Last month, Hannah and I attended the IPA’s People Management Training. As a newly promoted Account Manager, I was very much looking forward to it and being able to add an extra six hours to my CPD log also sounded appealing.
Across the three mornings we broached a plethora of topics ranging from time management skills to wellbeing. Whilst I expected the training would primarily focus on strategies of engaging or dealing with your team, I was positively surprised that there were a number of exercises centered around dealing with one's own emotions and how to positively influence others.
After all, managing a team involves a lot of emotional intelligence and good communication skills to deliver the best possible results for clients and the company alike; motivated and valued employees carry out tasks more efficiently. A good manager will be able to guide and delegate work without over/underwhelming staff and nurturing people’s strengths rather than focusing on their weaknesses.
The three mornings were filled with introductions to different concepts and techniques - I don’t think I have ever taken this many notes trying to remember each and every single concept in detail. Whilst some concepts focused on organising both the team’s, and my own workload, such as Brian Tracy’s A-E Prioritisation Method or The Covey Grid, others will be beneficial for my personal development as an Account Manager. I particularly appreciated the tips on coping with Imposter Syndrome and how to tackle difficult conversations by avoiding a me-centric approach and ‘should’ statements.
I’d recommend the course to anyone becoming an account manager or seeking to uplift their own & team’s output and well-being. It definitely gave me a lot of food for thought which I hope to digest swiftly in order to apply these strategies into my every-day work life.
- Kat Schubert
