Congratulations!!! If you recently got Promoted.

Congratulations! If you recently got promoted – I am sure, you would have achieved excellence in your current role and that is when you were given this new role. But mind you, a great individual contributor does not necessarily mean a great supervisor/manager.

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Here are some quick tips to make your journey a bit easier as a manager.

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Prepare yourself for a new Role (Know your boss's expectations of you)

• Talk to your boss about what qualities made you eligible to get promoted and What are his/her expectations from you in your new role.
• What should be priorities for you according to him/her
• Which decision making can you own by yourself and ?for which ones does your manager need to be consulted/involved

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Be clear on your requests with your team members

• Try to make communications clear on your requests - What, Why, and When.
• Take confirmation on their understanding by making them speak on what have they understood
• Document it for a quick read or missing participants

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Get to know your team

• Don’t rely only on your data/facts or figures.
• Take out time to have a discussion with them and understand what drives them to do what they are doing in their current role and what can drive them to do better than what they are doing
• Don’t judge or evaluate people during the first few weeks

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Find a Mentor

• It is extremely important that you find a mentor who has already been in the managerial role for quite some time.
• Don’t be shy to consult and learn from people around you.

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Lead by Example

• Be an employee you want your team to be
• Guide, coach, and help your team members do their jobs better, but do not spoon-feed in the attempt of being the supervisor who is favorite of all.
• Spread positivity- Your communication about challenges with work, people or client/company should be positive. Now you are in a leadership role and you should be looked upon for your problem-solving skills. If you start accepting the problems and learn to live with them – Your team would stop reaching out to you for problems they face.

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Be approachable / Listen in such a way that your employees would love to talk to you

• Often people feel afraid of or intimidated by management. Make sure you create an environment where your staff can come and talk to you about sensitive issues, work difficulties, or personal/professional challenges they are facing.

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Time management

• A managerial role doesn’t mean ONLY managing your people but there are certain tasks for which you are solely responsible too. So manage your days accordingly
• Things that work for me are – Power Hours or DND hours during the day (preferably mornings) when I don’t make myself available for any meetings or discussions. I spend that time completing my planned priorities so that during the rest of the day I am available to take on unplanned events / actionable that come my way.
• You may find a plan which suits you the best. The only tip is – Do IMPORTANT things in a planned way before they become URGENT.

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In addition to above, there are some self-explanatory ground rules which are important not only for first-time managers but everyone in a managerial roles.

• Success belongs to a team, failure belongs to a leader
• Appreciate in public, criticize in private
• Treat everyone respectfully.

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Good Luck! Happy Working to all of you!