Looking for tips as a first-time manager who wants to start their job right? A new career path comes with new responsibilities, and knowing how to manage a team with confidence is an essential skill for a manager who hopes to make a difference.
Moving to a managerial position might not be a top goal for the new generation of workers, but considering that career ascensions are the primary way of progressing in one’s career, moving to the position of a manager is inevitable for many. Unfortunately, data shows that first-time managers are often thrust into such positions without sufficient preparation, forced to learn how to perform their duties on their own. Without sufficient training and preparation, the transition to a leadership position can be difficult, making it all the more important for first-time managers to develop the necessary skills and foresight themselves.
Starting a new role as a first-time manager? Here are some tips to build up your confidence and make a good impression right from day one. (Image: Freepik)
Tips for First-Time Managers: How to Manage a Team Correctly Right From Day One
Starting a new job or moving to a new position can be nerve-wracking, but it also means new opportunities and experiences await. Regardless of the new role, it is important for workers to plan ahead for the first few months on the job to ensure that they develop evenly in the role rather than showcase a lopsided progression in their skills and capabilities.
The first 90 days on a new job are the most important, both to make a good first impression and to ensure that the job is the right fit for you. If you haven’t received any training on how to succeed as a new manager, consider this list of tips specifically written for you.
1. Build Your Confidence and Communication Skills
One of the most important tips for first-time managers is to develop a sense of confidence in your ability to lead. While we don’t recommend falsely inflating your own capabilities in order to acquire this confidence, it is important to identify your strengths and trust in your reasoning, decision-making, and other capabilities in order to instill that feeling in others. Perfection isn’t the goal, but instead a realistic assessment of what you are capable of.
It is similarly important to develop communication skills before other leadership capabilities. A good communicator knows how to listen and respond correctly, which simplifies the process of finding solutions even when you don’t have all the answers just yet. Good communication skills are the basis of any good manager’s skill set.
2. Ask Questions: Knowledge Is Essential to Plan Ahead
If you’re starting as a first-time manager at a new organization, ask as many questions as possible about your role, your team, the work culture, and the extent of your responsibilities. Every organization allots a slightly different set of tasks for the manager to perform, and the more you understand, the better you can operate. When you meet your team, similarly ask questions about their role, their routines and processes, and what has worked for them so far.
If you’re moving up to the managerial position at your old job, you might already be familiar with the organization’s workings, but it is still important to ask your predecessor as many questions as you need to, in order to get a good handle on the role.
3. Convey Your Goals and Ideas for the Team Right at the Start
Organize a meeting with the team and share a clear idea of your leadership style, your expectations from them, your goals for the future of the team, and your current strategy. Employees appreciate a leader they can understand and follow, which makes it helpful for them to glean a picture of who you are right from the start. This also gives employees a clear idea of what to expect from you and how to interact with you day to day.
4. Allot One-on-One Time for All Your Team Members
To learn how to manage a team, you have to first get to know the team. Each employee has a different set of capabilities and requirements from their leader, and getting to know them and their role through these discussions can help in managing them. Not only that, these regular one-on-one conversations, especially in the first 90 days on the new job, can help build a more open bond with the employees.
5. Delegate Diligently: It’s All About Balance
Some first-time managers attempt to perform all the tasks on their own because they fear being seen as lazy or unhelpful. Others delegate all of their work to others and assume that their role is only meant for checking updates. Both extremes are unwelcome. A new manager should create a checklist of tasks that need to be done daily and weekly, and ensure that they are completed on time.
Some of these tasks might involve trusting employees to perform their share of the work and bring in the reports, and others might require managers to actively supervise or get involved themselves. Determining which is which is a task of the highest priority.
6. Gather and Offer Feedback
Another one of our tips for first-time managers is to get comfortable with feedback. A new manager ideally shouldn’t show up on the job and start criticizing every detail right from the first day, but it is important to start making observations and notes to ensure that employees are fairly corrected when necessary.
This feedback also goes both ways. Within the first 90 days on the new job, first-time managers should make an effort to gather some feedback from the team to understand how they might be better supported on the job. Alternatively, this might also teach you what not to do.
6. Lead by Example
It’s easy to state that you’re very particular about timelines and deadlines and prompt daily attendance, but without showcasing such capabilities yourself, you create a confusing and unfair picture. If you want to learn how to succeed as a new manager, it is important to set an example by performing to the same standards expected from employees. This urges them to respect the rules as well.
A Lot of Learning How to Manage a Team Comes from Performing the Job
We can arm you with a bucketload of tips for new managers, however, a lot of the learning does happen on the job. It is important to review your own performance regularly to see how you’re meeting your own expectations and those of the team. If you find that your approach isn’t working, it is useful to remain adaptable and shift your approach where needed to be a more effective leader.
Here, it can also be useful to seek out advice from a mentor or other managers in order to get a better sense of other approaches to the role. Meanwhile, it’s also important to keep acquiring and honing new skills to ensure that your approach to management isn’t stagnating. Ensure you keep listening and communicating with regularity, and soon, you’ll find the path to the right skills open up for you.
What are some of the tips you have for first-time managers? Share them with us in the comments. Subscribe to The HR Digest for more insights on workplace trends, layoffs, and what to expect with the advent of AI.
