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I was in a conversation recently with a guy who works for a technology company, and during the course of the conversation, the subject of \u201ctraining\u201d came up.\u00a0 <\/span>He said that his company has a training budget for their technicians, but not for their managers.\u00a0 <\/span>He said he knows this because he wanted to attend a management seminar, but the owner of the company denied his request.\u00a0 <\/span>When he pressed the owner about it, the owner said, \u201cWe don\u2019t have any budget for management training.\u00a0 <\/span>We don\u2019t believe in management training here.\u201d<\/p>\n I was shocked.\u00a0 <\/span>Not shocked that his company doesn\u2019t offer any management training because unfortunately, that\u2019s a fairly commonplace condition in smaller companies.\u00a0 <\/span>But I was shocked that the owner would say it in such a casual, matter-of-fact way.\u00a0 <\/span>Obviously, this owner either doesn\u2019t believe that managing takes much skill, or he believes that managers somehow manage well instinctively.\u00a0 <\/span>Either way, he\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n Management training isn\u2019t and shouldn\u2019t be the private preserve of large corporations.\u00a0 <\/span>Small companies might not have the resources to run big, formal programs, but with very little expense, they can still offer effective management training.\u00a0 <\/span>For instance, I know of a small company that has a book club composed of the CEO and his managers.\u00a0 <\/span>They agree on a business subject they want to explore, select a book on that subject, then spend an hour each week discussing a chapter.\u00a0 <\/span>The CEO doesn\u2019t always lead the discussion.\u00a0 <\/span>He takes a turn, but so does everyone else in the group.\u00a0 <\/span>As a result, the management team gets excited about various business concepts, has a good learning experience, and bonds more firmly as a group.\u00a0 <\/span>And the only cost is for a few books.<\/p>\n I know a company owner who likes to hold \u201clunch and learns.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>He sets aside periodic lunch hours for his managers and orders in pizza or sandwiches.\u00a0 <\/span>He then invites someone from the outside to give a brief presentation followed by Q&A.\u00a0 <\/span>This outsider might be his banker, his lawyer, his CPA, or a whole host of other friends, colleagues, and acquaintances in his rolodex who have some business expertise to share with his managers.\u00a0 <\/span>And it only costs the price of a lunch.<\/p>\n Besides producing more highly trained managers, simple programs like these produce another valuable side benefit: lower management turnover.\u00a0 <\/span>People tend to stay longer in jobs where they feel they are learning and refining skills that will be useful to them in building their careers.<\/p>\n Small business owners often complain that they can\u2019t afford management training, but usually they can.\u00a0 <\/span>Just because you don\u2019t have the money for fancy executive seminars doesn\u2019t mean you should just give up on management training.\u00a0 <\/span>As I\u2019ve tried to illustrate above, there are lots of ways to deliver very effective, but inexpensive, management training.\u00a0 <\/span>It just takes a little creativity and a commitment to making your company a \u201clearning place.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was in a conversation recently with a guy who works for a technology company, and during the course of the conversation, the subject of \u201ctraining\u201d came up.\u00a0 He said that his company has a training budget for their technicians, but not for their managers.\u00a0 He said he knows this because he wanted to attend<\/p>\n