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Description

Managing Former Colleagues: Shifting Your Posture, Setting the Frame and Deciding

One day to move from colleague to manager without damaging working relationships

  • 1 day — 7 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • Foundation
  • Up to 6 participants

Taking over the management of your own team creates an uncomfortable situation for everyone. Familiar habits continue while the roles have changed. A team member who applied for the same position holds a grudge, and a close friend expects special treatment.

One day to build your new positioning. You analyse what genuinely changes in each relationship within your team. You prepare the one-to-one conversations that make it possible to name the new situation. You practise setting the ground rules and making a difficult request.

Learning objectives

  • Analyse what changes in each relationship following an internal promotion
  • Conduct repositioning one-to-one meetings with former peers
  • Set ground rules that are accepted by colleagues who have become team members
  • Make a request or deliver corrective feedback to a former close colleague
  • Handle the situation of a team member who applied for the position you obtained
  • Maintain fairness of treatment across the team

What makes this programme different

Relationship-by-relationship analysis of your actual team
Practice of the first meeting with the team member who applied for the same role
Work on situations of personal closeness and on what must change

Programme

1What changes with the promotion

New role, new expectations

  • Moving from peer status to that of a manager
  • Information you now have access to and information you can no longer share
  • Team expectations and senior management expectations regarding this repositioning
  • Mapping relationships and their degree of closeness

2Naming the situation with each person

Repositioning conversations

  • Structure of the one-to-one induction meeting with a former peer
  • What is stated explicitly about the relationship and what is settled through actions
  • The case of the team member who applied for the position you obtained
  • The case of the close colleague who expects special treatment

3Deciding and holding the right distance

Neither rupture nor continuity

  • Setting ground rules in front of the whole team
  • Framing a request or corrective feedback to a former colleague
  • Fairness of treatment and handling requests for favours
  • Behaviour in informal moments and corridor conversations

Who is it for

Managers newly promoted within their own team and employees about to lead former peers.

Prerequisites

No prior knowledge required

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.