Leadership Forum will support ITM’s managers
How do you tell an employee that the person is not doing their job? What responsibility do I have when I suddenly become a manager? And how do I implement the development dialogues? ITM's new Leadership Forum will support managers and make them even better leaders.
Imagine you are in charge of a unit. In your group there’s an employee who smells bad and your co-workers want you to talk to the person with poor hygiene routines. How do you call to a meeting? What is ok to say and what are you allowed to have comments on? And how do you convey a sensitive matter that risks hurting someone?
”You can start by contacting me. I can be of help in these situations”, says Anna Blendow, HR strategist who this autumn launched Leadership Forum, a network for ITM's managers.
Leadership Forum is a new platform at ITM that brings together a range of activities to support managers in their leadership. Education occasions linked to economics, how to report side jobs or handle negligence are some examples of support that the forum offers. Some activities will be more or less mandatory if you are a manager, such as information linked to the administrative year. Information that must reach all employees will also be packaged and sent out to the leaders before APT meetings.
But Leadership Forum also offers training, workshops and inspirational lectures. In the new forum, the managers will be able to share challenges and issues they come across; they will be able to share expertise and each other - and also get help with the difficult dialogues, as the example with the smelly employee.
”ITM has fantastic managers, but they work in a complex environment that is both hierarchical and international. In the academy, you also enter the leadership for a while and then step back and become a regular colleague again - that is difficult, says Anna.
”It is human to feel uncomfortable being firm with your colleagues. Therefore, there will also be opportunities for coaching and management guidance; the idea is that you should be able to develop in your leadership.”
In addition, there’s plenty of practical issues you need to be aware of as a new manager. You need to know what responsibilities you have when you take on the new role. Initially, Anna Blendow will have individual dialogues with all 42 managers to capture what challenges they face and what the needs look like. The main focus for Leadership Forum will be on the managers in the core business, this is where the support mainly is needed, she says.
”It is difficult to know where to start when you discover a malfunction in your group, often it is daunting to tackle the problems immediately, and difficult to know how to diagnose the problem. Presenting your issues as cases, and getting the input of others has been very much appreciated during the ‘Ledarinternat’ previously. We will continue to do this at Leadarship Forum. In addition, it is a good way to meet across business boundaries, it will be a bridge between core business and the support business.”
The forms for Leadarship Forum will vary. Sometimes it is plain information on zoom, other times discussions in physical form. And depending on the topics, expertise is brought in depending on the area that is in focus.
”The digitalisation of education is a topic that we will discuss in the coming days. IT manager Hans Wolfart will participate together with Joakim Lilliesköld and Andreas Alm Arvidsson”, Anna Blendow exemplifies.
”But above all, it is the managers' needs that will set the agenda. I hope it will be an informal group that have trust in each other.”
Text: Anna Gullers