This session guides you through proven techniques that will enable you to give constructive and helpful feedback to those who do you work alongside.

Many people see the step up to a management role as something to aspire to in their careers. It’s a visible sign of your growing stature and it’s great to have the chance to enthuse people with your own ideas. But it is well known that the ‘step up’ to that first role is one that is fraught with dangers. Many do not make a good impression because they choose behaviours which actually weaken their standing within the team.

This session is aimed at helping early-career scientists avoid those common ‘new manager’ errors whilst also building a deeper understanding of the positive actions that will establish a real sense of authority and leadership.

Some years ago, an online survey found that, “48% said they would fire their boss if they could.” So, is your manager a devil or an angel? Either way you have to build a relationship that secures a more enjoyable working life. A relationship that needs you to establish how your boss can work best with you. Michael Heath kicks off the webinar with the 4 generations that are currently in the workplace, and briefly describes how each has a different ‘view’ on the world of work. He then moves on to the positive things you can do to shape a great relationship with your manager before turning, finally, to those who are managed virtually.

All of us, at some time in our career, will have to have a conversation that we are not looking forward to. After all, if we are assertive and believe in ourselves, then there will be occasions when we have to stand up for our beliefs, especially against those who are seeking to either manipulate or undermine us. The key behaviour is self-control and Michael Heath shares the ‘tricks’ the brain can play on us; he then moves on to the best way to get into the right frame of mind for a difficult conversation and how to structure it so that we retain control of the situation.

Ask several people to differentiate between assertive and aggressive behaviour and you’ll find many get confused. Yet they are distinct and separate. In Michael Heath’s webinar, he first addresses what we mean by ‘effective communication’ before attacking the thinking ‘traps’ that beset so many people in the workplace. The webinar then turns to the subject of assertiveness itself, what it looks like and why it’s so important to people to master early in their career.