Linda Ferguson asked:
You have finally done it. You have left the front lines and been given your first job in management. Now what? The world - and your workplace - can look quite different from the other side of the desk. Whether you are working with a team you already know or you have landed in a brand new workplace, here are five practical tips for making the transition like a pro.
1. Listen. Managers are more likely to be judged by how well they listen than by how well they communicate. Great leaders are great listeners. You probably remember that one of the key frustrations of being on the front lines was the difficulty you had in finding a manager who would listen to you. Now you are on the other side, begin by listening actively to all the people around you. Listening means encouraging people to talk to you by engaging them non-verbally, allowing them to speak uninterrupted, and then repeating back some of their words to show that you have heard them. Offering back their own words also has the advantage of showing you were listening without committing you to agreeing with them or to acting on what they have said.
2. Find common ground. Your role as a manager is to discover the common ground between what you are hearing around you (from your peers), what you are hearing from your staff, and what you are hearing from senior managers. On any given day, lots of people may be eager to explain differences to you - they will tell you why there is no common ground. They will be wrong. There is always common ground and it is your job to identify it so that you can build on it.
3. Check in with yourself periodically. It is great to begin the day by setting objectives and to take time out at regular intervals to notice how well you are meeting larger objectives and longer-range plans. More than this, however, it is important to stop for a few seconds and notice your own instinctive reactions and understanding within a given situation. As a new manager, you will regularly be pulled into situations you do not fully understand and you will regularly be asked to make decisions based on information that you do not yet have or have not yet understood. Check in with yourself and notice that sometimes you can make a good decision without more thought, and sometimes you need to get more information even if it makes someone else unhappy.
4. Appreciate strengths in yourself and the people around you. To appreciate a strength means that you notice it, you evaluate it, and you express appreciation for it. When you appreciate a particular strength in a member of your team, you will offer thanks or praise in the best way possible. You will let someone know that you have noticed something they do well and that you have noticed how that particular strength is useful in accomplishing your team’s objectives. This kind of precisely-targeted appreciation allows your team to replicate strengths (because they understand exactly what is valued), provides motivation, and provides appropriate limits to your praise.
5. Find a role model and notice what works for that person. A model is not the same as a mentor: you do not need to find someone willing to dedicate time and effort to making you better and you do not have to commit yourself to following direction before you know whether the directions given will work for you. When you identify a role model, you observe that person at work and appreciate the behaviors and attitudes that allow that person to get the results s/he gets. You look, listen, and imagine what it would be like to act in the same way. Observing a role model will help you notice what you already know about being a good manager, what strengths you already have, and where change is likely to make you more effective.
Your first months and years in management are bound to be confusing: information and demands will be made on you from many different directions and you will get used to not being able to fully anticipate everything you need to handle. If you practice these tips once in a while, you will feel that you are making progress in developing the new skill set you need. If you cycle through these tips several times every day, you will find that you step so naturally into the role of manager that you are already on your way to your next promotion.
You have finally done it. You have left the front lines and been given your first job in management. Now what? The world - and your workplace - can look quite different from the other side of the desk. Whether you are working with a team you already know or you have landed in a brand new workplace, here are five practical tips for making the transition like a pro.
1. Listen. Managers are more likely to be judged by how well they listen than by how well they communicate. Great leaders are great listeners. You probably remember that one of the key frustrations of being on the front lines was the difficulty you had in finding a manager who would listen to you. Now you are on the other side, begin by listening actively to all the people around you. Listening means encouraging people to talk to you by engaging them non-verbally, allowing them to speak uninterrupted, and then repeating back some of their words to show that you have heard them. Offering back their own words also has the advantage of showing you were listening without committing you to agreeing with them or to acting on what they have said.
2. Find common ground. Your role as a manager is to discover the common ground between what you are hearing around you (from your peers), what you are hearing from your staff, and what you are hearing from senior managers. On any given day, lots of people may be eager to explain differences to you - they will tell you why there is no common ground. They will be wrong. There is always common ground and it is your job to identify it so that you can build on it.
3. Check in with yourself periodically. It is great to begin the day by setting objectives and to take time out at regular intervals to notice how well you are meeting larger objectives and longer-range plans. More than this, however, it is important to stop for a few seconds and notice your own instinctive reactions and understanding within a given situation. As a new manager, you will regularly be pulled into situations you do not fully understand and you will regularly be asked to make decisions based on information that you do not yet have or have not yet understood. Check in with yourself and notice that sometimes you can make a good decision without more thought, and sometimes you need to get more information even if it makes someone else unhappy.
4. Appreciate strengths in yourself and the people around you. To appreciate a strength means that you notice it, you evaluate it, and you express appreciation for it. When you appreciate a particular strength in a member of your team, you will offer thanks or praise in the best way possible. You will let someone know that you have noticed something they do well and that you have noticed how that particular strength is useful in accomplishing your team’s objectives. This kind of precisely-targeted appreciation allows your team to replicate strengths (because they understand exactly what is valued), provides motivation, and provides appropriate limits to your praise.
5. Find a role model and notice what works for that person. A model is not the same as a mentor: you do not need to find someone willing to dedicate time and effort to making you better and you do not have to commit yourself to following direction before you know whether the directions given will work for you. When you identify a role model, you observe that person at work and appreciate the behaviors and attitudes that allow that person to get the results s/he gets. You look, listen, and imagine what it would be like to act in the same way. Observing a role model will help you notice what you already know about being a good manager, what strengths you already have, and where change is likely to make you more effective.
Your first months and years in management are bound to be confusing: information and demands will be made on you from many different directions and you will get used to not being able to fully anticipate everything you need to handle. If you practice these tips once in a while, you will feel that you are making progress in developing the new skill set you need. If you cycle through these tips several times every day, you will find that you step so naturally into the role of manager that you are already on your way to your next promotion.