Quick Answer:

Everything DiSC gives new managers personalized insight into their leadership style and practical frameworks for giving feedback, managing conflict, empowering their teams, navigating change, and motivating others.

And now, with the BRAND NEW WORKSMART MANAGEMENT MODULES, managers can build these skills in just 20 minutes per topic through self-guided learning on the Catalyst platform, and L&D professionals finally have a solution that's fast, relevant, and doesn't require a big budget or months of classroom time.

The Problem Every L&D Professional Knows Too Well

Here's what I'm hearing from HR and L&D professionals more than almost anything else right now: our managers need help, and we don't have the time or the budget to train them.

Sound familiar?

There was a beautiful time, not that long ago, when I could lead a series of management training classes over six months or more. Each session lasted two to three hours. Managers built one skill at a time, practiced between sessions, came back with success stories or honest discussions about what they could do better, and behaviors actually changed. It worked because there was focus, personalization, consistency, and accountability built into the process.

That world is harder to create today. Time pressures are intense. Budgets are tight. Priorities are competing for every minute of a manager's day and and an L&D professional's time. And the result is that people are burning the candle at both ends, spending money they don't have on outside facilitators, or worst of all, skipping management training altogether and hoping for the best.

Meanwhile, managers are left to figure it out on their own. They're turning to generic e-learning programs that weren't built for their specific challenges, or worse, asking AI for advice that isn't aligned with your culture, or personalized to them or the people they lead. It's not that they don't want to be better managers. It's that they don't have the right tools to get there fast.

That's the gap that Worksmart fills.

What Is Worksmart?

Worksmart is a set of self-guided management training modules that live right inside the Catalyst platform. Each module takes about 20 minutes and focuses on a topic that managers consistently say they need the most help with:

Giving Constructive Feedback — How to deliver strong, actionable, and encouraging feedback that lands well based on your style and the style of the person receiving it.

Managing Conflict — How to recognize your natural conflict tendencies, reflect on situations thoughtfully, and adjust your approach to keep disagreements productive.

Empower Your Team — How to delegate so team members take ownership, freeing up your time and energy for your most important priorities.

Helping Your Team Navigate Change — How to communicate, build trust, and turn uncertainty into progress in a way that inspires people with different styles to get on board.

Motivating Your Team — How to align your team members' work with their true motivators, while managing demotivators that occur in any job to create conditions that bring out their best.

Because managers access the modules through their own Catalyst learner account, every piece of the learning is completely personalized based on their DiSC style. They're not getting generic management advice. They're learning about their natural approach to each skill, how others might interpret their responses, and personalized tips for leading the people they actually manage.

How Does It Work?

Each module follows a clear learning arc. Managers start by understanding why the topic matters and where it shows up in their daily work. They explore their own superpowers and reflect on the personal challenges they tend to face when undertaking that particular skill. Then they get simple, practical frameworks for approaching conversations differently.

Here's where it gets really powerful: managers can look up their specific team members in Catalyst and apply the frameworks to real people, not hypothetical scenarios. If their team members also have Catalyst profiles, the tips are fully personalized to the combination of styles. If their team members aren't on Catalyst yet, there's a guided process to help the manager think about what their team members' styles might be so the learning is still relevant and actionable.

Each module ends with an action plan. Managers identify specific upcoming conversations where they'll apply what they learned, and that plan is saved directly in Catalyst to encourage follow-through and accountability.

How Can L&D Professionals Use Worksmart?

This is where Worksmart really shines for the HR and L&D audience. You have options for how to deploy it depending on your time, resources, and goals.

As self-guided learning. Assign individual modules to managers who need to build a specific skill, or assign the entire suite for a comprehensive development path. It takes less than two hours total for all five modules, and managers can work through them at their own pace or just when they need them.

As pre-work for real business situations. Use a specific module as a prompt before a manager has a difficult feedback conversation, before launching a change initiative, prior to performance review season, or before tackling an employee relations issue. This makes the learning immediately relevant because it's tied to something the manager is about to do, not something they might do someday.

As virtual, instructor-led sessions. The facilitation materials in the Catalyst Practitioner Experience make it easy to turn any Worksmart module into a group learning experience. You don't need to build a curriculum from scratch. The scripts, slides, and activities are ready to go. Learn more about the Catalyst Practitioner Experience here.

My recommendation? Let managers do the self-guided learning first. Then, host virtual group coaching sessions where they can share what they learned, discuss real scenarios, learn from each other, and add your organization's context and culture to the conversation. This approach keeps the time investment low and the effort for you easy and fun, while making the learning stick through peer discussion and accountability.

How Does Worksmart Compare to the Everything DiSC Management Facilitation Materials?

If you're already familiar with Everything DiSC Management on Catalyst, you might be wondering how Worksmart fits in. They complement each other well, but they serve different purposes.

I love, love, love the Everything DiSC Management Facilitation Materials and if you've had me facilitate a workshop, you've seen some of the content. It is the deeper, more comprehensive experience. The Everything DiSC Management Profile and Catalyst modules provide robust, personalized tips for giving direction, delegating, developing, and creating a motivating environment for each team member. There's also bonus content on managing up, which is often three quarters of the battle. The facilitation materials in the Catalyst Practitioner Experience include realistic right-way/wrong-way videos that are some of the best in the entire Everything DiSC library. (I'll put that in writing.) I highly recommend Management for organizations that want a more structured, in-depth management development program.

Worksmart is more quick and targeted. Think of it as just-in-time learning for managers whose calendar or attention span doesn't allow for more than 20 minutes of learning. It's ideal for building a specific skill in the moment, for reinforcing how DiSC can be applied in the real flow of work, or for organizations that need to start somewhere and want a low-barrier entry point.

The best approach? Use Worksmart to build immediate skills and create quick wins. Layer in the full Management module when you're ready for a deeper dive.

How Do Managers Access It Worksmart?

Worksmart has been available as an instructor-led program since 2025. The new self-guided learning modules became available in May 2026. Managers access the modules through their own Catalyst learner account.

1. Use your Catalyst Admin View to assign an Everything DiSC on Catalyst Profile to your managers if they haven't done it already. You can assign the basic Catalyst Profile for 25 credits and add the more robust Management content, if desired for 10 additional credits.

2. On the Unlock Content screen, simply select what you need. Select the Worksmart Radio button to unlock all 5 training modules.

3. Select the Management module if you'd like them to have Catalyst tips for giving direction, delegating, developing, and creating a motivating environment for their teams, as well as managing up.

4. Your EPIC credit balance will adjust as you go. Click here if you need more credits.

5. Select Unlock Content and the new features will be automatically added to your learner's Catalyst account. If sending a new questionnaire, you'll be prompted to write a custom email.

It's that simple.

Q&A: Quick Answers About Worksmart

What is the Cost of Worksmart?

The cost for all five Worksmart modules is just 20 credits, making this the bargain of the century. With volume discounts, the per-manager cost drops even further.

The facilitation materials for instructor-led versions of Worksmart are included in the Catalyst Practitioner Experience, so if you already have the CPE, you're ready to go. If you don't have the CPE yet, you can learn more and purchase it here.

You'll need an [administrative dashboard](INSERT LINK TO 5/12 POST) to issue profiles and add Worksmart modules for your managers.

Do managers need to have done DiSC before to use Worksmart?

Yes. They need an Everything DiSC on Catalyst profile with Workplace, Management, or Agile EQ. Although prior DiSC training isn't required, it's helpful or a great way to keep the learning going after your initial workshop. The modules are designed to be self-explanatory and walk managers through the DiSC concepts they need as part of the learning.

Can I assign just one module or do managers need to complete all five?

You assign all five, but each module stands on its own. So you can target the specific skill a manager needs right now and refer to others over time.

Is Worksmart only for new managers?

Not at all. While new managers get a quick boost because they're building these skills for the first time, experienced managers find value in the personalized frameworks too. The modules help any manager reflect on their approach, see their blind spots, and get targeted strategies for the specific people they lead.

Ready to Equip Your Managers?

If you're tired of watching managers struggle without the tools they need, or if you've been looking for a management development solution that doesn't require a massive time commitment or budget, Worksmart is worth a serious look.

Schedule a call with me and let's talk about how Worksmart fits into your manager development strategy. We can look at what your managers need most, how to deploy it, and how to make the learning stick.