Becoming a new manager is more than a promotion and a boost in authority. It’s a challenging but rewarding opportunity to lead others to achieve shared success. If you’re ready to take a bold step in your government career, you can learn the skills you’ll need to become a respected manager who brings out the best in their team.
With limited budget for traveling to distant professional development trainings, online courses are a cost-effective way to build your skills. You can take charge of your career and prepare for becoming a new manager at your desk or at home, and often at whatever time best fits your schedule.
We’ve found seven of the best online courses that can help government employees like yourself get ready to become a new manager. Some are free, and the rest are priced right for government agencies of any size.
Enterprise Training Solutions’ New to Management Series
Becoming a new manager can be overwhelming. As a first-time manager, you will need to lead your team, tackle challenges, empower others, navigate difficult conversations, and delegate tasks, all while doing your own work exceptionally well. The New to Management Series outlines how to make a successful transition into management by drafting a transition strategy to move from individual contributor to leader. The course covers a large range of management essentials, including face-to-face versus virtual management, increasing productivity, confronting difficult employee behavior, supporting an aging workforce, balancing micro and macro management, performance reviews, and more.
The series includes multiple videos and courses, and costs $124 per employee. You can sign up for a 10 day free trial to check out the content.
ICMA’s Local Government 101 Online Certificate Program
Learn the basics of local government management with Local Government 101. Offered by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), this online certificate course covers key skills and practices in the areas leadership, management, service delivery, budgeting, and human resources. It is taught by experienced managers and local government experts who impart real-life experience, best practices, and sound advice in the areas most important to a manager’s day-to-day role. It’s designed for new and mid-career managers, assistant managers, and career-changers new to local government.
This is a 5-course, 15 session online certificate course you can take on-demand. It costs $1,495 for ICMA members, and $2,495 for non-members.
Center for Creative Leadership’s Inclusive Leadership
New managers cannot successfully lead their team without actively respecting and promoting diversity. It’s not just the right thing to do. Inclusive organizations have more engaged employees and more innovative cultures. A more diverse team can also help your organization better understand the issues and perspectives of the communities it serves. The Inclusive Leadership course helps leaders understand the perspectives of different people in workplace situations, and why people behave the way they do, with practical suggestions on how to demonstrate inclusive attitudes and behaviors in the workplace. It also provides a starting point for evaluating—and even changing—your own personal beliefs and behaviors.
This self-paced online course costs $99.
Microsoft’s eLesson: Unconscious Bias
Unconscious bias is a quick and often inaccurate judgment based on limited facts and our own life experiences. These judgments can give individuals and groups both unearned advantage and unearned disadvantage in the workplace because we have difficulty clearly seeing people’s talents, motivations, and potential clearly. Microsoft’s Unconscious Bias course helps deepen your understanding of unconscious biases, how they influence behavior, and how they impact people in the workplace. You’ll also learn numerous actions you can take to help counter unconscious bias in your own work environment.
This on-demand course is free.
Association for Talent Development’s Essentials of Attracting, Growing, and Retaining Gen Y
To become a magnet for early career talent, your organization needs your help to tdevelop strategies for transforming your organization and attracting, developing, and retaining the best from younger generations. Essentials of Attracting, Growing, and Retaining Gen Y shows you how to apply the latest research to successfully recruit and keep young talent longer. You’ll learn the components of an integrated career development strategy and how to create a thriving organizational climate designed to release the talents and energy of younger workers.
This 3-part training costs $495 for ATD members and $850 for non-members.
Case Western Reserve University’s Inspired Leadership Specialization
This Inspired Leadership Specialization training takes you beyond basic management skills. You will learn how to overcome the ravages of chronic stress and renew your body and mind by building better relationships and positive leadership approaches. You will learn the power of asking questions to become a more inclusive and self-confident leader. The course will also show you how to effectively coach others toward change, learning, or increased motivation in life and work. The five-part training specialization focuses on inspiring leadership through emotional intelligence, empowering women in the workplace, coaching for learning and change, and leading positive change through appreciative inquiry.
This online training is offered beginning September 11, 2017 costs $39 per month on Coursera. You can apply for financial aid. If you miss it, Coursera sometimes offers popular trainings again at a later date.
American Management Association’s Doing More with Less: How to Motivate and Reward Your Overworked Staff
Most workers would change jobs if they had the opportunity. To keep people motivated and engaged, leaders must apply creative engagement strategies. In Doing More with Less, HR and leadership trainer and author Paul Falcone shares how to remotivate your team and get them in sync with your organization’s overall mission and strategic focus so top performers will want to stay at your organization. After completing this course, you will be able to apply proven methods of employee motivation, develop plans for more effective team motivation, set clear and defined goals as part of the motivation process, and identify specific challenges of workplace motivation and learn how to address them.
The 90-minute webinar is available on demand for $199.
We’re going to publish a larger list of the best online trainings for government employees later in 2017. What online trainings do you recommend? If your company hosts online trainings, which are the most popular and well-reviewed? Share the best online trainings for government employees in the comments and they just might appear in our article.
Lauren Girardin is a marketing and communications consultant, writer, and speaker based in San Francisco. She helps organizations engage their communities and tell their stories. Her website is laurengirardin.com and you can connect with her on Twitter at @girardinl.
I love this article! Especially the parts about the Microsoft Unconscious Bias training and the Paul Falcone info. I didn’t know the Microsoft Unconscious bias training existed, and it is so important! And Paul Falcone authored many books which look useful. Keep up the great work Lauren Girardin and thank you!
Glad to hear this list of online trainings for emerging managers gave you new resources to dig into, Eris. Best of luck on your career path!