a short course that gets right to the point. Each skill is explained step by step, making it easy to understand. Content is specific, timely, and appropriate for supervisors.
Step 2 – Internalize
Supervisors discuss, practice, and connect skills to their own workplace situations. They come together for organized conversations and share their experiences, connecting the new skills they’ve learned to their own workplace situations while gaining best practice insights from others.
Step 3 – Apply
The immediate application of new skills learned is what sets The Leadership Journey apart from other supervisory training programs. Supervisors create personal action plans that make it easy for them to apply their new skills to real workplace challenges.
Step 4 – Follow-up
Follow-up tools hold supervisors accountable for applying their action plans back in the workplace. Follow-up can take place during group discussion or one-on-one with the supervisor’s leader, training buddy, or mentor.
Step 5 – Repeat
This powerful process is repeated every two to four weeks for each of the core supervisory skills. Time between modules gives supervisors an opportunity to apply new skills. A turnkey roadmap drives repeatable and predictable results that lead to cycles of continuous improvement.
Supervisor Training Drives Long-term Performance Improvements
Harvard Business Review tells us that 90% of supervisor and leadership training fails. That’s because most training programs go no further than step 2, yet steps 3–5 are critical for driving behavior change and ensuring business results.
The Leadership Journey’s burst model and use of personal action plans ensure that supervisors will apply their new skills immediately back on the job—and that they’ll be held accountable for doing so.
Repeating this process through each course creates a systematic approach to learning and development. After just a few modules, supervisors experience a mindset shift with a focus on continuous improvement in all aspects of their job.
- Higher productivity
- Faster growth
- Fewer problems
- More energetic and engaged employees
- Improved profits for the organization
Companies that invest in The Leadership Journey realize a quick ROI for their investment. Changes are quick, real, and easy to measure. It’s an investment that pays big dividends for supervisors and their employees—as well as the entire organization.
Preview a Course for Free
Ready to learn more? Start your free preview to get a better idea of exactly how The Leadership Journey can benefit your supervisors and company.
Benefits of Our Training Supervisor Program
Practical Skills
Practical SkillsPractical skills that can be immediately applied in the workplace. Supervisors learn about the 10 core supervisory skills required for high performance.
Skills Get Used on the Job
Skills Get Used on the JobUsing personal action plans, supervisors apply practical and proven supervisory skills to solve workplace challenges.
Short Modules
Short ModulesShort modules maintain the attention of supervisors and provide a singular focus on specific skills.
Follow-up Tools
Follow-up ToolsFollow-up tools ensure accountability and provide the foundation for shared discussion and best practices.
Built for Adult Learners
Concrete ResultsSupervisor Training Implementation is Quick & Easy
The Leadership Journey is available in a variety of implementation formats to meet current and future needs, including:
Online
Any device, anytime, with brief, 20–30 minute bursts of learning.
⋅
Virtual
VirtualConvenient Zoom-based webinar formats to deliver training in 30- or 60-minute sessions.
Classroom
Flexible classroom sessions to fit your unique time constraints—30, 60, 90, or 120 minutes.
Blended
Combine the other approaches for 30-, 60-, or 90-minute group and self-paced learning.
What Is Included? 7 Active Learning Components + Follow-up
Based on the science of adult learning, The Leadership Journey takes an evidence-based approach to supervisory training. Each course contains 7 active learning components and follow-up, including:
- Pre-assessment: Pre-assessments help supervisors focus their attention and activate prior knowledge.
- Video with Note-taking Guide: Short 12-minute videos with note-taking guides are to the point and engaging. Supervisors take an active role by filling out a note-taking guide with the practical steps they will take to apply their new skills on the job.
- Post-questions: Open-ended post-session questions help participants transfer new knowledge and skills to the workplace. They are specifically written to require supervisors to think about how they will apply their new skills to the challenges and opportunities they are facing back on the job.
- Group Discussion: Group discussion provides a forum for supervisors to share their experiences, ideas, and best practices with each other, expanding the opportunity for learning and ensuring that skills learned are embedded in their supervisory practices.
- Skill Practice: Skill practice offers an opportunity for supervisors to work together to practice new skills using their own workplace examples.
- Quiz: Quizzes measure comprehension and help to track progress.
- Personal Action Plan: Personal action plans provide built-in accountability and a personalized roadmap for solving workplace challenges.
- Follow-up: Follow-up ensures that supervisors are held accountable for applying their action plans back on the job.
Everything Is Included for Group or Self-paced Learning.
We offer a complete curriculum with all the supporting materials, so you only have to find, research, and evaluate supervisor training once.
- Pre and Post Assessments
- Videos
- Role-play and Practice Exercises
- Quizzes
- Personal Action Plans
- Follow-up Tools
- Participant Workbooks
- Facilitator Guides
- Discussion Guides
- Learning Management System (or use yours)
Bonus #1: Group Discussion for Online Learning
Do you like to reinforce self-paced online learning with group discussion, practice, and accountability? Online learning includes optional group-based training materials to reinforce new supervisory skills.
Bonus #2: Workplace Application for Online Learning
Online courses include printed, personalized action plans that make it easy for supervisors to apply new skills on the job. Supervisors walk away from online modules with a personal action plan outlining the specific steps they will take to apply their new skills to a workplace challenge.
Learn more about online supervisor training with The Leadership Journey.
Preview a Course for Free
Learn if this program is a good fit for your supervisors.
90% of Supervisors Never Apply What They Learn from Supervisor Training
The potential of most training is often never realized. Why? Because too often supervisors walk away from training sessions without a plan for using their new skills.
Most programs fail to provide tangible materials for use back on the job—or the accountability to ensure that the transfer of learning takes place.
The Leadership Journey (whether delivered in a classroom or online) includes printed, personalized action plans. This makes it easy for supervisors to apply what they’ve learned back on the job.
Printed participant guides provide a lasting record of skills learned—many supervisors save these guides in binders they can refer to again and again.
Supervisors Complete Personal Action Plans
During training, supervisors associate what they are learning to their real-life workplace situations. They determine how their new skills can be applied back on the job.
Their personal action plans outline the exact steps they will take to solve a workplace challenge. It’s a step-by-step process with deadlines, goals, and scripts. It has everything they need to change workplace behavior.
Because this supervisor training uses a burst learning model, supervisors have time to apply their personal action plans back on the job before they start the next course.
Follow-up Tools Hold Supervisors Accountable for Applying New Skills
To develop positive habits and improve productivity over time, supervisors should be held accountable for applying what they learn during training.
The Leadership Journey holds supervisors accountable at every step:
- When they start training, supervisors understand that they will be held accountable for applying what they learn back on the job.
- The Leadership Journey’s supervisor training includes easy to adapt and easy to implement follow-up tools and processes.
- Supervisors can be held accountable for applying new skills using technology, people, or a combination of the two.
Clients We’ve Served with Our Supervisor Training
Supervisor training isn’t new to us. Since 2002, we’ve served more than 1200 companies of all sizes from every industry. We’re sure you’ll recognize a few of their names!
Supervisor Training Teaches Supervisors Practical How-to Skills
Virtual, classroom, online, and blended modules teach straightforward, common-sense skills that can easily be put into practice. Featured subject matter experts in The Leadership Journey get right to the point with a focus on practical application, not theory.
Supervisors’ time is too valuable to be spent learning theoretical skills they may never use. The Leadership Journey encourages supervisors to share real workplace experiences, raise questions, and explore solutions as they apply the practical skills they learn to their individual situations.
When supervisors learn theory or concepts that are not relevant, your company is wasting its money and your supervisors’ time. Supervisors will be bored, unmotivated, and will lose interest in their development. The Leadership Journey captures and keeps attention and ensures practical application.
When supervisors learn useful and relevant skills, they become engaged in learning. It’s easier for them to lead and manage their teams. They are excited to apply new skills on the job to improve their teams—and the organization overall.
Supervisor Training Modules Are Short and Concise
With The Leadership Journey, supervisors learn practical skills from short, bite-sized modules that are taken over time.
Instead of cramming a lot of information into a one-time training event, a series of bite-sized modules allows supervisors to master one skill before learning the next.
There is a problem with many supervisor training programs. The Leadership Journey overcomes these challenges to ensure that learning will stick—and make a difference. Modules follow a proprietary burst learning model. Depending on the active learning components you choose to use, modules can range from 20 minutes to two hours.
Tools and Software to Deliver Supervisor Training
The Leadership Journey provides the supervisor training curriculum and materials that can make a real, measurable difference in your organization:
- For online learning, the use of our learning management system (LMS) is included. If you prefer to use your own LMS, we provide SCORM or AICC modules for your LMS. (Discussion guides are included if you want to reinforce online learning with discussion.)
- With the curriculum, you can use any virtual meeting software like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Adobe Connect.
- For group learning, The Leadership Journey provides facilitator, participant, and follow-up guides. All 7 active learning components are included with each course.
Is This Training a Good Fit for Your Supervisors?
Find out. Act now and adopt a flexible and customizable turnkey program to prepare your supervisors for success.
What Our Clients Are Saying about Our Supervisor Training
“The results we achieved with The Leadership Journey: Productivity went up 18%, employee problems decreased 90%, and employee morale improved across all departments.”
Gary Cameron
Human Resources Director
Mitchell Grocery Distribution
View their case study.
“Business Training Experts did all the legwork, allowing us to customize the program to meet our goals. The tools and personal action plans made it easy for students to follow-up and do their tasks.”
Terri Stewart
HR & Leadership Dev. Manager
Micro Electronics, Inc.
“The Leadership Journey helped grow our people and solidify our leaders of the future. We are able to manage in-house around our schedule. This supervisor training exceeded our expectations.”
John Reynolds
Executive VP
The Dynamic Group
“100% of participants would recommend the program to other First United supervisors and managers, so they are finding great value in this learning experience.”
Ricca Paris
Asst. VP Organizational Dev.
First United Bank
View their case study.
“This versatile curriculum addresses the relevant day-to-day leadership skills our supervisors must know to successfully build highly effective work teams.”
Jeff Baker
Director of Operations
Shade Tree Service Company
“The competencies hit exactly what we wanted to reinforce, develop, and teach. The interactivity was amazing. I’ve never seen anything like The Leadership Journey.”
Lynn Fair
VP Human Resources
Brook + Whittle
View their case study.
“The Leadership Journey’s practical approach has been very beneficial to our supervisory staff, as the concepts can be applied immediately.”
Mark Shaw
HR Director
Unverferth Manufacturing Co., Inc
“The best part of the program is the follow-up piece. Too many times employers send their employees to seminars and trainings, but there is no playbook for follow-up. The Leadership Journey has a playbook that I can take and have my team easily apply.”
Chad Hammerly
Plant Director
Ocean Spray Cranberries
“The Leadership Journey helped me accomplish my goals much faster than if I had to build training myself. Courses contain practical, real-life situations that can be delivered quickly.”
Jennifer Schimdtbauer
Director of Organizational Dev.
Raven Industries
View their case study.
How can we help?
Request a demo, pricing, trial course, or ask a question.