Let's talk L&D budget for a moment, shall we? According to TrainingMag, most companies spend on average $1,207 per employee per year on training! What’s interesting is that training expenditure seems to be increasing steadily year on year since 2020.
Why are people spending more on training? Our guess is that some companies believe that the more money they spend on training, the more effective their management training will be. However, monetary investment doesn’t always equate to successful development outcomes - which actually can be good news if you don’t have a lot to spend
You don't need to drain your coffers on glitzy training programs or pricey facilitators to polish your managers into shining stars. All you need is a little resourcefulness.
This doesn’t mean your managers don’t need training. We believe training is a critical tool to bring everyone together to build a shared leadership vocabulary. But training isn’t the holy grail.
Tangible behavioral change happens when you pair training with CONSISTENT, informal engagement with the learning content.
Activities like peer-to-peer discussions, mentoring, 1:1s, and knowledge sharing sessions are great opportunities to keep the conversation going and make room for real-life application. This transforms learning in a natural, ongoing process.
With this in mind, here’s a list of 10 free training activities to help you develop your managers into top-tier leaders and maximize your resources.
1. Podcast Discussion
Identify a few leadership and management podcasts that resonate with you or your company values, and select an episode to listen to as a group.
Afterward, gather a group of managers (4 to 16) to listen to the podcast one week in advance. Suggest them to take a couple of notes on what resonated the most, what their key takeaways were, and what is an action item they would like to take.
Then, facilitate a group discussion to delve deeper into the concepts, insights, and practical applications discussed in the podcast.
Studies show that conversations and reflection are the real keys to making learning stick and changing behaviors. Here, we found a list of podcasts to get you started but there are obviously lots more out there!
- Let's Take This Offline: The Podcast for Everyday Leaders by Kishshana Palmer
- Dare to Lead by Brene Brown
- The Empowered Brain by Dr. Vanessa Calderón
- No Bullsh!t Leadership by Martin G. Moore
- Work Life by Adam Grant
2. Leadership Panel
This power-packed panel could be made up of executives and internal great leaders who've been maneuvering the corporate world, experts from your industry who've mastered the ins and outs, or even savvy, external professionals who can bring in fresh perspectives.
The goal here? They share their rich experiences and insights related to the different aspects of management and leadership that keep your managers awake at night. It's like having your own personal think-tank to tackle the topics and challenges you face.
Here are a few examples of leadership panel topics:
- Leading Through Change and Uncertainty
- Building High-Performing Teams
- Developing Effective Communication Skills
- Navigating Conflict and Difficult Conversations
- Driving Innovation and Adaptability in the Workplace
- Leading with Emotional Intelligence
- Managing Work-Life Balance for Managers
- Strategies for Remote Leadership and Team Management
You can organize these as casual as ‘lunch and learns’ or make them as formal as a forum discussion.
3. Coaching Circles
A coaching circle is a small group of managers (4 - 8 people) who come together on a regular basis to engage in discussions around specific topics or challenges related to their roles. We’d recommend 45 mins - 1 hour in length. Coaching circles can be facilitated by a senior manager or can be facilitated by a manager participant - each one taking a turn to be the facilitator.
The facilitator’s job is to introduce the topic then gently steer the discussion, encouraging a welcoming atmosphere in which everyone feels heard. It's about blending the unique perspectives of each manager into a delightful cocktail of insights, fostering growth and improvement for everyone involved. It's a powerful tool for development.
Examples of Coaching Circle Topics:
- Effective communication strategies
- Performance management and feedback
- Conflict resolution and problem-solving
- Leadership development and self-awareness
- Work-life balance and stress management
- Change management and adaptability
Besides discussion, managers also can share their own best practices, success stories, and lessons learned on the topic at hand.
I recently sat in on a management circle and one participant mentioned that they had tried out using part of their 1:1s to share with their reports some of the projects they were working on and how engaging the conversations had been. The other managers loved the best practice and are going to test it out themselves.
4. Video Discussion
The concept is straightforward yet impactful. Find a list of videos below 10 minutes that center around themes such as leadership, communication skills, managerial techniques, or any other subject that you feel aligns with your managerial development needs.
Similar to the Podcast Discussion, gather a group of managers (4 to 16) and watch the video together. Have them take notes about what resonated the most, what their key takeaways were, and what one action item they would like to take.
After watching the video, facilitate a group discussion. Here, they can unpack their thoughts, raise questions, and exchange insights.
While there are lots of great videos on YouTube, if you want to save a lot of time sifting through content and put together a free training program for managers in a short time, Elevate Academy is one of the easy buttons.
Just hop onto Elevate Academy’s free 7-day access and you’ll have access to a thoughtfully curated collection of micro classes, each honing in on a crucial management topic like, Change Management, Running Performance Reviews, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and many more.
The icing on the cake is that each class comes with a Discussion Guide and a Facilitator Guide. These materials have been specially designed to help you run interactive, engaging discussions with little prep on your end!
5. Buddy Programs
The buddy program is a little gem that links up your experienced leaders with your budding professionals. This initiative is all about promoting the flow of knowledge, fostering mentorship, and helping your junior stars ascend the professional ladder.
It's our own twist on learning and development, but one that also boosts togetherness, a sense of belonging, and teamwork within your workplace family.
One of our favorites from this approach? The "buddy lunch"!
Senior partners team up with junior dynamites for a shared lunch break. This isn't your run-of-the-mill sandwich and chit-chat type of lunch, though. Instead, it’s a dedicated session to unpack a key area of focus - maybe a management strategy, the latest buzz in your industry, or any other hot topic that's on everyone's mind.
6. Reverse Mentoring
Through the same buddy program, junior employees can actually play the role of a mentor to their leaders on subjects like new-wave technology, social media dynamics, or the most recent trends sweeping across industries.
This flips the script and enables leaders to gain a fresh infusion of insights from the distinct outlooks of new team members. It simultaneously boosts their fluency in the digital realm and cultivates an environment that champions learning and reciprocal exchange of knowledge.
Isn't it a beautiful blend of old and new, providing a platform for everyone to learn, grow and shine together?
7. Fireside Chat
The goal of a fireside chat is to create a space of warmth and wisdom where your business veterans share their insights on leadership, strategy, and decision-making.
These fireside chats could be virtual, face-to-face, group sessions, or you can even record them to use as webinars that can be watched at a time that suits your managers.
After the chat, dive into group discussions to really digest the nuggets of wisdom you've gathered. Not just reflecting but taking the next step to translate these insights into tangible commitments.
8. Webinars and Online Workshops
Explore free webinars and e-workshops led by authorities in the field, professional bodies, or academic institutes. These online webinars discuss a wide array of management and leadership subjects, all at your fingertips.
Select one webinar that resonated with your managers — it could be a live event or a recorded one. Share the webinar with a group of managers (4 to 16) and have them watch one week in advance. Nudge them to write down what resonated the most, what their key takeaways were, and what was the one action item as a result of the webinar.
A week later, gather them and facilitate a group discussion to unpack what they’ve learned, how they’re going to apply it, and how to keep each other accountable.
One great webinar you can start with is The Science of Good Management by Guusto with Lindsey Nehls. Our cofounder, Lindsey, talks about how managers can take a more intentional approach to empower their people to succeed, manage according to their company’s values, and build trust with their employees.
9. Book Summary Club
Who has time to read an entire book? Inspired by book clubs, in a ‘book summary club’ you select a book summary and read it with a group of managers. It should take only 5 to 10 minutes to finish the summary.
Once complete, facilitate a group discussion to discuss key takeaways, share insights, lessons, and next steps to apply what everyone has learned. This provides a cost-effective and very low commitment way to foster learning and generate thoughtful conversations.
You can subscribe to book summary apps like Headway, Blinkist, and others. Or simply go to Google and search ‘Book Summary for [Book Name]’. I found a website that has a ton of book summaries here.
10. Case Study Discussion
Develop case studies or simulation exercises that simulate real-world managerial challenges. You can conduct a survey and find out what situations your managers usually find difficult to navigate.
For example, most managers that we talk to have a tough time with conflict resolution, having tough conversations, giving feedback, and change management.
Find a common theme from the survey answers and build out scenarios for managers to work on. They can work in teams to analyze the scenarios, propose solutions, and present their approaches to each other.
L&D On A Budget
While budget plays an important role in L&D, you can still deliver high quality learning on a limited budget. All you need to do is choose one or two of these free training programs and organize them once a month.
By the end of the year, you’d already have developed a very coherent manager training program. You’d already have massively helped your managers grow.
If you find organizing these free learning programs daunting, you can recruit people who are interested in serving and developing people. As each of these programs are very easy to run and doesn’t require any skills, nearly everyone in your organization can do it. All you need to do is ask!
Having these free training programs is better than zero programs. When there’s no manager training, every manager suffers. When you’re spearheading this kind of initiative, we bet every manager will be interested to chip in.
Cost Effective Manager Training Course At Your Fingertips
You don’t have to spend a fortune to provide effective and efficient manager development. Access micro classes on the most critical management topics and make it your own by conducting customized interactive training without having to create any content and break the bank.
We made Elevate Academy to be scalable, actionable, and accessible to organizations of all sizes and budgets. Chat with our program consultants and we’ll create a free management training roadmap that fits your skill gaps, budget, and needs.
