Becoming a First Time Manager could be an overwhelming experience for some people. Switching sides from being an individual contributor to a managerial role will change the turf and terrain for you. There would be newer expectations and responsibilities. You might need to adapt your relationships with all your peers, subordinates, and seniors. While you might be excited to get on the new roles, you need to carefully step into the new role. Here are some tips for first time managers on what to expect and how to ensure a smooth transition.
The Tables have turned: Until now, you were the one asking for help from your manager while you played a team member role, but when you take the managerial role then you have a team that seeks answers from you. Suddenly, you become the face of your team and have to take responsibility for each success and failure of your team.
So, avoiding blaming others and owning the responsibility is an important tip for any First Time Managers.
Delegating Work: A First Time Manager doesn’t have any experience in handling a team. Becoming a manager to those with whom you were sharing a friend zone becomes challenging. You need to delegate work, give negative feedback with a lot of thought and caution. You might have been habitual of doing the work yourself as an individual contributor and you still might believe that you can do the work much quicker. But you would have to learn to delegate it to others now. If you still keep it all with you, the work starts piling up – leading to delays and mounting pressure.
This particular tip is difficult for the first time managers to implement as they are often used to completing tasks on their own. So when you have that feeling, do consciously resist the temptation and delegate the work.
Changing Hats: To keep up the good work and maintain a healthy relationship with your team and showcase the managerial skills, you need to understand the multi-pronged responsibilities that come with the role. You need to be a Mentor, Motivator, Rescuer, and Manager, all at the same time. You need to be clear in delegating and assigning work to your team in line with the organizational goals. You need to build a continuous feedback system and become a good listener to keep a balance in your team. The ability to change hats is one of the most important skills needed of managers.
Goal Setting and Foresight: When you become a first-time manager, you need to set your expectation very clearly for the team and then become a support system to overcome obstacles. You need to be a good risk manager to be able to foresee the obstacles and take precautionary actions beforehand.
Being the Communicator: Communication is about 90% of job role for a manager. Keep communicating with all the team members so that you can have a clear picture of what is going on in the team. The more you are connected with your team, the more trust you keep building within the team and with all the members.
Generally, organizations organize training sessions for first-time managers, so that they can understand the role change and deal with challenging situations. Without any guidance and coaching, it is more likely that you will make mistakes in your new role. But proper coaching with a good coach may help you a lot in avoiding mistakes and performing much better in the manager’s role.
For such kind of coaching, you may get in touch with Life coach Johncey George – a Certified Leadership Coach in India.