Purpose

Being an effective manager or supervisor requires that we become aware of our own value and belief systems. Our personal system of beliefs, attitudes, and theories constitutes the bedrock of our daily practices. Based on our learned – and sometimes unconsciously referenced – belief system, we develop general guiding principles which result in the specific behaviours, practices, policies, and procedures which define our particular management "style" or approach.

This Workshop is Designed to:

This workshop is designed to address the issue of managerial beliefs and assumptions by combining the classic "Theory X – Theory Y" system of Douglas McGregor with research around the "self-fulfilling prophecy" to demonstrate that, as managers, we often create conditions and outcomes to substantiate what we believe and expect to be true in the first place.

Who Benefits?

This workshop addresses a fundamental issue in managerial performance and therefore is appropriate for team leaders and all levels of management and supervision. It is also appropriate as a preparation experience for those who are contemplating moving into the managerial or supervisory ranks.

Specific Objectives:

• To provide experience in working in a group with other people to arrive at a group decision reflecting various individual and personal inputs and to stimulate discussion about how personal assumptions, attitudes, and perceptions impact one’s approach to “managing;”
• To introduce McGregor’s “Theory X – Theory Y” model as a method for analyzing and understanding the attitudinal, belief-driven “why’s” and “how’s” of managerial/supervisory behaviour;
• To introduce an actual classic study which showed, conclusively, that managerial beliefs significantly influence how managers attend to the “human” side of enterprise and, moreover, how Theory X – driven beliefs lead to extremely effective and productive managerial action;
• To provide personal feedback from one’s casework on personal assumptions and beliefs which can be compared with “real world” feedback from subordinates/co-workers concerning their perception  of the participant’s value system and the day-to-day effect of this on their work and;
• To provide linkage with the real word by using the data from the previous objective as a vehicle for participants and subordinate/co-workers to meet together for personal critique, problem solving, and action-planning for more productive working relationships.

Duration: One Full Day or Two Half Days                      Class Size: 8-16