About this course

People Management for Activity Managers aims at empowering Activity Managers to take on their role to lead their department and support first-line supervisors to develop their managerial skills. The programme includes preparation work, self-study, individual and group assignments, and weekly online plenaries. The participants who complete successfully the course will be invited to apply for a face-to-face application workshop. The programme is accessible through an application process, or after being invited; The classroom is not accessible for learners not enrolled in the programme.

Target audience

Any activity manager with at least 6 months of experience, managing at least one people manager, aiming to develop their leadership skills and ability to support the development of the people managers they manage. 

Validation

This course is currently validated by OCB. 

Duration

2 months (between kick-off meeting and completion of assignments). After a 5-hour preparation work, participants will dedicate 6 hours a week for 5 weeks to the course (3h personal work, 3 hour plenary)

Learning objectives

Upon completion, participants should be able to:

• demonstrate MSF OCB’s management values through the ways that you manage yourself and manage people,
• recognise the respective roles and mindsets of supervisors and activity managers,
• use the employee development cycle to inform your people management practice,
• carry out staff supervision and explain how it contributes to the achievement of organisational objectives,
• support a supervisor’s autonomy, growth and development through use of mentoring and coaching leadership styles and use of delegation where relevant,
• create and maintain a team with shared identity, values and goals,
• recognise personal responses to inter-personal conflict and how these impact on conflict situations,
• address inter-personal conflict situations both directly and through supporting supervisors to address conflicts in their teams,
• lead a change management process involving members of the team

List of contents

Week 1

• Introduction and team-building
• Relating to MSF values
• Our role as Activity Managers in MSF
• Roles of a People Manager
• Individual learning
• Structuring supervision (Action-centred leadership and Performance Management System)
• Building an agreement with my team

Week 2

• 3 types of supervision
• Employee Life Cycle- with a focus on objectives
• Building trust with team members- one-on-ones
• Individual learning
• Situational leadership
• Delegation
• Feedback

Week 3

• Giving high quality feedback
• Situational leadership- building competence and confidence of team members
• Preventing micro—management
• Individual learning
• Development stages of the team (Tuckmann model)
• Different dimensions of teams (GRPI)

Week 4

• Strengthening team cohesion
• Supporting the team’s growth
• Exploring attitudes towards conflict

Week 5

• Conflict management process
• Change and transitions
• Planning next steps and closing the workshop

Methodology

• Self learning with multimedia resources
• Assignments (reflection and tasks), individually and in groups
• Online session with plenary discussions and activities, and group discussions

Evaluation

Participants will receive feedback on their assignments. To complete the course, they will need to attend at least 4 out of 5 plenaries, and complete and submit all assignments. 

Certification

Participants will be awarded a badge and certificate upon completion. 

Enrolment

Participants may apply by following the process outlined in the announcement, available on MSF OCB L&D Sharepoint (please contact learning-ocb@brussels.msf.org for support if needed). Participants will then be selected by a Selection Committee, and be enrolled by the course organisers.