Leadership in Action:
Skills That Drive People & Performance
This project involved designing and facilitating a professional development experience using instructional design principles to address gaps in communication, emotional intelligence, and team engagement, supporting improved leadership effectiveness across 120+ staff.
Project Overview
Problem
Inconsistent communication practices, limited emotional intelligence awareness, and low team engagement were impacting staff alignment, workplace relationships, and overall program effectiveness across multiple sites.
Pre-training survey indicated:
62% of staff reported communication challenges
40% of managers reported frequent misunderstandings across teams
Learning Gap
Leaders lacked:
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Awareness of their communication style and its impact on others.
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Strategies to regulate emotions and navigate workplace interactions.
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Practical tools to engage and motivate their teams.
Performance Goals
75% of managers report improved team engagement within 30 days.
Audience
Mid-level leaders
Learners include:
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Branch Directors
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Program Managers
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Licensed Professional Counselors
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Finance, Development, HR, Executive Teams
Learners represented diverse functional roles within the organization and brought varying levels of leadership experience, ranging from emerging leaders to more experienced managers responsible for multi-site oversight. This required the training design to be scalable, flexible, and applicable across different contexts and team structures.
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Scenario-based discussions using real workplace situations
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Communication style identification and application exercises
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Small group collaboration and peer discussion
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Guided reflection prompts
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Facilitated leadership strategy discussions
Tools Used
This project was developed using:
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PowerPoint
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Canva
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Microsoft Forms
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Paycom LMS
Learning Activities
By the end of the training, participants will be able to apply communication and emotional intelligence strategies to respond effectively to workplace scenarios during facilitated discussions and group activities.
Learning Objective (ABCD Method)
Learning Objectives
By the end of the training, learners will:
1. Identify their communication style and apply at least two strategies to adapt their approach during team interactions.
2. Apply emotional intelligence techniques to manage workplace situations using scenario-based practice.
3. Demonstrate one strategy to improve team engagement during structured group activities.
Knowledge is evaluated through:
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Post-event survey measuring engagement and relevance
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Demonstration of skills during discussions and activities
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Application of communication and leadership strategies on the job
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Improved team communication and engagement
Assessment Strategy
Results & Impact
Post-training survey data was collected through a Likert-scale survey to measure participant understanding, content clarity, and perceived application of key concepts. Responses indicated strong gains in participant understanding of communication and emotional intelligence concepts.
Key Insights
High agreement rates indicate strong content clarity and immediate knowledge acquisition. The data suggests that the training effectively supported Level 2 outcomes, with participants demonstrating increased understanding of both emotional intelligence and communication strategies.
While agreement rates were high, a greater portion of "agree" versus "strongly agree" responses in communication-focused sessions indicates an opportunity for:
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More applied practice
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Role-specific scenarios
Alignment to Performance Goals
Initial survey results demonstrate strong knowledge acquisition (Level 2), supporting the program's goal of improving team engagement and leadership effectiveness. Increased understanding of emotional intelligence and communications strategies serves as a foundational step toward behavior change and improved workplace interactions.
Future evaluation efforts will focus on measuring Level 3 outcomes, including the application of learned strategies on the job and their impact on team engagement within 30 days.
Continuous Improvement
Based on the evaluation data, future iterations will:
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Expand scenario-based practice to strengthen application of communication strategies
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Incorporate role-specific examples to improve relevance across diverse functional teams
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Introduce follow-up reinforcement tools
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Implement post-training check-ins to assess on-the-job application and behavior change