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Management - The Transistion; Just Moved Into A Management Role?
Just moved into a new role. As with any transition the change can cause anxiety. Skill, practice, motivation, perseverance and time is needed to learn a new skill set.
Management the transition– Just moved into a leadership role? By Rene Sickle
Your first position in management can often be the toughest. You are making the transition, from being a specialist, to being in the position where you have to lead a team. It is a different role to the one that you came from, it requires different skills which you will learn over time. Someone saw in you, the potential to lead and that is why you are in the role. It is new and as with anything new it takes time, practice and training to master the new skill set.
People work for People. You have to understand the weight of your words and the responsibility that you now carry.
One year I received about 20 bunches of flowers from my team and another year I was treated to a birthday party in the boardroom, complete with cake and candles, it took me about and hour to unwrap all of my gifts.
How did this all happen I asked myself? How did I get so lucky to have such a wonderful teams?
It dawned on me that I am the common denominator in my different teams. I really care about what happens to my employees. When I say care for them, I don’t mean that I am soft. I am stern when I need to be and the target has to be achieved but when one of my employees needs me urgently and I have to choose between lunch and helping an employee through a crisis, I never hesitate to cancel the lunch date.
You get the position of first when you put your employee first.
Are you wishing for your circumstances to change? Are you challenged by your first position as a leader?
You can make the transition and be a great manager, a great leader. It is not scientific; it is simple gestures that make the world of difference.
The ambiguity of moving into a management role is challenging, realise that many people are feeling and have felt the anxiety that you are experiencing, you are not alone. It is challenging. That is the reality of any new role.
When you are fresh in a management position remember that you are no longer expected to do the work, you have to supervise and lead people to get it done, you cannot achieve the teams target by yourself, it is a team effort.
One of the biggest challenges is letting go of the temptation to get on with it. If you do take on all of your employees tasks, you might want to rethink your decision, as in time your employees will develop a dependency and will not be able to get on with the tasks at hand and you will be overloaded and not be able complete your own tasks.
To gain the respect required to lead a successful team, as a manager, you need to do your part, you also have a job to do. You job has different responsibilities as your role is different. Share with your team during your weekly or monthly meeting briefly, what you are working on and your progress to date.
If you are challenged with work processes or new ways of working that are not confidential – ask for ideas and support from a colleague or discuss the challenge with your team during your team meeting.
Part of your role is to introduce new ways to do the work, stay innovative, brainstorm with the team, document your discussions, keep a diary, set up a things to do list and action the list as you scheduled.
Time cannot be managed, but you can learn to manage your time. Schedule an hour a week to sit down and do some thinking, reflect on the tasks that you completed and make a list of the tasks that you still need to complete. Write down any new ideas and discuss them with your manager and team. If you all agree implement the new ideas or processes. Monitor the progress.
Schedule regular meetings with your manager, prepare an agenda before hand of what you need to discuss and what you need more clarity on.
Put action into your new role, don’t be bogged down by unnecessary lengthy meetings – schedule half and hour or forty five minutes, try to keep meetings down to under an hour. Understand before the meeting why you are scheduling it and send out an agenda. Only attend meetings when you have value to add. Ask for an agenda from the meeting organiser before you accept a meeting request.
You are going to be great at the role – it might seem challenging and yes, there is much to learn. Remember skill is gained over time and mastered with experience, training, dedication, perseverance and practice.
Take a course in management or read a book on the topic, get a mentor in your company or get a coach, your position requires ongoing development as in any other.
Visit my coaching website at www.renesickle.com or www.coaching-sa.com or call me to schedule a confidential consultation.