Welcome! Let Me Tell You What You Already Know! 

Being a mid-level manager or supervisor is the hardest job in business and government today. You are caught between the needs, desires and goals of upper management and those of your employees. In a perfect world those would match. In the real world of work they are sometimes miles apart. If you have days when doing the day-to-day managing of a diverse and sometimes disillusioned or dysfunctional staff is enough to make you wish to take up dog walking, this site is for you.

 Practical, Useful, Affordable

 This site provides practical, useful tools and techniques that managers and supervisors (and leads) can use today. The articles, workbooks and tele-seminars include forms, templates, examples and responses to your questions, dilemmas and frustrations.      

On-Line, On-Time Help

Most of the features on this site including the blogs and articles are available as downloads, links, workbooks, e-books and cd’s. So browse the site, check back often and take advantage of the f*ree things available on the site. Some organizations choose to take the tele-seminars as a group so they can discuss the content afterwards. Contact me for group rates.

Talk Back!

We will so appreciate your comments at the end of the articles and blogs. That helps us know what to include, what we missed, and to share the new ideas and insights that you bring. Enjoy!

 

 About Norma Smith Davis 

My formal bio is included below, but here is what I think is the most important thing for you to know. I have consulted with managers and supervisors and their staff for 20 plus years. In that time I discovered that there are eight crucial skills and another eight or so important skills that help make managers and supervisors more effective, more professional, or more promotable. Year in and year out managers need to be able to delegate, prioritize their time, hold effective meetings, communicate well, appreciate and reward their staff, listen and ask the right questions, coach and train in a timely and effective manner, and set clear expectations.

This is true of new and seasoned people; it’s true in government, non-profits, and private industry; it’s true in fortune 500 companies and in small businesses. The Key Management Skills site provides useful, practical, “use it tomorrow” information on these basic, but vital skills.

Bio For Norma Smith Davis  

Norma Smith Davis is the founder of Key Management Skills, a Santa Rosa California web-based training and consulting practice. Norma specializes in:

• Manager, supervisory and staff training and coaching.
• Developing effective communications systems in individuals and teams.

Norma is a recognized expert in helping groups with disparate interests communicate and work together. She focuses her work on skill building and confidence building for the people who have the toughest job in organizations today–managers and supervisors. She now devotes her time to her writing, on line training, conducting tele-seminars, and to a limited private coaching practice.

In 20 years as a consultant and trainer, Norma has worked with a wide variety of government, private and nonprofit clients including Blue Cross, Blue Shield, NEC Technologies, Kaiser Permanente, Beringer Wine Estates, Bank of America, National Bank of the Redwoods, Parker Hannifin, Health Plan of the Redwoods, New Zealand Milk Company, The Animal Care Center, Simons and Woodard and many small professional firms.  

As a strategic planning and organization development consultant, she has worked with 21 State of California Departments and Divisions such as The Departments of General Services, Consumer Affairs, Health, and the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS). In addition, she has worked with many local government agencies and non-profits including East Bay Municipal Utilities District, Redwood Credit Union, the University of California Davis, Community Action Partnership of Kern and more.

She is author of three workbooks and many articles on the subject of management. Norma has served as adjunct faculty at Sonoma State University, is a past member and/or Board member of the ASTD and the Organization Development Network, and was a founding partner of The Results Group, a successful and dynamic consulting firm.

A Few Kind Words From Clients:

“Norma has a whole toolbox of helpful techniques for keeping people on track and focused on the work”

“She understands the strategic changes needed, but also understands the human dynamics… very useful.”

“Norma is well organized and has a great sense of humor”"