Responding constructively and effectively to a flexible working request from a team member is an important skill for a manager.
It’s far more than ‘following a process’. It’s an exercise in good quality listening, open-minded decision-making and superlative communication and team-member engagement – irrespective of whether the decision is ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
This half-day workshop is designed to develop managers’ understanding of the legal requirements, but also to enable them to handle both the conversation and decision-making with confidence and skill.
Learning Objectives
By attending this workshop, delegates will be able to:
- Describe the legal requirements for handling requests, and the consequences for non-compliance
- Demonstrate good quality listening and questioning skills to explore a request
- Identify evidence of an open-minded approach to a request
- Plan a meeting to consider a request
- Demonstrate what ‘consultation’ means in the context of consideration of the request
- Construct a good quality outcome to a request that is in line with the legal framework
- Identify the parameters for a trial period, including the communication required to ensure ‘no surprises’ in the outcome
- Plan new ways of working relevant to the outcome of the request
Course Overview
We build all our training programmes bespoke, so it’s down to where you want the emphasis of your workshop to be. Here is an example of what a typical course could look like, but please get in touch to tailor this for your business.
| Content | Method |
|---|---|
| Introductions and welcome What does ‘flexible’ working mean in your team/organisation | Small group exercise to identify objectives |
| What are the legal obligations – the whats and the hows. | Trainer explanation, exercise to identify the key steps in the process |
| Evaluating the request and planning the meeting | Case study exercise and structure for a meeting – are you ‘asking’ ‘telling’ or ‘reviewing’? |
| Approaching the request with an open mind: Demonstrating ‘consultation’ through great quality questioning | Practice using a case study |
| Trial periods: SWOT Overcoming the ‘weaknesses’ and ‘threats’ | Group exercise to SWOT analyse offering a trial period to a request. Pair exercise to identify ways to overcome the weaknesses and threats identified. |
| Communicating the outcome and maintaining colleague motivation What do the 8 reasons mean in practice! Explaining your decision with empathy Dealing with concerns about precedent | A technique to give a reasoned outcome and demonstrate the requirement to consult. Exercise: communicate an outcome. |
| Planning the new ways of working in response to a flexible working request being granted | Plenary discussion, based on short scenarios. |
| Key learning and action points | Individual reflection, shared in plenary |
| CLOSE |