Fundamental Supervisory Skills (FSS) Professional Development Series

What is FSS?

Fundamental Supervisory Skills (FSS) is a series of five three-hour workshops that equip your supervisors with fundamental tools, strategies, and action plans that build their confidence and effectiveness. FSS workshops can be taken in any order, providing extra flexibility for your organization.

How does FSS benefit your organization?

Through this series, participants will learn how to better support direct reports and guide day-to-day team efforts, while pursuing big-picture organizational goals. As they gain essential know-how through these sessions, supervisors will be better prepared to drive results that foster overall success.

What skills are addressed in each workshop?

Supervisors are uniquely positioned in the organization. In this session, explore the role of supervisor and better understand where authority begins and ends. Reflect upon and grow your influence in order to empower your direct reports to take personal responsibility for their task completion. Gain new perspectives on coaching, motivation, and accountability. Leave with greater confidence in your supervisory style and more comfortable in your link between the frontline and management.

Participants will learn to:
- Identify which situations are best handled by authority, and which by influence
- Recognize how we contribute to employee empowerment within the workplace
- Understand what we can do to support employee driven responsibility and results
- Demonstrate greater confidence in being a bridge between employees and management
- Create an action plan for putting new ideas into action
Take the guesswork out of employee performance. In this session, learn how to set clear expectations for your employees without micromanaging. Adapt approaches to assigning work, delegating, and being inclusive, to allow employees to take more ownership and show their capability. Build trust in employees' ability to work remotely or with little direct oversight. Draft a personalized action plan to use on the job to successfully oversee employees and recognize their accomplishments.

Participants will learn to:
- Select a leadership style based on what is appropriate for the situation
- Apply strategies to set expectations and goals effectively
- Incorporate employee ideas and contributions to identify solutions, ensure engagement, and foster morale
- Demonstrate greater confidence in when to encourage or discourage autonomy
- Understand what we can do to support disengaged employees
- Create an action plan for using new ideas on the job
Supervisors' words have a powerful effect in the workplace. In this session, grow more intentional about what you say and how to ensure feedback is linked to action. Reevaluate your approach to new hire and employee evaluations to prevent missing coaching and relationship-building opportunities. Recognize the value of ongoing and transparent communication about employees' strengths, areas for improvement, and roles. Leave with both a mindset and model to consistently reinforce positives and address gaps to overcome.

Participants will learn to:
- Recognize the value of ongoing, transparent communication re: employee strengths, areas for improvement, and role
- Grow more intentional about what to say when giving feedback
- Ensure feedback is linked to action
- Reevaluate approaches to new hire and employee evaluations
- Prevent missing coaching or relationship-building opportunities
- Leave with both a mindset and model to consistently reinforce employee positives and address gaps
Supervision isn't always easy. In this session, explore approaches to difficult situations, including conflicts with employees and customers. Recognize contributors to poor communication, performance, and service. Learn how to respond appropriately while taking advantage of an opportunity to build employees' skills. Understand when and how to involve management. Walk away with a toolbox for helping the frontline resolve challenges and preserve relationships.

Participants will learn to:
- Explore approaches to difficult situations, including conflicts with employees and customers
- Recognize contributors to poor communication, performance, and service
- Learn how to respond appropriately while taking advantage of an opportunity to build employees' skills
- Understand when and how to involve management
- Walk away with a toolbox for helping the frontline resolve challenges and preserve relationships
As an organizational go-between, supervisors have to monitor changes at both employee and management levels. In this session, strengthen resilience to change. Understand how to better support your team as new expectations, targets, or realities come its way. Expand on the concept of "growth mindset," so change is positioned as an opportunity, not a threat. Learn steps to take when introducing and implementing change, and know what data to monitor for reporting progress. Leave with greater readiness to lend a steady hand when the work environment is in flux.

Participants will learn to:
- Understand why we must view change as an opportunity, not a threat
- Identify strategies to strengthen employee resilience
- Apply methods to strengthen and replicate growth mindsets
- Evaluate implementation methods in order to manage various types of workplace change
- Explore types of data that will indicate how well employees are adapting to change and transition
- Customize a personal change management toolbox to use back on the job

Open Enrollment Sessions

Typical open-enrollment sessions are three hours long. For maximum benefit, they can be taken in any order, either individually or as a series. Your employees will enjoy collaborating with participants from a wide range of industries and organizations through small group activities, role-playing scenarios, and discussions for an interactive, engaging learning experience.

Customized Trainings

We can offer your organization customized EWS training when and where you need it. The sequence of topics, length of a search session, and follow-up plans reflect employee needs and organizational priorities. Learning activities parallel those of open enrollment, except your employees will learn alongside coworkers, reinforcing internal relationships and approaches.

Take-Away Tools

Participants leave each workshop with four simple tools to help them apply their new skills on the job and in daily life. These include:

self-assessment to help them understand what they know and can do related to the skill area
tool to help them take the specific actions required to achieve their goals
self-review to foster reflection and allow supervisors and mentors to track the learner's progress

Kaskaskia College can document and provide:

verification of workshop completion
a certificate recognizing individuals who take all six Essential Workplace Skills workshops at the College or in a customized setting with a Kaskaskia instructor
Digital badge for each workshop completed
Digital micro certificate for completing all six workshop modules

Get In Touch

If you still have questions contact our department and we’ll be happy to help.

Cydney Richardson

crichardson@kaskaskia.edu

Phone | 618-545-3256

Main Campus
Administration, AD 200

What skills are addressed in each workshop?

Get In Touch

Cydney Richardson

We can help you take the first step