• Home
• About HR
• Jobs and Recruitment
• Policy and Information
• Pay and Promotions
• New Staff
• Staff Training & Development
  • Meet the Team
  • What is Development?
  • Investors in People
  • Career Development and Appraisal
  • Leadership and Management
  • Team Development
  • Coaching and Mentoring
  • Research Staff Development
  • Stepping Up
  • Staff Survey 2012
  • ILDP
  • Stress Management Support
  • Mediation
• Contact Us
• News
• Events
• Investors in People
• ID Cards
• Long Service Awards
• Employee Advantages
• Childcare Vouchers

Leadership and Management

What is leadership and management?

There are many different definitions of leadership and management and arguments about whether they are the same or different activities.  We view the two activities as linked. Leadership is the ability of an individual to influence, motivate and enable others to contribute towards the effectiveness and success of the organisation of which they are members.  Management characterises the process of leading and directing all or part of an organisation through the deployment of resources, human, physical, financial, intellectual.

Management Programmes

The Staff Training & Development Unit offers a suite of leadership, management and supervisory skills programmes, including:

• Essential Supervisory Skills (ESS) - a one day course for support staff with supervisory responsibilities.
• Early Manangement Development Programme (EMD) - a programme of six half-day sessions for support staff with supervisory responsibilities, typically executive assistants, departmental co-ordinators and equivalent technical staff and manual staff.
• Middle Management Development Programme (MMD) - a programme of eight full-day sessions for more senior academic-related, administrative, professional and technical staff with responsibility for managing staff, budgets, resources and facilities.

For further details on these programmes, and to register your interest, please contact Susan MacLennan - Training & Development Adviser (T: 01224 27 4461 · E: susan.j.maclennan@abdn.ac.uk).

We are particularly proud of our International Leadership Development Programme (ILDP) which won the Times Higher Award for outstanding contribution to leadership development in 2007.  For further details, please click here.

Leadership Development for Principal Investigators

This is a two level development programme to enhance the leadership and management skills of PIs, at critical points in their career.  It is specially targeted at:

• newly appointed and aspiring PIs to outline their main roles and responsibilities and support them in managing their first research team
• more experienced PIs, with established research groups, to assist them in developing and maintaining a more stragetic focus.

For more information on the PI programmes, please contact Heather Crabb - HR Policy & Projects Adviser (T: 01224 27 2404 · E: h.crabb@abdn.ac.uk).

Management Handbook

An online Management Skills Handbook is available for staff who are moving into line management roles or who feel they would benefit from a useful guide to support their work. 

The development of this Handbook has been supported by the "Achieving The Best" project, funded by the Leadership Foundation in Higher Education.  The information contained within the Handbook is drawn largely from the work undertaken on this project and is intended to act as an easy reference guide to the key principles underpinning research and people management.

For further details, please contact Heather Crabb - HR Policy & Projects Adviser (T: 01224 27 2404 · E: h.crabb@abdn.ac.uk). 

Further information

Bespoke training sessions based on some of the modules incorporated into the above programmes can be developed in consultation with individuals; further information may be obtained from Susan MacLennan - Training and Development Adviser (T: 01224 27 4461 · E: susan.j.maclennan@abdn.ac.uk).