Managing the Workforce™ | Managing People Training Activity

Participants work in three teams representing Managers, Supervisors and Production Staff of a toy company. Management receive a request for samples to be made, so they must brief the Supervisors and the Supervisors in turn must brief Production Staff (who are already engaged on another job).

The lines of communication are short, the task simple, the deadline adequate – and yet the problems multiply exponentially and all too soon the deadline comes and goes – and no samples appear! What went wrong, how similar is this to what happens at work? What procedures could help to improve things and ensure a much more positive outcome?

• Highlights the common problems that result from lax management
• Stresses the need for effective delegation with clearly understood instructions, review points and deadlines
• Highlights the need for regular monitoring and review
• Identifies the roles of manager and supervisor
• Identifies the ways to create an informed, motivated, confident work team of whom you have high expectations

1. Divide the participants into three teams, Managers, Supervisors and Production Staff, as per instructions in the Trainer’s Notes.
2. Briefly explain that teams represent departments of an organisation and will shortly be given details of a task.
3. Issue Team Briefs. Explain the activity lasts just one hour and draw the group’s attention to the means of communication available between the three teams.
4. Also issue Production Resources as per instructions in the Trainer’s Notes.
5. Observe what happens (but don't get involved). Use the Trainer’s Assessment Checklist to help gauge workforce performance. There are a lot of areas to consider!
6. At the end lead a debrief: did the workforce achieve their objective (most do not)? What did they do well? What let them down? How could they have done better? What useful lessons can they take back to the workplace? Lots of useful issues to discuss.

Full guidance supplied in the Trainer’s Notes.

Hard & Digital Copy

• ☑️ Hard copy pack supplied
• ☑️ PDFs supplied

Digital Copy

• ☑️ PDFs supplied
• ❌ You will need to source: A4 White Card x24 sheets, Colour Pens x12, Pencils x2, Rulers x2, Sticky Tape x2, Scissors x2

Full Contents

• Trainer’s Notes
• Managers' Briefs
• Supervisors' Briefs
• Production Staff's Briefs
• Memo Forms
• Action Plan
• Trainer Assessment - Checklist
• Resources: A4 White Card x24 sheets, Colour Pens x12, Pencils x2, Rulers x2, Sticky Tape x2, Scissors x2

This activity is for face-to-face classroom use. The digital files are supplied via the Northgate Trainerhub.

This Northgate Training activity comes with a five-year licence for repeat use with up to 12 participants at a time, for use by Trainers based at one licence-holding site.

All Trainers physically based at the same office location can access the Northgate resources during the five-year term, including the digital resources supplied on the Trainerhub via your own site-specific Trainer Dashboard. If you have Trainers based at other locations, and/or remote workers, who would like to access and use the Northgate resources, we can advise further depending on your requirements.

For further information on our licence terms please view the Northgate Licence Agreement.