Management Skills Seminar (MSS)
Description
This 4½ day program
is designed for first-line managers and general agents in
their first two years and seniorsecond-line unit managers
and supervisors. The subject matter focuses on improving
manager performance and developingcritical management skills
in planning, recruiting, selecting agents, performance
appraisal, training, motivation, andtime-management.
Day One
Welcome and Introductions
This general
session will review seminar mechanics, procedures and
objectives. Participants will be asked toidentify and rank
those learning objectives that are most important to them.
The management process will be discussed.
Management Job
Activities
In this session, the participants will discuss the most
important management tasks versus the tasks performed
mostfrequently. "Management" will be defined with the
concepts of current cost and capital investment as applied
to management.The key elements of a sales representative’s
vs. Manager’s job will be discussed. Management job
activities and critical
manager knowledge, skill, and ability dimensions will also
be discussed.
Managerial
Activities Related to Skills and AbilitiesCurrent Costs and
Capital Investment
Planning and Problem Solving Participants will be able to
identify/describe a planning process and successfully apply
it in their agency. Objective setting and criteria for
good/valid objectives will be discussed. A problem solving
process will be introduced and related to supervision
problems identified by participants in their seminar work.
Problem Solving Exercise
The participants will apply the processes learned in the
prior session.Market Penetration
Participants will focus on concepts associated with market
penetration and target marketing. This will include market
definition and relationship to agency marketing plan,
description of types of markets, identification of key
characteristics of a "good" market, natural market
identification by sales representative and market
information sources.Defining What A Sales Representative
Must Do The importance of a clear job description will be
introduced, emphasizing activity and standards.
Day Two
Recruiting
This extended session will focus on the recruiting.
Participants will discuss the reasons for continuous and
effective recruiting, identify recruiting sources, create a
profile for the "ideal candidate," the name gathering
process, and identifytechniques to find candidates. The
recruiting session will continue with a discussion of
"controllable vs. Noncontrollable" recruitingsources,
nominator and direct contact recruiting and making the first
contact with recruits. The participants will create and
practicetheir own nominator presentation. Participants will
discuss and analyze the characteristics of an ideal
recruiting source, and identify
the advantages and disadvantages of each source. The session
will conclude with an exchange of new recruiting ideas.
Manpower and production Planning
Participants will be given information needed to plan and
project production and manpower objectives. Manpower
projections will be done by analyzing past agency
performance. The importance of utilizing and orderly process
will be stressed.The session will conclude the introduction
of a recruiting action plan that ties the process
together.Selection Tools and Concepts Participants will be
asked to consider the "right kind of candidate" for their
sales office. Selection techniques will be discussed and an
effective selection process/flow chart will be reviewed.
Precontract orientation and the career presentation will be
discussed.
Interviewing Techniques Basic interviewing principles will
be stressed, types and purposes of interviewed, and an
instructor role play undertake on interviewing do’s and
don’ts. Participants will also be involved in a number of
selection interviews. Implementation of good interviewing
rules will be stressed.
Day Three
Performance Analysis
Participants will be introduced to a process for identifying
the reasons for performance discrepancies (e.g., lack of
skillor insufficient motivation). The participants will
apply the process.
Communications
Exercise
Utilizing a communications exercise, the participants
discuss effective communication skills and ways to implement
them.
Principles of Learning and Training
This session focuses on principles of adult learning. It
describes how the principles are used in designing effective
training materials. A role play with attendee participation
emphasizes the principles.
Anytown Agency Objective Setting
Participants will
receive an agency case study to analyze. Working in teams,
the participants, will create a three year plan for manpower
and production for the case study agency. Participants will
use knowledge from previous sessions in this
planning exercise.
Day Four
Developing a Training Program
Participants will create a training program for one of their
sales representatives. Using both a sample case study and
the process of diagnosis, objective setting, methodology and
evaluation, participants will apply this process to their
own sales
representative from the preseminar assignment. The result
will be an individualized development program.
Motivation and Job
performance
This session will help participants motivate those who work
for them. A job performance model will be utilized, and
participants will discuss the importance of understanding
what motivates someone. This will be followed by a workshop
and exercise in motivation that illustrates the important
role of motivation plays and job performance. Participants
will rank their personal "outcomes" or primary motivators. A
discussion will follow on the use of the "outcomes process"
in determining a sales
representative’s primary motivators. Supervisory
implications will be identified.
Anytown Agency
Simulation
Participants will run the case study agency for which they
set objectives/goals the preceding day. Participants will be
evaluated based upon the results of those objectives and
whether or not the management principles that have been
discussed
throughout the seminar were applied. Quarterly agency
results will be returned for future actions by the
participants. A thorough
understanding of the agency operating details will be
essential to properly running the agency.
Day Five
Anytown Agency Simulation Debrief
This session will have
as its objective an analysis of the "objective setting" and
"running of the agency" portions of the agency simulation.
Participants will be asked to critique their efforts in this
simulation exercise. This session will bring together all
the critical elements/ingredients of agency management for
participants to reevaluate in their own operations.
Controlling As a result of this session, participants will
be able to relate control to planning and problem solving.
The key purposes of control and elements of controlling will
be highlighted. Participants will be asked to share their
sales office "control" functions. Discussion on
controlling/evaluating results will occur.
Time Management
Participants will discuss and apply time management
principles and evaluate their time allocation based on their
preseminar assignment. Brainstorming of key "time robbers"
and potential solutions to them will be identified. Managers
will be encouraged to institute a time control system in
their agencies concerning itself with standards,
measurements, and evaluation.
Wrap-Up
The school concludes with summary of how to apply and
maximize the techniques and tolls of the program. The
objectives of the Management Skills Seminar are reviewed and
postseminar projects are assigned. Participants are asked to
evaluate the seminar relative to their initial learning
objectives. Closing remarks emphasize the implementation of
the processes, methods, tools and techniques developed at
the seminar.