New Managers and Small Teams: A Match Made Not Made In Heaven

My team currently has nine people, including myself. That sounds pretty simple, right? After all, exactly how much trouble can nine people create? That's a fair and common assumption. But managing small teams is not as simple as it looks!?

Even in my day-to-day ops, I find myself having a hard time giving enough attention to each side. Things are quite simple for me, as I broadly have two sub-teams, so I can coordinate with two facets in mind. And yet, both are wrestling for more interest and bandwidth to get things done.?

As the manager, ultimately, I also need to ensure that things are communicated well. It means having not-so-pleasant conversations with my team members frequently. The working relationships we have here are much closer than many bigger teams would have, and putting in plenty of time together every day means that we also have blurry personal and professional relationships quite easily. The stakes are higher for the emotions involved in this equation now.?

That's just one thing. That's the context. In case some problem does show up, it's going to impact the whole team way more quickly. Everything is heightened in visibility. A larger proportion of my team is impacted by each movement. So, just like the good vibes, the bad ones catch up a lot more quickly than we'd expect.?

In such scenarios, there are also limited people to work around solutions. Since most of us have roles that span multiple areas, the impacts travel the same way. Personally, I double up as a manager and a coach for my team, which puts me in a unique spot where I obviously want to get things done but also ensure that the people are not harmed in the process. Many managers can give up on the second consideration. Anyone in a long career would have seen that in action.?

This newsletter is not a rant. But it's surely a spotlight on an issue we must care about. The woe isn't mine alone. A lot of users on Risely highlight this challenge. When they are working with small teams, the most commonly experienced challenges are:

• Difficulty in having tough conversations.
• Doing frequent follow-ups with the team.
• Frequently finding themselves doing the team's work.?

In fact, more than 50% of the people managers felt the first one! The answer to all of these lies in the highly interpersonal nature of such small teams. We get increased workloads and closer relationships without much of the support that bigger teams elicit.?

While building our State of Leadership Development Report , we asked an expert about this. Brenda Hooper, who specializes in coaching managers for assertive communication and conflict management, reaffirmed our understanding: "Managers worry about damaging personal relationships or team morale, leading to avoidance or mismanagement of tough topics." She further explained that this hypersensitive context needs more care and delicate treatment.

Sounds good, but that's where everything goes out for a toss.?

Most managers start with a small team. Small teams and new managers thus make a combination set for disaster because neither factor merits support in the eyes of the higher-ups making decisions. Leadership development plans , coaching and mentoring opportunities, or even the support group of peers are non-existent at this level, because why can't our brilliant IC tackle this just like that big coding challenge??

It's no surprise that the new generation shies away from management roles because this is a setup designed for failure. As one of the most under-supported people, new managers certainly have much to raise their voices for. But of course, professional growth matters more, and which one of us has not tried to shake up the world in a new job role? Winging it is then the lone way out.?

Can we change this??

Let's try. It needs a few simple things:

• A senior leader as a coach. Consider executive learning options if you don't have one on the team.
• Someone to hand-hold when problems start to show up for our new managers.
• Intention matters the most. We can overlook the impact, but let's focus here if we care about things running well and long.