Have you ever promoted a talented team member into their first management position and watched in horror as the person you valued so highly fails to make a success of the role?
We often expect talented team members to be able to transition into management with no problems. Why shouldn’t they? They’re good at their job and they’re not daft.
It’s easy to forget the challenges that come with moving into management for the first time, and the support needed to set new managers up for success.
Challenges of first-time management
Lack of confidence (and skills)
Your new manager is probably great at their job – that’s why you promoted them, after all.
But the step into management comes with a whole host of new responsibilities that need an entirely new skillset to handle confidently. Conflict management, time management, people management – these could all be brand new to your new manager.
Left to figure out their new responsibilities alone without the right skills, your new manager will likely suffer a crisis of confidence that could show up in all sorts of unwanted ways, like over-compensation, aggression or bullying (especially if that’s the kind of management they’ve experienced in the past).
Moving from peer to manager
Has your new manager found themselves managing the team they were previously a member of? That can be a tricky transition to manage without strong systems in place.
Will they go easier on their former peers or come down on them like a ton of bricks to show they’re not ‘soft’?
People management is a delicate balance. Without clear systems and support in place for your new manager, you could risk damaging relationships and productivity.
Balancing workload
If your new manager’s still expected to produce the work they were doing before on top of their new management responsibilities, they can very quickly become snowed under. They might become burned out under the pressure or try to get everything done by sacrificing quality.
Unless, of course, you have clear systems in place to help your managers allocate their time effectively.
How senior managers can help
Building management skills
It can help for senior managers to remember that new managers will need a completely new skillset to be successful in their new role. They’ll need to be able to delegate, manage their own time as well as that of others, understand KPIs and how to measure success, communicate effectively, handle conflict, the list goes on.
If you just leave them to it, they’re more likely to fall into bad habits, burn out, or struggle with confidence. But if you support them to build the management skills they need, you’ll help them build the confidence they need to be a really effective manager.
Creating strong management systems
Confidence in new managers comes from systems as well as skills. Having strong management systems in place around things like workload and performance management can give managers the backup they need to really thrive in their new role.
If you take one thing away from this article, I hope it’s this: just because a member of your team is really experienced and skilled in their role, that doesn’t mean they automatically have the skills to be a great manager straight away.
They could well have the potential, but they’ll likely need support to build the skills and understand the systems that will set them up for success.
You can learn more by joining the ActionCOACH 12 Week Management MasterCLASS. Find out more here.
