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Description

From Expert to Manager: Shifting Posture, Delegating and Leading Your Team

Stop being the person who does it best and become the person who gets it done, without losing the credibility of your expertise

  • 2 days — 14 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • Foundation
  • Up to 6 participants

An expert appointed as a manager holds on to technical reflexes for a long time. They take back files, correct the work themselves and step in on complex cases because they are faster. The team does not progress and the manager no longer has time for the new role. The feeling of losing one's profession adds to the difficulty of gaining recognition in a function that was never formally learned.

These two days address the shift from expertise to management specifically: identifying what to stop doing yourself, passing on know-how rather than applying it, delegating technical files and taking up a manager's position with former peers.

Learning objectives

  • Identify the technical activities to stop performing yourself
  • Pass on know-how instead of handling the file in place of the team member
  • Delegate a technical file while accepting an outcome different from your own
  • Take up your position as a manager with former peers
  • Organise your time between residual expertise and management activities

What makes this programme different

Each participant draws up a list of the technical files they must let go of and the possible handover options
Situations involving former peers are role-played from real cases
A diary split between expertise and management is built during the session

Programme

1Letting Go of the Technical Task

What the Role Changes

  • Identifying files taken back out of habit or technical enjoyment
  • The cost of the manager's intervention on team autonomy
  • Expertise to retain and expertise to transfer
  • How to respond to direct technical requests

2Passing On Rather Than Doing

Building Team Capability

  • Explaining a line of technical reasoning rather than a solution
  • Organising mentoring on complex files
  • Accepting a different method that delivers the expected outcome
  • Technical review proportionate to the team member's level

3Positioning Yourself with Former Peers

Legitimacy and Relationships

  • Announcing the change of role to former colleagues
  • Handling requests for preferential treatment
  • Responding to challenges to your managerial competence
  • Maintaining distance without breaking relationships

4Taking Up the Manager's Role

Time and Management Activities

  • Splitting the diary between technical files and management
  • Management activities to build into the week
  • Leading a team meeting on a non-technical topic
  • Relations with your own line manager on your new remit

Who is it for

Technical experts, engineers and subject-matter specialists who have become managers or are about to take up such a role.

Prerequisites

Currently holding or having held a technical expert role and moving into a supervisory responsibility.

Dates & locations

36 scheduled dates between November 2026 and December 2027. Seats are confirmed in the order enquiries are received.

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

September 2027

October 2027

November 2027

December 2027

None of these dates suit you? We open additional sessions on request, and any programme can be run privately for your team.

Practical details

Before the programme
Online positioning questionnaire. Your development objectives are shared with the trainer, who tailors the practical case studies to your context.
Teaching methods
Theoretical input, workshops and practical case studies. Digital course materials and method sheets provided.
Assessment
Multiple-choice tests and role-play exercises. Assessment of learning at the start and end of the programme, with immediate and 60-day follow-up evaluations.
After the programme
One year of access to the e-learning platform. Self-assessment of the skills acquired and a 30-day follow-up session with your trainer.
How to register
Registration online or on the basis of a quotation.
Lead time
11 working days after confirmation of registration.
Accessibility
Accessible to people of determination. Contact our accessibility coordinator to design a suitable solution: contact@mpf-academy.ae
Start dates
Rolling intake: in addition to the scheduled sessions, this programme can start on request.