When I took over being in charge as the team leader at Hansem Vietnam back in 2019, it was not my first time being a team leader in a working environment. Despite my experiences in a similar role, it did not take long for me to realize that what I learned previously in the past would not come in as handy here at Hansem and I needed to adapt to our own unique working culture. It is now my fifth year at Hansem Vietnam and being Asia Team Leader is still quite a challenge for me in every way.

Scripted by
Anh Le

Astonishingly, there are actually a substantial number of people who are in leadership roles even before ever learning about what it takes to become a good leader.

Some go through all the tribulations and learn through trial and error and still find themselves lost and unsure how to organize a decent and successful working plan, or how to enhance their relationship with their team members. I was in a similar boat until our Director General recommended that Hansem Vietnam’s team leaders attend a training course for middle-level managers at VMP Academy – a well-known training and coaching service provider based in HCM City.

The first day of the course at a 4-star hotel in Tan Binh District

“This is a fantastic opportunity, but…” – I was both excited and inquisitive (and nervous!) about what I would gain from this training course. “Will there be a lot of theoretical nonsense? Is the trainer capable of giving me helpful ideas and advise me on how to better my line of work if they have no understanding of what my job entails at Hansem Vietnam? How will I communicate with the instructor and other participants during the course?” My mind had been filled with anxiety and uncertainty until March 21^st, 2022, the first day of the course at a 4-star hotel in Tan Binh District. Surprisingly, what I experienced there was far more beautiful than I had expected.

The first thing I’d like to highlight about this course is the teaching method, which emphasizes 3A (Amusement-Action-Application). We didn’t get to stay in our seats for more than 15 minutes during the two-day session. We were encouraged to stand up, walk around, work in pairs or groups, discuss with other students or Mr. Phan Huu Loc (the trainer), speak up or write our ideas on flipboards, play games to visualize training information, and apply what we had just learned to hypothetical situations. All of the participants were completely absorbed in these activities, unaware that they had only met that morning.

We didn’t get to stay in our seats for more than 15 minutes

We were encouraged to stand up, walk around, work in pairs or groups

The practicality and relevance of each module and part in this course were the second thing that astounded me. We covered a manager’s four roles and two missions; five levels of management; methods and tools for planning, leading, organizing, and controlling; and problems & conflict resolution. All of the contents were geared toward developing leadership skills and enhancing team management among middle-level managers, who serve as a link between senior executives (e.g., the Director General) and junior employees (e.g., team members).

Out of all the contents we covered in the training, SMART goal and POST C+ are perfect to apply straight to our workflow at Hansem Vietnam. A SMART goal meets a collection of standards, which include Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely, that helps us gather information, focus our efforts, and achieve a goal successfully. Meanwhile, POST C+ is an exclusive tool developed by Mr. Loc to help managers in properly delegating and assigning tasks by using a checklist that includes Purpose, Outcome, Steps, Time-bound, Confirm, Check/Control, and Coaching. These tools are so handy that not only do we use them for our team leader’s tasks, but also decide to “teach-back” – having training sessions to pass on to our team members.

What we take away from the course are far beyond certificates and gifts.

Two days of training sped by in the blink of an eye, and we returned with a slew of awards beyond certificates and gifts (not that I’m bragging or anything, but two of us finished in the Top 3 Winners of the final quiz!) We are grateful for the opportunity to improve ourselves and, as a result, work more efficiently for the benefit of our teams. With these excellent results and feedback, Hansem Vietnam intends to expand this opportunity to all other team members as a future employee welfare benefit. Let’s all work together to become excellent managers!