At the end of September, Managers and Team Leaders from the Theun-Hinboun Power Company’s Operations and Maintenance Division (OMD) became the second group of THPC staff to complete leadership and management training with Vientiane-based firm Enterprise and Development Consultants.
The six-day course was conducted over three separate two-day modules in July and September 2013, with the final session held away from site at a Vientiane hotel.The trainers used short lectures, group discussions, case studies and participant feedback to introduce and explore a variety of management techniques to the staff. The OMD teams were joined by representatives of the Corporate Affairs and Corporate Support Services departments, making a total of 17 THPC personnel benefitting from the company’s policy of upgrading professional skills.
The first module introduced basic concepts of management and leadership, emphasizing that leadership is not defined by a person’s position, but rather by qualities that can be learned and developed. The session also explored concepts such as emotional intelligence and change management, with the trainer providing a simple action plan to for the participants to implement back in their daily jobs. In module 2 the THPC staff then shared how they had applied these lessons in real work situations. This module also featured the topics of “effective teams”, “effective communication”, assertiveness and “feed-backing”. 
Following discussion of the concept and principles of delegation and team coaching, participants came up with individual action plans to improve their leadership and managerial competencies. On their return in module 3, they again shared their experiences in applying these action plans on the job. The final session also provided an opportunity to explore methods of motivation andproblem-solving techniques.
Course evaluation by participants showed most of the trainees found the course good and some thought it excellent. EDC’s trainers meanwhile recommended that participants should keep their learning momentum going by extending their knowledge to others in their departments, and by sharing their progress with Social and Environmental Division colleagues, who have already undertaken the same training.