Career|Career & Education

The First Thing To Do When Becoming a Manager

Are you excited to become a first-time manager? There are a few things that you should follow as ground rules. When you have a team to manage, you can easily make mistakes. The key to success is to realize and prepare for the mistakes beforehand. Here are some tips for new managers so they can succeed and set an example for their team.

1.     Always Research

Walking into the first day blinded can be embarrassing. You have to stay prepared and understand your new role before joining. Learn your training opportunities and keep your head clear. If you have tools and resources from the new manager’s training program, go through it multiple times. Also, read HR documents and manuals and understand the business process. When you are aware of the company before starting the first day, you can make a good first-time impression.

2.     Shift Your Focus

Many new managers struggle to shift their focus. They cannot understand their new role and help people with their tasks instead of performing their job. Keep in mind you have to prepare your team to perform the tasks. Also, your focus should be to achieve team goals. Thus, you have to prepare a team that can handle tasks according to their capabilities.

3.     Manage Relationship Shifts

If you got a promotion in the same company you were working for before, you have to understand the power shift. This can be uncomfortable since you were already closer to your team before. But, it is important to succeed as a team. You must forget closed-door chats and one-on-one after-dinner drinks. That way, you can equally treat your team members.

You need to separate your work relationship from friendships. If your friends can’t understand the relationship shifts, you should honestly explain. They may not agree, but you have to make things clear for the success of your team.

4.     Set Clear Goals

When your goals are clear, you can focus on your employees and handle tasks. Becoming a manager is a tough job with extensive tasks. You can focus on your goals by removing subjectivity while considering performance reviews.  

5.     Stay Consistent

When you have to boost the confidence of your team, you must stay consistent with your decisions. Change in decisions will loosen your team morale. Also, never let emotions rule your decisions. Emotional control will help you become consistent. Another thing that helps to improve consistency is patience. Don’t make rapid decisions. Instead, take a coffee and make informed decisions.

6.     Set an Example

When you are a manager your team will look at your action. They will see how you behave. They will learn to tackle challenges from you. So you shouldn’t complain about your boss and deadlines and spew personal opinions. You need to be the master of the game.

Conclusion

When you have clear goals, appropriate research, and consistency with decision-making, you can become a successful manager. Keep in mind that you have a team to manage, if you let your emotions control your decisions, you will let your team down. So, follow these steps and set an example from the first day.