Facilitation skills and techniques are used to address problems faced by natural groups. This practice is also called interactive management. It was introduced with its use in healthcare industry for a group of physicians, nurses and other staff to ease tension amongst the group. It is gradually finding its way in emergency response service training sessions to ease group members at the start (Frey, 2003). a. Consultation skills Consultation skills are development of mutual consensus and group coherence on regular bases in a team.
It is even more important when considering emergency response services where the entire chain of activity triggered by a call is team work. UK law observes the Directive Consultative and enforces it in organization to ensure that employee participation has been done in each decision made (Smith, 2003). b. Message creations Messages are created keeping in view the organizations need for sharing information, amount of information that is to be disclosed, senders view and perception and most important, receptors view and perception.
Message should be created in such a manner that it is understandable for the audience aimed at (Smith, 2003). It is even more important in emergency response services because of fire-fighters are not sure what message they are receiving in training sessions they can not be expected to safe lives. 2. Managers training and development Managers are trained and development in a different manner then employees. They are trained such that they can in turn train more people in the organization. Throughout the business community, organizations are becoming both smaller and flatter, with fewer clear lines of command.
We are getting used to having major decisions made by those below the top ranks— midlevel managers who now have power over critical budgets and personnel resources. We are seeing customer-driven development of all sorts, from R& D operations to product design. We are becoming comfortable with coalition problem solving, with the influence of networks, and with a political kind of business culture that values group effort through work teams, ad hoc task forces, and advisory groups. We are seeing executive and upper-management levels disappear.
In training management especially, we are finding a wide diversity of managerial titles and job responsibilities, more management coalitions and advisors, more teams, and front-line decision making. We are seeing an affirmation of the value of a company’s human resources, enunciated in less rigid ways. We are experiencing a renewed interest in the people who make a business work; we seem no longer to be focused primarily on filling slots in prescribed and defined organization structures, in chains of command, and in narrowly defined job requirements (Nilson, 2003).
Manage time Managers today are to realize the importance of time management because they are to manage more then one teams once in practical environment due to increased competition and expected productivity. Trained staff is also expected to be expert at their relevant field and that should enable them to save time (Nilson, 2003). b. Abandon unproductive activities Time can best be managed by managers if they do not indulge in unproductive activities. These activities not only prove time management a failure but can also have drastic result for the organization.
A manager has to carefully choose between most important and urgent tasks that need his attention to best receive of his teams (Nilson, 2003). Identifying important and urgent tasks and abandoning activities with no productivity are even more important in emergency response services because situation is more crucial, time and space is of utmost important to what will be the outcome. c. Make effective decisions Decisions are effectively made if managers are able to realize and identify that which activities are most important and urgent as mentioned above.
Decision making is one of the essential tasks a manager is expected to perform taking in full understanding of organizations needs and requirements. Also, time is of utmost importance to an effective decision (Nilson, 2003). For an on-duty emergency response service personnel decision making has to be very timely to produce maximum results otherwise the results might not be what he expects since there hardly exists a chance to rectify a mistake once made in an urgent situation. d. Clarify Purpose
Purpose and aim of the activities of the team are to be clear to them. If team members are not aware of their roles they might not perform as per the managers expectation. A part of managers duty is also to train employees further. They themselves are required to effective communicator. Incase this capability is lacking in them it could prove to be a failing situation for an entire team having adverse effect on the organization. e. Set Objectives Objectives are to be set by the managers for their teams.
If these objectives are not appropriately set by managers it could mean ambiguity and no cohesion amongst the group member. While some activities might be duplicated, the others would be entirely ignored. To avoid this and achieve optimal results for an organization it is a manager’s responsibility to set clear and measurable objectives for the team. So at the end of they day performance of a group or team is measurable against objectives. f. Motivate Motivating comes from above mentioned listening, communicating and encouraging employees.
It is of utmost important to managers who want their employees feedback not only to improve upon the teams productivity but want to bring about positive changes in the organization because employees are the ones with on field experience and can provide honest feedback to the organization regarding areas in which it is lacking. Motivation is vital to first identify the skills that need developing, relationships that need intensification, and best practices that need to be adopted. It is important to define needs in terms of cognitive and behavioral skills as well as the emotional intelligence factors that need to be addressed.
Coaching can sustain on-the-job learning, or it can be a follow-up to classroom training or workshop experiences. It can focus on one’s present job or on a future job. Executive coaching, of course, concentrates on the executive’s agenda, built upon the fundamentals of enhanced skills, personal development and performance, capability. Coaching and mentoring can be very effective ways of teaching more than the typical analytical skills and corporate procedures, addressing issues such as building morale, improving creativity, and inspiring teamwork.
Mentoring has been a popular and successful training approach to help women and minorities overcome barriers to advancement. In many companies, mentors are assigned and a inclusive program of diversity training through mentoring is implemented. Personnel who need mentoring are challenged to find it for themselves. This can mean acting boldly to contact someone whose work you admire, volunteering for project teams out of your immediate area of proficiency, and in quest of high-visibility assignments.
Networking internally and externally with persons who will teach you is another way to find your own mentor. Training managers have a responsibility to encourage formal and informal mentoring programs on behalf of women and minorities, who are still not at parity with white males in pay or advancement opportunity Motivational programs especially need organizational involvement from the training department. A company-wide program needs visibility through newsletters, online and interactive information, video clips, rewards for successes, and so on.
It needs promotion through internal information channels so that program goals are well known and program participants are identified. These measures can provide spur for participation and creativity. Training managers also provide facilitation and support services for mentoring and coaching, including planning and devise assistance for participants, matching services based on accurate information so that those involved can succeed, orientation training, and monitoring and evaluation guidelines.
Training managers have a responsibility to help coaches and mentors with instructional design that fits the needs of those who need to be motivated.
Bibliography
Clampitt, P. (2005). Communicating for Managerial Effectiveness. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Retrieved May 2, 2007 from the ebrary Database. Dimbleby, Richard. (1998) More Than Words : An Introduction to Communication. Florence, KY, USA: Routledge. Retrieved May 2, 2007 from the ebrary Database. Farrant, James. (2003). Internal Communications. London, , GBR: Thorogood. Retrieved May 2, 2007 from the ebrary Database.