I recently concluded my first management position, an expatriation to USA from Denmark as a
Taking on a
- Don’t make immediate changes: whether you are a CEO taking over a company or a first time manager it’s always good to wait 100 days before overhauling everything.
- Have a plan: Use the first 100 days to create a plan about how the future will look while maintaining status quo. This is particularly important if your new team is skeptical about your management competencies.
- Leverage your technical skills to create buy-in: most managers become managers because they are recognized for their individual performance and technical skills (whether that’s good or not is a separate post altogether) so if that’s you, you need to leverage this to create buy-in for your ideas with the team. If they see you as competent within their field there is a much higher chance they will also listen to you.
- Everyone can contribute: no matter if your team is full of stars or dogs you should find ways for them to contribute to the team and develop themselves. Surely not everyone is looking to take your position next time it becomes available, but development is much more than that!
- Create a high engagement work environment: the more you involve the team in what is going on and the better you can sell your plan to them the higher the engagement will be. When 7 out of 10 Americans feel disengaged at work this is a real difference maker.
- Employ very specific people performance management: instead of just winging it come appraisal time you should make sure to carry a log of historical performance. Have monthly meetings with your team members where your share your notes from the log. This will ensure your team members know approximately where they stand at all times.
- Let your team shine: last but not least it’s very important to let your team shine rather than taking all the credit for good performance yourself. The reverse is different i.e. if your team screws up you need to take the blame in public and handle internally in the team how to avoid screw-ups in the future.
These 7 tips helped me re energize a demotivated team, exceed expectations 2.5 years in a row and create tangible bottom-line improvements!
Please share what you have learned from your first management position or feel free to post any questions you might have when considering if becoming a manager is the right fit for you.