Intended Audience

Public health professionals seeking improved skills in fundamentals of leadership and management to enhance their ability to manage effectively and efficiently in the complex and rapidly changing public health field. The course modules are especially appropriate for mid-level managers.

Course Description

This course explores management and leadership within public health organizations, primarily from the perspective of the mid-level manager. The sessions are designed to provide participants with opportunities to explore a diverse array of ideas, theoretical constructs, and approaches to public health management. A mixture of instruction, interactive discussions, and exercises will be utilized.

The course content is divided into eight modules of approximately three hours each. Organizations may also select the modules most relevant to their needs for shorter training sessions. Topics emphasized within each module can also be expanded and customized to specific interests.

Download Course Flyer [456KB Adobe® PDF file]

Course Modules and Learning Objectives

1. Leadership & Management:  Skills, Styles and Attitudes
   Understanding the leader/manager's role in developing effective organizations
   Learning Objectives:
   • Describe the relationship between personal and organizational values
   • Define effective forms of organizational communication
   • Understand current Public Health management challenges
2. Human Resources Management: Defining the Work Environment
   Critical elements for a successful work environment and highly motivated personnel
   Learning Objectives:
   • Understand how the context of the work environment is critical to success
   • Discuss how organizational alignment contributes to personal motivation
   • List and describe forms of compensation and benefits
3. Human Resources Management: Performance Management
   Successful methods for personnel recruitment and performance evaluation
   Learning Objectives:
   • Describe methods of personnel recruitment, screening and selection
   • Define the characteristics of accurate job descriptions
   • Understand the steps in performance appraisals and counseling
   • Discuss effective methods of assigning rewards and discipline
4. Human Resources Management: Employee Relations
   Key steps to building effective relationships between employers and diverse groups of employees
   Learning Objectives:
   • Discuss the unique characteristics of professional employees
   • Describe characteristics of effective relationships with both organized labor and non-union employees
   • Describe effective cross-cultural relations in the work place
   • Describe effective employee training activities
5. Project Management: Model and Steps
   How to define, manage and evaluate public health projects
   Learning Objectives:
   • Understand how to define a project
   • Differentiate between project management and management of operations
   • Define the 4 components of a project triangle
   • List and describe the 5 phases of the project life cycle
6. Project Management: Managing Work Teams
   Developing effective teams and holding effective meetings
   Learning Objectives:
   • Define the stages of team development
   • Describe the tasks and maintenance functions in work teams
   • List and describe characteristics of effective meetings
   • List and discuss the criteria for evaluating work teams
7. Financial Management: Cost Behavior and Break-even Analysis
   Key concepts in managing costs and revenues within public health practice and as a tool for grant writing
   Learning Objectives:
   • Define fixed and variable costs and revenues
   • Calculate break-even and contribution margins
   • Understand where and how these tools can be used in public health practice
8. Financial Management: Budgeting
   Budgeting basics, the role of budgeting in the planning process, and impacts of public funding
   Learning Objectives:
   • Describe the role of budgeting in the overall planning process
   • Discuss different budget types: line-item, performance, program, zero-based, flexible
   • Describe the impacts of public funding on the financial operations of public health

Format

On-site classroom sessions. The curriculum is divided into modules so that organizations can select presentation of some or all of the modules as needed. This course might ideally be scheduled in conjunction with other public health-related meetings as three separate one-day sessions. Participants can choose to attend individual days of the training to gain specific skills, or attend all 3 days to obtain a complete overview of public health management principles.

Estimated Time to Complete

Each module requires approximately 3 hours of class time. Completion of the entire curriculum requires a total of 24 hours of class time.

Course Instructors

Dennis Stillman
Senior Lecturer, Department of Health Services
School of Public Health & Community Medicine
University of Washington

Jeremy Sappington, MSPHP
Senior Lecturer, Department of Health Services
School of Public Health & Community Medicine
University of Washington

About the Instructors

Scheduling and Additional Information

For more information, or to schedule this course at your organization in the Northwest region (AK, ID, OR, MT, WA, WY), please e-mail NWCPHP or call (206) 685-1130.