A Guide for New Managers: Articles

If you're a new manager and are feeling overwhelmed, here's some good news: There are immediate steps you can take to acclimate yourself to a leadership role. While none of these are quick fixes, and they will take time and effort to achieve, by taking small steps into your new role, you will succeed.

Managing can be a difficult set of skills to acquire, though there are techniques, methods, and competences that will allow someone to optimise their management style. Subjects such as organising employee workload, eliciting engagement, reaching objectives set by leadership and reinforcing team cohesion are all addressed in this effective article.

Generation Z people exhibit different behaviors compared with previous generations, yet are perceived and managed like Millennials -wrongly. Leaders who know how to retain, inspire and lead Gen Zers will reap the rewards from their hard work, passion and disruptive ideas.

New managers who feel unsure about how to inspire team members to perform at a high level will sometimes tighten their grip on their team’s projects. Unfortunately, trying to control all of the moving pieces from your limited perspective is not a good way to build trust with your new team. As a new manager, how can you strike a healthy balance between blindly trusting your team members to do their jobs well and managing them too closely in an effort to ensure nothing slips?

Many new managers are reluctant to ask for help from their bosses, but when they do ask, they are often relieved to find their superiors more tolerant of both their questions and their outright mistakes than they had expected. Ultimately, senior managers must step up and support younger managers — both for the sake of their individual growth and the success of the entire organization.

Taking on a manager or leadership role for the first time can be daunting. You're in charge of an entire team, and its successes and failures fall largely on your shoulders. Even though it can be intimidating, it's important to start on the right foot. If you're a first-time manager, you'll want to prove to your company why you were the best person for this position. Begin your new career path successfully by following these tips from expert managers from Young Entrepreneur Council.

When a team member is promoted to manager, they take on a whole new set of responsibilities. Human Resources is responsible for ensuring that these invaluable leaders learn everything they need to be successful in their new position, which includes a lot more than the technical daily operations. An effective new management training program places equal importance on all aspects of the role.

Managing coworkers can be challenging. Certain tools, methods, and common sense can help inspire, motivate, communicate, and lead effectively. This article provides the most need-to-know concepts to master to successfully manage a team right out of the gates.

Many employees are promoted to a management position for their strength and ability to solve problems as well as improve task efficiencies. However, 45% of managers report never receiving formal management training to lead others and improve team efficiency or morale. Consequently, managers then lead from a place of what they know and how their own managers have led them. As a result, they continue archaic leadership practices that focus solely on hard skills and organizational output rather than building strong relationships and creating an inclusive and engaging team environment. Here are five ways new managers can become better leaders to create an organization that thrives.

New managers in growth markets are young and less tenured and struggle to manage their teams effectively. HR leaders should understand the challenges that these new managers face to facilitate their smooth transition.

Today’s complex business environment calls for a new approach to leadership. This approach must focus on co-creating meaningful value with and for all stakeholders, expanding beyond shareholders to include customers, employees, partners and broader society. Today’s complex business environment calls for a new approach to leadership with four new roles: visionary, architect, coach and catalyst.

Fully empowered employees make good decisions and resolve problems. The article explores how various leadership and management styles can best support them.

Trust is one of the most important things that any manager—new or veteran—needs to build and nurture within their teams. Managers build trust by consistently walking the talk, making sure their actions speak louder than their words, and delivering on their promises.

Intractable as it seems, the problem of racism in the workplace can be effectively addressed with the right information, incentives, and investment. Corporate leaders may not be able to change the world, but they can certainly change their world.

Being promoted to manager for the first time is both exhilarating and challenging. It takes smarts to move up the corporate ladder but transitioning into your new role means mastering a new skill set. No matter what kind of business or field you work in, these 15 tips will help you navigate the managerial waters.

Management isn't easy. You're suddenly responsible for the well-being, production and success of a team of people, and you are the one they'll turn to if anything goes wrong, which can be a daunting change if you're used to looking to someone else for answers. It takes time to adjust to a new position, especially as a first-time manager, and it's easy to get overwhelmed. Just remember that you're not alone and that everyone starts somewhere.

Research has shown that mindfulness training can nurture key areas in the creative process. People who practice mindfulness have more cognitive flexibility, are able to see beyond what they’ve already done, and are better at solving problems requiring insight. To foster a culture of innovation in the workplace, leaders need to give greater attention to their employees’ mindsets and consider championing mindfulness practices throughout their organizations.

Newly-promoted leaders may face numerous difficulties. The new positions holds more responsibilities, and will seem more daunting. This article lists several tips to help acclimate managers to their new tasks.

Undertaking a managerial post can be a challenge and a test for the both the person and the company. This evolution of self will need to come from renewed confidence. The article proposes five key points to guide new managers towards success.

In an effort to prove their mettle, newly appointed managers often focus their attention upward, to their own higher ups, when they should be spending more time focusing on their new team. This “asymmetry of attention” can get new managers in a lot of trouble. Instead of trying to please the boss, make an effort to help team members adjust to the new role by demonstrating three things: trust, character, and influence.

Leaders need to build engagement and enthusiasm. As soon as new leaders make the transition to manager, they should harness emotion rather than avoid it. Before important conversations, speeches, or meetings, consider: What is the emotional takeaway to impart? If one want others to feel that emotion, then they need to express it.

One of the most exciting – and frightening – career transitions comes when someone first faces the prospect of a management role. There are a few must-know principles that will place new managers on a successful path. First, establish a leadership philosophy to guide long-term thinking. Second, to keep a handle on short-term projects, focus on the day-to-day. Third, be a clear communicator. Fourth, establish common values and standards. And last but not least, remember that it’s normal to feel in intimidated by this process.

One of the most exciting and — sometimes anxiety-producing transitions in a career — comes with the move from being an individual contributor to becoming a manager. How does one build an authentic and connected leadership presence that has a positive impact on both team and colleagues? Bring a stable and grounded presence in the face of change, stress, or difficult news, which increases the likelihood that the team will feel comfortable bringing up important information so that the new manager can help get the team back on track.

Transforming an organization’s performance usually means changing its culture—and that means its leaders must change how they lead.

The article lists 5 points of advice for new managers: open communication, plenty of questions, learning employees' aspirations, hands-on work, and showing resolve.

In many organizations, new managers are selected as a result of their success in technical and operational roles. This seems to be a sensible approach, as the manager needs to understand the challenges facing his or her direct reports. At the same time, it’s fundamentally flawed. The skill set required to excel in a technical/operational role is different than the skill set required for success as a manager.

The first days after becoming a managers are crucial and will set the tone for the remainder of the tenure. To avoid a rough start, the article advises communication, meeting with coworkers, constant learning, and helping with the team's work.

Being promoted to manager is a good sign someone has been successful to date — however, the road from this point forward gets trickier to navigate. The job is no longer just about getting the work done. While there is no guidebook of straightforward answers to new challenges, having a clear philosophy can provide a firm foundation from which to operate.

No matter how proficient we may be at our job, we can always find ways to be better. To do that, we have to first become aware of our strengths and weaknesses. Then, actively work to improve in areas relevant to our job goals.

If you are a newly promoted manager who feels the pressure to have all the answers expected of you from day one, don’t despair. You are not alone.

Becoming a manager for the first time is no easy task. Instead of focusing on yourself, you have to focus your attention on others. You have to motivate others, build relationships with your team, and give effective feedback. You need to have empathy and understanding, but command respect. You need to take responsibility, while at the same time giving others the autonomy to grow. The changes can be dizzying and often require an entirely new set of skills.

In the past, new managers often had the luxury of cutting their teeth on traditional collocated teams: groups of people, sitting down the hall from one another, who met up in conference rooms to hash out what they were trying to achieve and how to get there. Unfortunately, today’s increasingly global work environment does not always afford that luxury. Many first-time managers find themselves assigned to a team of subordinates scattered far and wide.

Not long ago, the author worked with a client who was stepping into management for the first time. In this new role, she was responsible for directing a group of bright, but inexperienced marketing professionals (most of whom had been her peers) in producing plans and promotions for a small portfolio of globally sold drugs. This required pulling together market data, financial trends, and competitive information — and then working with medical and regulatory professionals, ad agencies, product managers, and country staff to shape the final plans.

Instead of administrative work and meetings, managers should focus on coaching their employees and on constantly improving quality. To unlock a team’s abilities, a manager at any level must spend a significant amount of time on two activities: helping the team understand the company’s direction and its implications for team members and coaching for performance.

When channeled thoughtfully, anxiety can motivate managers to make teams more resourceful, productive, and creative. It can break down barriers and create new bonds.

The world has seen that people can innovate quickly when they're faced with a major existential crisis like the coronavirus, but how do senior leaders create a sense of urgency for major innovations? Because the truth is that these major change initiatives are urgent and existential; it’s just that they don’t always feel that way. There are three ways leaders can make that sense of urgency more apparent: 1) Engage in small experiments; 2) Set “zesty” goals; and 3) Get personally involved.

Research shows that workers are most energized and committed when they are internally motivated by their own values, sense of enjoyment, and growth. The authors discuss how business leaders can use this approach to keep teams going in times of prolonged crisis, such as the continual uncertainty brought on by Covid-19. Using self-determination theory, or SDT, they outline three tactics to help leaders ignite employees’ internal motivation.

A crisis acutely challenges CIOs’ capabilities to deal with uncertainty, manage emotions, listen to themselves and others, and make decisions in the face of complex paradoxes. CIOs should apply the SIMPLER approach to be better equipped to not only survive, but also to thrive in times of crisis.

The sudden, large-scale shift to remote working has meant leading and managing in new ways. Leaders from McKinsey share insights related to people, organizational structure, processes, and technology.

Traumatized by the pandemic, people feel lost and are rethinking the value of their jobs. Now more than ever, they need their leaders to help them navigate these uncertain times. Leaders can assist them by reaching out to their employees and asking them how they are doing and what do they need. They can help employees discover their own personal purpose. They can encourage employees to reflect on opportunities to recraft their jobs.

Successful executive transitions start with detailed onboarding plans. General managers in transition need to efficiently prepare, assess, plan and execute because the first months on the job are crucial determinants of success.

Landing your first management position can be as daunting as it is exciting. You may feel pressure from superiors to perform well or wonder how you'll best lead your new employees. It's important to take early action to establish your leadership style and set yourself up for success. That's why nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council each shared the most critical thing they believe first-time managers should do within the first 90 days of their new role. Follow their tips to give yourself a head start on your new leadership position.

First impressions are often the best. Once someone arrives at the head of an already established team, the turnover is delicate: the new manager must be careful not to do too much at once and avoid imposing their ideas right away. Safekeeping the existing cohesion in paramount. All this while trying to maintain a certain authority.

As a leader on a new team, you have new challenges ahead that not only pertain to business results but also with building trust and establishing credibility. Your first few months are a great opportunity to make your mark, set yourself up to influence your team, and command respect of other managers in the organization. Using a 30-60-90 day plan breaks up your numerous goals into smaller, actionable, items to be sure your first months as a manager lay the groundwork to make the most impact as a leader.

New managers generally only have one occasion to make a positive first impression. Managers entering into a new team often prepares what they will say; thus, to successfully integrate, the leader must first be ready to put their best self forward when meeting their team.