Upskilling Managers

Learning programs to cultivate your managers of today for a stronger team tomorrow.

Preparing People Managers for the Future of Work

We know that great people leaders are made, not born. But with the skills managers need to succeed constantly evolving, how do you keep up? You need learning that meets the moment, fits your context, and pays dividends for years to come.

Ei's Upskilling Managers learning programs are designed to help your people leaders guide their teams with confidence and care, fostering a culture of excellence and preparing your organization to weather what’s ahead.

Specifically, helping leaders…

+ Set motivating goals that energize a team's work

+ Adapt nimbly and lead through change

+ Foster a culture of productive feedback and growth

+ Develop empathetic leadership skills to boost engagement

+ Navigate conflicts for better teamwork and ideation

+ Build a cohesive team environment of trust and belonging

Newly promoted managers who need to step up quickly

Middle managers feeling the squeeze

C-Suite leadership tackling new challenges

Long-term leaders needing a spark of motivation

Our programs are designed around taking Leaps.

In every Ei program, learners integrate knowledge from interactive workshops into self-directed projects, fostering growth at the intersection of personal curiosity and organizational needs. We call these projects Leaps.

Here's how it works:

Laying the Foundation

Employees develop key skills and mindsets aligned with your company’s learning goals through interactive workshops.

Leaping

To apply their new learning, employees design and conduct a self-directed project that addresses real challenges at work. Coaching offers space to reflect as they leap.

Landing

Learners (now Leapers!) celebrate and solidify their learning journey by sharing their experiences and discussing how to apply their new knowledge in their day-to-day work.

Humans learn by doing, through experience.

That’s why we’re called Experience Institute.

Ei programs are rooted in community and focused on direct application. Learners break from their routines and are given space to experiment, make mistakes, and reach breakthroughs. Each workshop addresses specific personal or organizational challenges and cycles through core elements of experiential learning.

By the end of each Ei program, your team members have real-world experience applying new skills and a repeatable process for driving growth.

We tailor our Upskilling Managers programs to fit your company’s unique needs.

Here's what it could look like:

Phase 1: Laying the Foundation

Week 1 - Leading Through Conflict Workshop

Managers are equipped with tools to navigate conflict styles, foster productive conflict, and enhance team dynamics, learning conflict resolution techniques and how to foster a collaborative environment.

Week 2 - Growing from Feedback Workshop

Unpacking common pitfalls of feedback, managers learn to transform judgments into objective observations, and develop a concrete experiment to boost their team’s feedback culture.

Week 3 - Small Group Coaching Session

Learners debrief how they’ve applied workshop content in their day-to-day and troubleshoot with peers and coaches.

Week 4 - Leading Through Change Workshop

Learners gain insight into three keys to change leadership and learn strategies proactively enroll others during challenging transitions.

Phase 2: Leaping

Week 5 - Leaps Launch

Learners (now Leapers!) design their self-directed projects, where they'll apply new skills in practical initiatives.

Week 7 - Small Group Coaching Session

Now that Leaps are in full swing, coaching involves time for troubleshooting and support from the group as well as time to prepare for upcoming Leap Talks.

Phase 3: Landing

Week 9 - Leap Talks

Presenting their Leap stories to peers and company leaders, managers share professional and personal lessons from the Upskilling Managers program.

Week 10 - Skills Transfer & Celebration Workshop

Leapers celebrate their achievements, solidify new mindsets and skills, and identify concrete growth through discussions and breakout sessions. They leave with clear next steps for future challenges.

Because of the challenging exercises the Ei team guided staff through, they were able to recognize the value in how differently we each process information, and how to bring their own skills to work collaboratively for stronger solutions.

Leader at a major US metropolitan agency Leadership Leaps 2023

1. Challenge

A leader of a city agency in a large US metropolis was overwhelmed by complaints of interpersonal conflict from the senior management team. Perceptions of unfair practices and cross-departmental disagreements led to long-held grudges between colleagues. He aspired to develop a more collaborative, de-siloed team as well as enhance individuals’ abilities to lead.

2. Our Approach

We partnered on a four-month leadership program for all 20 senior managers. We facilitated workshops on:

+ Self-awareness
+ Coaching as a managerial skill
+ Frameworks for productive conflict
+ And a small group innovation project

3. Impact

The program enhanced each manager's self-awareness and commitment to the overall success of the organization. By working on collaborative innovation Leap projects, managers developed stronger connections with colleagues from different departments , including junior team members from these departments in addressing organizational challenges.

4. Results

94% of senior managers reported that they felt the agency was more invested in them both personally and professionally.

89% developed greater insight into their own mindsets and tendencies, and how they interact with others.

72% gained more tools to navigate conflict or tension at work than they had before.

Ready to help your leaders level-up?

Schedule a design session with one of our learning experts.