It’s called “Undercover Boss,” and managers who find it enlightening might also consider free online courses in management. The reality TV series premiered earlier this year, showing how business leaders can come to discover the ways their decisions affect employees According to the “Undercover Boss” website, business leaders who work alongside employees might also find out where an organization’s problems are and who helps make the company successful.
One university professor, in fact, described leadership as a relationship, a partnership. “. . . employee engagement isn’t just a soft and fuzzy topic but has bottom line implications,” Professor Michelle Buck of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management was quoted as saying in a March 2010 Bloomberg Businessweek article. “One of the biggest responsibilities of leaders is to set other people up for success,” Buck noted.
Business leaders can enroll themselves or employees in any number of free online courses in management. In some instances, they might want to help new managers develop skills. In other instances, they might consider signing on managers who want to sharpen existing abilities. Free online courses in management are offered by colleges, universities and technical schools, as well as by private organizations.
The website Learnthat.com, for instance, is provided by a former infrastructure and technology management consultant. On the site, managers can find tutorials and training in the form of reading materials particularly. Learnthat.com provides information on topics such as Dealing with Conflict in the Workplace and Employee Goal and Performance Planning.
The management school at a Massachusetts technology institute makes available free online courses that include audio and video components, making use of technological offerings such as podcasts and YouTube. The institute’s free management courses, largely from the 2002 to 2009 undergraduate and graduate semesters, cover topics such as people and organizations and communication for managers. Some free online courses address recent issues, such as global markets and social responsibility, which might help managers enhance workplace innovation.
A Sustainable Business Laboratory, for example, addresses how a company that minimizes its ecological footprint might at the same time discover chances for new products and services, the course website shows. Managers might consider searching an OpenCourseWare Consortium website for free online courses in management that are available also from institutions throughout the United States. A recent search for management courses on the OpenCourseWare site returned more than 230 offerings, including a course on water management in urban areas from a technology university in the Netherlands.
Managers might also consider free management workshops and seminars that large corporations offer, in some instances to customers and partners. AT&T earlier this year offered its customers opportunities to phone in for a workshop related to marketing opportunities in the Technology Age. Business owners particularly might turn to the U.S. Small Business Administration, which offers free management courses such as Technology 101 and How to Prepare a Business Plan.
The Small Business Administration, like many colleges, universities and technical schools, offers instruction in the form of podcasts and YouTube videos. Free online courses typically don’t come with credits that students can apply toward degrees. Managers might, however, find that they help fill lifelong learning needs that educators contend are becoming more important.
Money, earning and saving, in business is usually the bottom line for most and that’s where business management degree skills affect that bottom line. Business is a combination of effort and know-how and college degrees for those influencing the spreadsheet are more common with the convenience of online school programs.