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Quick Look Course Summary:Supervisory Skills for Team Leaders (2 days)
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Length: 2 day(s)
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Price (at your venue): 1 Person R 10,326 EX VAT 3 Person R 7,594 EX VAT 10 Person R 5,537 EX VAT
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Certification Type:Non-Accredited
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Locations & Venues: Off-site or in-house. We train in all major city centres throughout South Africa.
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Supervisory Skills for Team Leaders (2 days)
Team leaders leave knowing how to set standards, delegate, motivate their people and hold a performance conversation – and they start doing it the following week.
Most supervisors are promoted because they were good at the job, not because anyone showed them how to lead the people doing it. The results are familiar: vague expectations, work that bounces back, underperformance nobody addresses and good staff who leave. Supervisory skills training closes that gap by giving first-line leaders a clear picture of what the role demands and the practical tools to do it.
Day one is about the team leader's responsibility for standards: what the role is (and is not), why the team exists, how to agree expectations so that people commit to them, how to assign and delegate work, and how to track performance against targets without micromanaging. Day two is about people: what motivates each person in the team, how groups behave, how to set goals and measures, give feedback and recognition, draw up a simple development plan and deal with conflict fairly.
Every module uses delegates' own teams and situations. Delegates practise a contracting conversation and a performance conversation with feedback, and leave with a 30-day action plan for their team.
Why this course
For your organisation
- Team leaders who hold their teams to agreed standards consistently
- Work delegated properly instead of absorbed by the supervisor
- Underperformance addressed early, before it reaches HR
- Lower turnover in teams led by newly promoted supervisors
- One shared approach to goals, feedback and recognition across supervisors
For your delegates
- A clear view of what your role is and what it is not
- A simple way to agree expectations your team commits to
- Confidence to delegate and to hold performance conversations
- Practical ways to motivate different people in the same team
- A personal 30-day action plan for your own team
What delegates will be able to do
- Describe their responsibilities as a team leader and where the role sits between staff and management
- Link the team's purpose and targets to the standards the organisation sets
- Agree expectations with team members, verbally and in writing, and gain their commitment
- Assign work and choose the right degree of delegation for each task and person
- Track team performance against objectives and act on gaps early
- Apply motivation and group-dynamics ideas to the people in their own team
- Set SMART goals and measures and draw up a simple development plan with each team member
- Give feedback and recognition that improves performance
- Handle conflict in the team fairly and know when to escalate
Who should attend
Newly appointed and experienced supervisors, team leaders, foremen, shift leaders and junior managers – especially people promoted from within their own team, those taking over an established or brand-new team, and technical specialists moving into their first people-management role.
Course outline
Day 1 – Leading the team to standard
The team leader's role
- From doing the work to getting work done through others
- What the organisation expects of a team leader – and what the team expects
- Where the team leader sits between management and staff
- Common traps for new supervisors
- Self-check: where your time goes today
The team's purpose and the standards it must meet
- Why your team exists and who depends on its output
- Organisational standards: quality, safety, service, cost and deadlines
- Turning standards into team objectives and daily targets
- Policies and procedures the team leader must uphold
Setting expectations and contracting with the team
- Defining what good work looks like for each role
- Verbal and written expectations
- Contracting with the team: agreeing commitments and ground rules
- Opening the conversation when you now lead former peers
- Practice: a contracting conversation
Assigning work and delegating
- Directive, volunteer and collaborative ways of assigning work
- Three degrees of delegation: close supervision, partial supervision and full independence
- Choosing the right person and giving clear instructions
- Following up, and fixing delegation that goes wrong
Monitoring and evaluating team performance
- Simple measures and visual tracking boards
- Daily huddles and seeing the work where it happens (go to gemba)
- Spotting performance gaps early
- Taking corrective action and reporting upwards
- Case study: a team falling behind target
Managing your own time as a supervisor
- Using the 80/20 rule to find where effort pays off
- Prioritising with an urgent-important matrix
- Protecting time for planning and for people
- Routines that simplify the supervisor's day
Day 2 – Motivating and building the team
Understanding yourself and your team
- Your own working style and how others experience it
- Differences in personality, culture, language and generation
- What each team member needs from you
- Exercise: a profile of your team
Motivation in practice
- Why motivation shows up in output, attendance and retention
- Maslow, Herzberg and expectancy theory in plain language
- What motivates people beyond money
- Matching motivators to individual team members
Group dynamics and strengthening the team
- How teams form, clash, settle and perform
- The roles people play in a team
- Signs of a struggling team
- A simple action plan to strengthen your team
Goals, measures and development plans
- Cascading goals from the business to the individual
- Setting SMART goals and measures with each team member
- Identifying development needs
- A one-page development plan: on-the-job learning, coaching and courses
- Reviewing progress at agreed intervals
Feedback, recognition and performance conversations
- What makes feedback useful
- Informal day-to-day feedback and formal reviews
- Recognising achievement in ways that count
- Structuring a conversation about underperformance
- When coaching is not enough: your organisation's poor-performance procedure, as general guidance and not legal advice
- Practice: a performance conversation with observer feedback
Conflict, special situations and action planning
- A fair process for resolving conflict in the team
- When to get help inside or outside the team
- Leading former peers, a brand-new team or an established team
- Your 30-day action plan
How it is delivered
Two days, 08:30-16:00. In person at your offices anywhere in South Africa, at a BOTI venue, or live online. One delegate or a group of up to 20; examples tailored to your sector on request. Workbook, templates for expectations, delegation and development plans, and a 30-day action plan included. We deliver it at your offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and anywhere else in South Africa, at a BOTI venue in Johannesburg, or live online for teams in different places.
What our clients say
“The courses was efficiently scheduled and planned around our timetable. We were impressed by the quality of training … with overall scores of 5 out of 5.”
“The training was practical, engaging and relevant to our workplace environment, providing participants with valuable knowledge and practical skills that could be applied in their respective roles.”
“The training went well, and judging by the feedback from the evaluation forms we received, we were impressed by the knowledge of the facilitator and the quality of training overall.”
Frequently asked questions
Can you run this course at our offices?
Yes. Most supervisor groups are trained at the client's premises anywhere in South Africa – a plant, a branch, a contact centre or head office. We can also host it at a BOTI venue or run it live online.
How many supervisors can attend?
From one delegate to a group of about 20. Mixed groups from different departments work well, because supervisors learn from each other's situations.
Is it accredited?
No. This is a non-accredited short course and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance.
Can it be tailored to our supervisors?
Yes. Send us your standards, KPIs or a few typical team problems beforehand and the facilitator uses them in the exercises and practice conversations.
How is this different from Taking Charge as a Leader?
This course covers the day-to-day job of supervising: standards, delegation, motivation and performance conversations. Taking Charge as a Leader is a three-day course on the leadership side of moving from specialist to manager – leadership theories, styles and building your own approach.
Can you run this course in Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban?
Yes. We train on site at your offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and across South Africa, at a BOTI venue in Johannesburg, or live online so a team spread over several offices can attend together.
Related courses
BOTi Essential Course - Supervisory Skills for Team Leaders Training: Course Outline
The aim of this course is to develop your supervisory skills such as time management and team management. Add to this the prioritization of tasks and effective delegation and you will be well on your way to becoming a good supervisor. We also focus on setting goals and expectations for yourself and your team, as well as how to provide effective feedback and appropriate ways to resolve conflict.Get your price – the more delegates, the less each pays
Change the options to see your price per person, then email yourself the quote and course outline.
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Monday to Friday, 08:00–17:00. After hours, we reply on the next working day – or call 011 882 8853.