The Workplace Coach

Congratulations !!  You’ve just won the job and now you have your own team to manage.  Its exciting isn’t it?  You get to set the direction and make the decisions now, and it is what you have been working towards for a while.  You have finally got your own office and your name on the door. 

But just don’t forget what it was like looking at the boss in her office (now your office) before you were the boss.  Remember the kitchen chats you used to have with your colleagues about the old boss?  About the way she ran her meetings, about the comments she made and the decisions that you all thought were rubbish?  Now that you think about it, some of the commentary even related to the way she dressed, the outfits she wore, her haircut and that silly bag she used to carry every day.

You are no longer part of these chats… but I guarantee you that they are still happening. Only now, you are the topic of conversation.  Your team will be scrutinising your every move, how you talk, how you dress… every interaction that you have with anyone in the team will become a conversation piece.  They will be constantly judging and evaluating you, all day, every day.

Guess what?  This is completely normal and it happens in every single workplace and in every single team.  Do not freak out about it and don’t lose any sleep wondering what they are saying. 

Here are 5 tips for how to effectively and successfully step into the new manager role.

1. Tread lightly – many new managers will make the rookie mistake of trying to come in and stamp their authority from day one.  Avoid making big changes too early, give yourself time to get to know the people, the culture and the business. Some of your team will have seen managers come and go and it’s important that you take the time to build the relationships with your team. Go for relationship authority, rather than flexing your positional authority.

• Be curious – ask loads of questions.  Whatever your background, whatever your experience, ask heaps of questions.  A good way to do this is in a team meeting, get some discussion going.  It shows the team that you are open to their ideas and that you don’t think you know everything.

• Be future focussed – one way to annoy the team is to constantly talk about where you have come from.  “When I was at XYZ we did it this way…”  They do not care and the constant comparison to another company is just irritating. Instead try getting people thinking about the future and how we, as a team, are going to make it happen.  Start developing a vision for the future, but don’t feel obliged to act on it just yet.

• Set clear expectations – this is not about making rules or imposing restrictions.  This is about outlining how you like to work, what they can expect from you, what type of boss you are going to be, your communication preferences, the behaviours you expect to see in the workplace.  Again, have this conversation with the team, get their input and work together to shape the culture of the team moving forward.  

• Look for quick wins –   find ways that you can immediately make their jobs easier.  This might be investing in a new system or streamlining a process or reducing the amount of reporting required.  It might be a simple as having fewer meetings or solving an issue with a supplier. These are small decisions you can make that look after them right now.  It is the low hanging fruit that builds your credibility for bigger things down the track.

 It is easy to feel out of your depth in a new leadership role.  It is also easy to make mistakes that can sometimes be hard to come back from.  If you do or say something that negatively impacts your credibility or trust then you may never be able to get that back. 

Your team will likely accept you with open minds, if not open hearts, and they will be looking for reasons to like, trust and respect you.  Its up to you to demonstrate that you are worthy of their trust.  Get it right and the team will start to really come together and perform like they never have before. Get it wrong and the team will fall apart and it will be time for you to start looking for a new role elsewhere.

If you don’t have a senior or experienced manager that you can turn to for advice then feel free to drop us a line here at hello@theworkplacecoach.com.au .  We specialise in helping managers be the best people leaders they can be.

The Workplace Coach