Stepping into Management for the first time
Concerns that we have heard time and time again from newly appointed managers include:
- Will I be good enough?
- Am I doing the right things?
- What if people don’t like or respect me?
- What if I cause offence or upset?
- But I was one of the team just recently, will they take me seriously?
- I don’t want to fail – or get complained about
- I know who is not doing the job they should but I don’t know how to tackle it
- I am half their age and they have so much experience
It could be daunting if these concerns have any validity in your situation but the good news is that with focus and planning, some key skills and attitudes, these concerns will be considerably reduced.
If you are new to management, here are a few tips that will help:
Portfolio
Develop your management toolkit and ‘competence’ portfolio. Develop the communication skills needed to deal with a variety of challenges.
Management Behaviours
Understand the range of leadership and management behaviours and learn to use them differently in differing circumstances. Know when to Direct, to Coach, to Support or to Delegate and with whom and why.
Expectations
Set out your expectations and boundaries – most people like clarity. Be clear about what good results look like and what is needed and why. Reinforce your expectations with genuine praise and appreciation for those who are meeting your expectations. Give help and support to those who are still working on getting there.
Engage Positively
Engage with the team and communicate with respect and honesty. Most people appreciate honesty, fairness and like to be respected. Think about how you will do that, avoiding having favourites or those you give more interesting work to. Get to know your people and develop practical relationships.
Be Confident
Develop your confidence and assertiveness. Being comfortable with yourself allows you to be comfortable with others. Especially role model assertiveness so that others copy you and you create an assertive environment. Confidence of course grows with success but meanwhile take a tip from most actors ‘Fake it till you make it’ and then ‘Fake it till you become it’.
Responsibility
Responsibility – Of course you are responsible for the outputs and outcomes of the team. However, you are responsible for you and your team members are responsible for themselves. Yes, it is your responsibility to get things done but it is theirs to play their part. Your responsibility is to enable them to do that.
Feedback
Feedback from others will help you and others work things through and develop better understanding. Make giving and receiving feedback a regular part of your activity. Accept that some feedback may less palatable and if you want to learn and improve it will be very valuable to you.
Listen and Develop
Learn to really listen and develop your questioning technique. This helps with the relationships, understanding, coaching and empowerment and allows you to create meaningful personal development plans both for yourself and others.
Relax and Enjoy
And finally ….. don’t put yourself under too much pressure to know everything, fix all problems, never make a mistake and be perfect. You are human and are on a learning curve. Enjoy it!
Next Steps
If you would like to explore how we can support your people as they step into the management for the first time , please contact us today on 01252 737526 or info@progressint.com
