Yay! You've landed your dream job!
More cash, more responsibility, a team of people to look after, and a seat at the local management team table for lunch. Someone somewhere saw a potential manager when they interviewed you. How are you going to prove them right?
Being a manager isn't easy for many people. Some think it's just about checking work, others think it just gives them a chance to give the orders, rather than take them. And some just think it's an opportunity to sit back and watch everyone else do the real work.
Regardless of the nature of the work they are involved in, newly appointed managers need to identify the skills they need to have to be good at their job.
Some of the skills overlooked by new managers frequently include:
- Listening (for when your staff have a problem)
- Counselling (for when you are trying to help them solve a problem)
- Mediation (for sorting out problems between two or more of your team)
- The ability to motivate others (for when there's a recession!)
- The ability to develop others (when there's an upturn in business and people want promotion) and
- Change Management (for when you need to help your team through some challenges).
So, do these all come from a quick 'How to be a Manager' training course? Nope. It takes a lot of hard work to be a great manager, but as a starting point, why not try the following:
- Find yourself a mentor, someone who is a great manager already, watch them work, see how they interact and understand how they deal with the problems they face. Talk to them about your concerns / worries about your new job. If you can find yourself a good mentor, this may be one of the most valuable interpersonal relationships that you develop.
- Get to know your staff, and quickly. Understand their needs as individuals, and as a team, so you can work out what your challenges are going to be and plan to deal with them. Getting to know your staff and what motivates them can help you to be a better leader in the workplace and to do the job well.
- Find yourself some real development workshops. These can help you understand the skills you really need, not just the tasks you need to perform. There are a great many workshops these days both online and offline and you should have a good amount to choose from.
- Build feedback into the team: two-way feedback. Make sure your team members are able to give you feedback as a manager, which you can then use to see where you can develop your skills further. This will be some of the most valuable feedback you ever receive.
- Finally, you do need to get yourself on all those company courses all managers should go on - how to manage absence, carry out appraisals, deal with disciplinary issues and manage performance etc. Failing to get these right in the eyes of your staff will really damage your reputation, and your confidence as you grow into your role.
