Navigating As A New Manager

Best Tips For A New Manager​

Becoming a new manager in the life of a professional is an exciting stage at the same time a lot of pressure can be felt on how you will manage team members and other stakeholders, what if something wrong happens etc. Does everything need to work out well if I have to succeed?

I'm almost certain one of these thoughts may have rung a bell also.

However, trust me, it's natural. We all want our first experience to be a pleasant one.

In any case, we can't ignore the fact that there is always a scope of uncertainty.

Regardless of whether you are from any background be it engineer, commerce, or arts when it comes to being a new manager, life is no longer the same. You need to not only manage but also guide, motivate, and lead your team. Besides, you have to be answerable for your team's efficiency.

The transition to a managerial position is quite painful as a lot of new skills need to be learned which takes time and effort. It might sound daunting and a bit overwhelming, but once you are through the learning curve you will enjoy the journey.

Tips to ease the process as a new manager:

‌Understand your team and build connections

Get to know people and try to get them acquainted with you too. Start by holding meetings, set aside some time to meet the members of the team, get to know about their work style, strengths, and weaknesses, and see what they expect from you. Building a connection before working can ease the working process and improve mutual understanding.

Follow the open-door policy

Communication is the key to success. Create an open-door policy for communicating with the employees. Be an active listener and act accordingly. Always ensure that you answer their queries, issues, and concerns well in time. 

Focus on team productivity as a new manager

With the new role, comes new responsibilities. You are no longer responsible only for your results! But have to work in the direction of improving your team productivity as well, based on which your productivity will be measured. Create a balance between the tasks you want to delegate and work on your own. Accordingly, give them the authority along with the responsibility to make decisions on their own.

It’s not only/always about managing

Becoming a new manager doesn’t mean you have to order and manage people. It also includes guiding and encouraging them. If there's any need to take a step back to make them feel empowered and let them work in their way within established parameters, let them do it. If they fail that will be a teaching lesson but if they succeed that will be a win-win situation. By allowing your team to manage themselves, the chance of micromanaging is reduced and your employees can get the work done within the set deadline in their way.

Minimize conflicts as a new manager

One thing to remember is that people in a group are much the same as the fingers of our hand, very not quite the same as one another yet similarly significant. Alongside dealing with their efficiency, you need to deal with their contentions also. Create a collaborative environment, treat everyone equally and in case of a conflict, try to solve it by communicating with the concerned parties. If it doesn’t work out follow a formal conflict resolution process.

One to one meeting and feedback

This face time is a critical part of growing a relationship with every member of your team based on which trust is built. So make a point to take some time for one-to-one meetings. Talk about the updates till now, focus on their deliverables, brainstorm for future goals, and do knowledge transfer of things they need to know. Most importantly, give constructive feedback which focuses more on how they can improve and appreciate all they have done.

Be optimistic and work on yourself

Always have faith in yourself and think positive. Remaining humble and polite are some qualities of a new manager. And don’t forget to work on self-development. With this new milestone achieved, work for future goals as well and keep learning with every new experience you face.

Gear yourself up as the transformational process is going to be arduous and challenging. Face it with utter patience, gratitude and determination. Lastly, embrace the positive in your life.

All the best for your future endeavours!

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