People Management Skills Program (PMSP)

In alignment with the prioritised NSW Health Workforce Plan, HETI's People Management Skills Program (PMSP) is an online, contemporary, and responsive educational experience for NSW Health managers, or staff in roles with management responsibilities.

Program participant Hussein Al-Natrawee sought this blended learning management development pathway to gain skills in team management and help him navigate challenging conversations. However, Hussein believes the program gave him so much more than he expected, as shared in his reflections below.

It helped me to model and encourage a culture of continuous learning with no judgement. I learnt that good leadership values constructive feedback, and the program changed how I approach communication at work, to welcome new experiences.

The human side of management

Before participating in PMSP, I knew I wanted to advance my professional learning and career development; to foster good relations and achieve better outcomes at work. I hoped the program would also teach me how to support people and navigate challenging conversations.

Yet the experience gave me so much more than this. It focused on bringing out the human side that exists beneath any workplace interaction – whether it be a challenging conversation or a key presentation. I learnt how important it is to find something to relate to, with the people you interact with.

This helped to remind me that we are all human first and foremost, and we all respond better to this person-centred approach.

After completing PMSP, I still achieve meeting outcomes and reach objectives, but my communication style has changed to become more person-centred. This engages and motivates me to develop my own capability, and I try to be more mindful to support my team members and their potential too.

Changing workplace communication

Before PMSP I would tend to focus on how a particular initiative could improve my workplace, simply because it is efficient, or it offers an improved way of working. I may have presented it to my colleagues on this basis without really considering the full impact on their roles.

Whereas after PMSP I try to reflect on others’ viewpoints first, to gauge how any development might impact their work. Now I try to build my presentations around this person-centred basis, to highlight likely benefits from my colleagues’ perspectives or address any perceived challenges upfront. It is a completely different way of working for me.

A supportive environment

We enjoyed a supportive community of like-minded managers in our online group. Our cohort was mixed with people who had managed staff for 30 years, through to others with no management experience. We all felt safe to explore our unconscious bias, share our opinions and learn together.  This outcome was shaped by the facilitator who incorporated real-life examples and gave enough time for conversations, breakout sessions and role-playing scenarios.

For example, we did a role play where we couldn’t use words like 'but' or 'however' in challenging workplace conversations. I could never have imagined feeling comfortable in a role play context, especially online, yet I felt fully supported by everyone. This particular role play taught me how a certain communication style could unintentionally undermine a conversation's tone and effectiveness. As soon as we stopped using words like ‘but’ or ‘however’ in our role play, we could see that conversations flowed better and were less negative. I still bear this technique in mind when communicating with colleagues, especially in challenging conversations.

Shared value for better outcomes

Overall, PMSP taught me that taking time to build workplace relationships can lead to shared benefits. On a personal level, it can help me to progress in my career or support me in situations where I may need assistance. I now benefit from more positive workplace relationships and I’m more mindful to acknowledge colleagues’ work or their help whenever I have the chance. On a broader level, the teachings of PMSP can ultimately improve patient outcomes – to enhance the patient and caregiver experience across NSW Health.

Doing things differently

My day-to-day interactions have benefited because of this program. I’m more likely to expand on workplace conversations and initiate one-on-one catchups with different team members.

I can appreciate the value of a person-centred approach; in a way I probably wouldn’t have done so before. When I worked with the Case and Contact Tracing team in the COVID pandemic team, I could see that the effective communicators with strong staff relationships were identified as good leaders.

My advice to you

My advice to future PMSP participants is to not have any expectations before you start. Regardless of your leadership or management experience, PMSP is about developing person-centred communication and leadership through a supportive environment. I learnt that putting people at the centre always benefits any outcome – whether in a patient-facing setting or in an office – and this has completely reshaped my approach to work, for the better.

PMSP’s interactive weekly modules encourage collaborative learning and person-centred care to model a culture of continuous learning and leadership. Do you want to learn how to build thriving teams and a positive workplace culture?

Discover the People Management Skills Program