A management training program is a highly dynamic event. It must, of course, be led by an experienced and inspiring Senior Tutor. However, most of a program’s success derives from harnessing the skills, knowledge, creativity and energy of the delegates, themselves
It is, to a great degree, achieved by, regularly, dividing the delegate group into separate teams, to undertake specific tasks. These tasks are directed towards the achievement of the program’s overall learning outcomes. The activities, of each team, are overseen by its own assigned Team Tutor.
Competent, creative and committed Team Tutors are an essential component in the successful running of any management training program, because they:
- Have the most contact with the delegates.
- Play a role in providing program-related advice and counselling to delegates
- Evaluate and provide feedback, to the delegates, on team and individual performances.
- Provide the Senior Tutor’s ‘eyes and ears’ on delegate morale and progress.
Great care must be exercised in selecting people to act as Team Tutors. Invariably, they are training professionals, who are capable of running their own programs. Many of the qualities and skills of leading a program and team tutoring are the same.
Sometimes, suitable line management personnel are selected and trained as Team Tutors. As Training is a fundamental responsibility for all managers, undertaking the role of Team Tutor can provide a really valuable development experience. Using line managers as Team Tutors can, also, add credibility and expertise to training programs, where their specific disciplines or departments are represented, amongst the delegates. However, special care must be taken to avoid crossing seniority or relationship boundaries.
You can also, substantially, add to the quality and character of a program by bringing in qualified and experienced people from outside the organization, to act as Team Tutors Their professional fields may not directly relate to the industrial or commercial activities of your delegate group. However, so long as they have the requisite team tutoring skills, they can provide fresh perspectives and special skills, which can only enhance the quality of your program.
As an example, I, often, invite the Head of a College Art Faculty to join my tutorial team. He has excellent team tutoring skills. As well as that, his special contribution, to my programs, is his outstanding ability as a cartoonist. In addition to fulfilling his essential role as a Team Tutor, he makes time to illustrate ongoing events with ingenious cartoons. This provides an extra, often humorous, dimension to the learning experience.
We set up a special display board outside the program office. At the end of each day, we exhibit the day’s ‘rushes’; cartoons of delegates in action, Tutors ‘in full flow’ and revealing team interactions. The cartoons provide an endless source of discussion and amusement for the delegates, whilst endorsing the purpose of the activities being illustrated. At the end of the program, as well as the usual full set of Briefing Notes, delegates, also, receive a complete portfolio of the cartoons, to memorialize their attendance on the program.
Unquestionably, capable Team Tutors play a vital role in the success of any management training program.
‘Even while they teach, men learn’
(Letters, 7.8)
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