Most managers are promoted because they were great individual contributors, and then handed no formal management training. The 5 things every first-time manager has to learn fast, before the team works out that you're learning on the job.
82% of UK managers have had no formal management training (CMI, 2024). They're "accidental managers", promoted because they were great doers, then handed a team and expected to figure it out. Most never get the structured time to build the fundamentals: how to run a 1:1, how to delegate without losing control, how to have the first hard conversation. The team works it out before the manager does, and the trust erodes from week three.
This workshop is built on the Situational Leadership framework from Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard, the model that underpins almost every credible UK manager development qualification, from CMI Level 3 Team Leader through to the Senior Leader Level 7 apprenticeship. We combine it with the 1:1 cadence design taught at the LD Practitioner Level 3 standard and the delegation matrix from Eisenhower.
The day is built around your actual team and your actual first 90 days. Delegates work through the identity shift in the morning, design their 1:1 cadence and delegation discipline in the afternoon, and leave with a 90-day plan they'll execute Monday, not a workbook of theory they'll lose by Thursday.
Built on Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership + CMI L3 Team Leader standardsEvery TESS workshop is designed backwards from the change you want to see in your team's behaviour. Here's what coaching graduates do differently on the Monday after.
Stop solving problems for the team. The mindset shift that takes most accidental managers 18 months, done in a day.
A repeatable 30-minute structure, coaching · progression · admin · blockers, that fits any team.
The delegation matrix applied to your real team, what to delegate, to whom, with what level of oversight.
The SBI feedback model and the prep template that gets you past the awkward 90 seconds.
Adult-to-adult conversations. When to give instruction, when to coach, when to let the team decide.
A 90-day plan: week 1 listening tour, week 4 first commitments, week 12 cadence locked in.
Full-day format shown. The half-day version focuses on the morning blocks with a condensed live round at the end.
Genuinely the first time I've left a coaching course able to do it on Monday. The live rounds with feedback made the difference. My 1:1s have completely changed shape.
Pricing depends on group size, delivery mode (live online vs in-person) and whether we tailor the curriculum to your sector. Closed cohorts start from a few hundred pounds per delegate for half-day workshops and scale from there. Book a 15-minute discovery call and we'll give you a concrete figure within 24 hours.
First-Time Manager Foundations is a full-day workshop by design, the 90-day plan in the afternoon is what creates the deliverable. A half-day version covering identity shift + 1:1 cadence only (no delegation work or live conversation rehearsal) is available as a foundational session for cohort programmes.
We're flexible. Most cohorts run with 10–20 delegates, but we regularly deliver for smaller groups of 2–4, particularly for senior teams or specialised sectors. The live coaching rounds work better with even numbers, but we'll make any group work.
Live online is our default and works well for coaching, breakout rooms make the practice rounds work cleanly. We also deliver in-person at your site or a venue you choose, particularly when the cohort already work in the same room.
Typical lead time from a first call to delivery is 2–4 weeks. We can move faster if you need to, the limiting factor is usually your calendar, not ours.
Yes. The frameworks (GROW, TGROW, observable behaviours) stay the same; the examples, exercises and case studies are tailored to your sector, tools and your team's real work. We discuss this on the discovery call and rebrief the practitioner before delivery.
Yes. Every delegate receives a CPD-certified digital certificate on completion. The certificate references the hours of learning and the frameworks covered, so it can be added directly to a CPD record for any chartered or professional body.
We allocate a TESS coaching practitioner based on your sector. All practitioners are independently qualified coaches (ILM Level 5 or equivalent) with active corporate coaching practices. We'll send the named practitioner's bio after the discovery call.
Two ways in. Book a 30-minute discovery call below, or fill out the form and we'll reply within 24 hours with cohort options for your group.