Tips for a first time manager

Becoming a manager can be a challenging experience as you settle into a new role and take on responsibilities you most likely didn’t have in any of your previous positions. To be successful in a management role, it is essential to be prepared and have a willingness to learn new skills.

There a number of things you can do to help you experience a smooth transition into management.

1. Clarify your areas of focus

To begin with, make sure you establish exactly what is expected of you in your new role. For example, think about both the immediate and long term work priorities and get an understanding of the key problems that need solving and risks you are likely to face.

Having this information enables you to know where you need to place your immediate focus so you can then set out to develop clear, specific and measurable goals to address these issues with your team.

2. Develop the skills you need to help achieve these goals

Once you understand where your main areas of focus are, work towards developing management skills such as problem solving, motivating others and leadership. In addition, evaluate the performance of your team members and provide them with constructive feedback and guidance to help them work towards achieving the team’s goals.

You can develop management abilities through receiving coaching, mentoring or training, as well as up-skilling by participating in short courses and reading management websites and business textbooks.

3. Lead your team to success

To be an effective manager, you need to learn how to incorporate leadership skills into your management style so as to successfully grow and develop your team. Put your management skills into practice by leading your team and supervising projects, people and schedules.

Communicate a vision of success, encourage your team to do their best work and inspire them to achieve their potential.

4. Delegate tasks to teammates to facilitate their professional growth

With the responsibility of completing daily work activities and managing the overall development and productivity of your team, think about how to share your work load among the team while giving individuals the opportunity to develop their skills.

Give your team members the opportunity to grow their experience by delegating different and challenging tasks to them. When delegating activities, it’s important to explain the desired outcome and purpose, then let the individual chose how they want to approach and complete the task.

As a supporting manager, you then need to give feedback on the areas they can improvement on as well as examples of where they have done well.

5. Emulate admired attributes in managers

Finally, if you need a source of inspiration for managing or leading your team, think about your previous managers and the attributes you admired in them. How did they treat you? How did they earn your trust? What did you respect about their behaviour? What did they teach you and what did you learn from them? Reflect on these points to help guide your behaviour as a first-time manager and become the style of manager you wish to be.

As you progress and develop on your management journey, seek the feedback of a trusted mentor to understand where your areas of development and how you can improve as a manager.