Technical Team Leadership



Overview

Making the move from technical expert to business leader

Without the right mindset, the ability to motivate and lead people, and an operational process to get things done, technical leaders, or managers, can become overloaded and struggle with the transition from expert to leader. 

This course addresses how to enhance the effectiveness of technical expertise by becoming a business leader, whether or not you are the appointed manager.

Based on the real-world experiences of a technical expert who transitioned to the boardroom, this course will use case studies and class exercises to apply theory. The practical design of this course will benefit people who have taken on formal management roles, as well as technical experts who need to lead others.

We will cover how the workplace really operates and provide insights into what senior management is actually looking for. 

You will also learn the difference between leadership and management, and what practical steps are required to balance the two. The balance between empowered people and process is also examined to create scalable high-performance. 

This course is about fast-tracking the journey from technical expert to business leader.

Course Aims

  • Understand how the history of management shapes our current workplace
  • Learn how to balance management with leadership
  • Examine the gap between technical leader and technical expert
  • Distinguish the different behaviours required to lead or manage
  • Understand people and their personalities
  • Critique motivation techniques, and what works with smart people
  • Discover why people before process is important
  • Discover why you cannot ignore process
  • Practice an operational model to get the right things done systematically
  • Develop techniques to prioritise work to reduce work overload 
  • Learn practical tips and tricks to be an effective manager and inspirational leader

Who will benefit?

  • Technical experts moving into management
  • Technical experts who need to lead in their role
  • New managers who want to fast track their experience
  • Experienced managers who want an up-to-date refresher on leading smart people

Dates, Times and Delivery

The Technical Team Leadership course will be face-to-face between 09:00 and 17:00 each day, on Thursday 14 and Friday 15 July.​

Programme details

Day 1 - 14 July

History of management

  • Discover how the history of management influences today’s workplace
  • Differentiate management from leadership in practice

Leadership mindset and behaviours

  • Define the leadership mindset
  • Demonstrate the requirement for leadership in all roles
  • Explore the new leadership paradigm
  • Adapt technical strengths to a leadership environment

Lead with aligned purpose

  • Learn how to plan for an unknown future
  • Consider why starting with ‘the why’ is so critical to goal setting
  • Establish how to define the true requirements   
  • Build collaborative virtual teams in a complex environment
  • Determine how to identify and engage all stakeholders (core, extended and external)
  • Define unique roles and responsibilities in a team setting
  • Identify and appraise the boundaries of ownership
  • Use a leadership framework to run an innovative initiative

Day 2 - 15 July

Understand people, personalities and motivation

  • Understand the secrets of leading smart people
  • Learn to work with different personality styles
  • Understand how to motivate smart people
  • Understand the balance between compliance versus commitment
  • Build influential relationships, not just connections
  • Networking and politics
  • Understand trust versus micromanagement in the real-world

Establish your operational process to get the right things done

  • How to stop the talking and start the doing
  • Empower people using good process
  • The key role of milestones and measures in planning complex projects
  • Define unique versus shared ownership
  • Define operational interfaces 
  • Learn to use negotiation levers of time, money, and scope

Personal leadership habits and checklists to fast-track your career

  • Learn some daily habits that effective leaders use
  • Build some checklists to help implement the changes required to close the gap
  • Understand key traits to fast track your career

Certification

Participants who attend the full course will receive a University of Oxford certificate of attendance. This will be presented to you prior to the end of the course wherever possible.

The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended.

Fees

Description Costs
Standard course fee £795.00

Payment

Fees include course materials, tuition, refreshments and lunches. The price does not include accommodation.

All courses are VAT exempt.

Register immediately online 

Click the “book now” button on this webpage. Payment by credit or debit card is required.

Request an invoice

If you require an invoice for your company or personal records, please complete an online application form. The Course Administrator will then email you an invoice. Payment is accepted online, by credit/debit card, or by bank transfer. Please do not send card or bank details via email.

Tutor

Trevor Manning

Course Tutor

Technical Trainer and Author

Trevor Manning is a qualified telecoms engineer, who is still involved in world-leading innovation projects. He has over 30 years’ leadership experience, from technical roles, to COO roles, to advisory-board roles in the US, UK, South Africa, Italy and Australia. 
This international experience, in a variety of companies, has given him insights into how the workplace really operates. 

To lead others and achieve the right business results, as well as having influence at a technical level is a difficult balance.
Trevor developed insights and frameworks that helped to create practical management habits, and developed his inspirational leadership skills through a deep understanding of the leadership mindset. He runs a consultancy business specialising in helping engineers transition from expert practitioner to business leader.  This includes regular leadership training programs at the University of Wisconsin - Madison College of Engineering. 

Trevor lives in Brisbane, Australia. 

Application

If you would like to discuss your application or any part of the application process before applying, please click Contact Us at the top of this page.

Accommodation

Although not included in the course fee, accommodation may be available at our on-site Rewley House Residential Centre. All bedrooms are en suite and decorated to a high standard, and come with tea- and coffee-making facilities, free Wi-Fi access and Freeview TV. Guests can take advantage of the excellent dining facilities and common room bar, where they may relax and network with others on the programme.

To check prices, availability and to book rooms please visit the Rewley House Residential Centre website. 

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support