From the Ask Tom mailbag:
Question:
You say that most companies do a fair job of technical training, but a poor job of supervisor or management training. How do we go about creating that training? What do we teach?
Response:
On Monday, I talked about the core skills of supervision. Most companies think people have those skills waiting in the wings, ready to go. Good technicians get promoted to supervisor without a second thought that the skills of supervision are totally different than the skills of doing the work.
Here is some of the material we cover for supervisors (Strata II) in our classroom program:
- Time Management
- Communication
- Coordination
- Delegation
- Scheduling
- Motivation
- Short term planning
- Problem Solving
Here is some of the material we cover for managers (Strata III) in our classroom program:
- Accountability
- Communication
- Team Problem Solving
- Goal Setting
- Follow-up & Evaluation
- Short & Long term planning
- Control systems
- Root Cause Analysis
- Selecting Talent
Hope this helps. -TF
Tour de France Update
Some of the riders came to Tuesday’s stage ready to exhaust themselves in this last flat stage before the mountains. All of the sprinters lined up belching smoke and fire after a well deserved day of rest. Others came reserved, saving themselves for the first mountain stage on Wednesday.
Monday, Floyd Landis (USA-PHO) revealed his physical struggles over the past two years. At the young age of 30, he is a candidate for hip replacement surgery, yet he is riding the helm of the Tour in the catbird seat, just one minute behind the yellow jersey. Sergiy Gonchar (UKR-TMO) was able to hold the jersey without getting caught in the chaos at the finish.
Oscar Friere (ESP-RAB) took his second stage win of the Tour barely edging out Robbie McEwan (AUS-DVL). Tom Boonen (BEL-QSI) was in the fray, but couldn’t get his legs together, finishing fourth.
Wednesday begins the first of five mountain stages this year, two in the Pyrenees and three in the Alps. One of the climbs is “Out of Classification” and will surely spread the field. Watch for some interesting breakaways with a downhill finish.
Overall Standings after Stage Nine
1-HONCHAR, Serhiy -UKR-TMO -38hrs 14min 17sec
2-LANDIS, Floyd -USA-PHO –+1min
3-ROGERS, Michael -AUS-TMO –+1min 8sec
4-SINKEWITZ, Patrik -GER-TMO –+1min 45sec
5-KLÖDEN, Andréas -GER-TMO –+1min 50sec
6-KARPETS, Vladimir -RUS-CEI –+1min 52sec
7-EVANS, Cadel -AUS-DVL –+1min 52sec
8-ZABRISKIE, David -USA-CSC –+1min 53sec
9-FOTHEN, Marcus -GER-GST –+2min 3sec
10-MOREAU, Christophe -FRA-A2R –+2min 7sec
11-SAVOLDELLI, Paolo -ITA-DSC –+2min 10sec
12-MENCHOV, Denis -RUS-RAB –+2min 13sec
13-MAZZOLENI, Eddy -ITA-TMO –+2min 14sec
14-KESSLER, Matthias -GER-TMO –+2min 16sec
15-LANG, Sebastian -GER-GST –+2min 22sec
16-SASTRE, Carlos -ESP-CSC –+2min 27sec
17-HINCAPIE, George -USA-DSC –+2min 30sec
18-PEREIRO SIO, Oscar -ESP-CEI –+2min 57sec
19-LÖVKVIST, Thomas -SWE-FDJ –+3min 1sec
20-ROUS, Didier -FRA-BTL –+3min 15sec