Atlas Air: Management Training Testimonial

This class was the best professional training I've had in years! The four key areas were communication, motivation, delegation, and evaluation. Because I am a new manager, I needed every concept that was taught.

As a starting point, the most important for me was communication. The instructor went over personality and behavior patterns that help a manager use the right communication style when dealing with each different employee to ensure that messages are sent effectively and received with maximum clarity and minimum distortion. Two-way feedback is necessary to constantly assess needs, concerns, problems, interests, and establish trust on both sides. Trust in itself is a motivational tool. The manager must create an environment of openness to show employees they are accessible and involved while representing authority and leadership (a bit like parenting).

The difference between delegation (meant to challenge and develop employee skills) and task assignment (meant to get a task completed) could mean the difference between employee satisfaction or stagnation. In delegation, the employee is given more and more autonomy in decision making until they have learned the skills and earned the responsibility of owning tasks and projects.

Overall, I learned that the role of the manager is not to know how to execute the detailed areas of expertise of the employees (which I've been trying to do for a year now). The manager's role is to enable communication and to coordinate timetables, projects, and resources to enhance employee development and achieve company goals.

The instructor was truly excellent. Her casual, personable style made learning and interfacing with classmates easy. The class was lively with lots of participation. We seldom got off track, and when we did, she skillfully guided the focus back to the concept being taught. Movement from one concept to another seemed naturally connected.