TRANSITION TO A NEW ROLE IS A 3 STEP PROCESS

The corporate world is full of surprises and promotions are among the most exciting yet challenging moments. The six major transitions in any organization include becoming.

• The manager of employees,
• Managers of managers,
• General managers,
• Managers of functions,
• Group managers, and
• The Enterprise managers.

Unfortunately, many organizations fail to groom employees for the next role, leaving newly promoted leaders struggling to balance short-term and long-term objectives. In such cases, the new manager tends to cling to their old skill sets, which may not be relevant to their new position.

Newly promoted leaders often struggle to balance short-term demands with long-term goals. They tend to cling to their old skill sets, which may not be suitable for their new role. This can lead to micromanagement, operational outlooks, favoritism, and an inability to delegate.

• The individual contributor keeps comparing his work with his team and is not able to delegate.
• The manager of managers keeps micromanaging and is not able to develop the managers
• The journal manager keeps the operational outlook rather than understanding deep budgeting aspect of business
• The group manager keeps favoring the function from which he has come up.

Therefore, new managers need to follow a three-step process to help them quickly adapt to their new roles.

1. Understand the new requirements - The first step is to understand the requirements of the new role, the necessary skill sets, and the challenges that come with it. New managers can seek help from three sources: their boss, their team, and their customers. The boss can help the newly promoted manager understand their key result areas (KRAs) and key performance indicators (KPIs), as well as the skill sets required to achieve them. The team can provide insights into work culture, productivity, and individual aspirations, while customers can offer expectations and collaboration requirements.
2. Making & Executing a Transition Plan - After understanding the requirements, the new manager should make and execute a transition plan. They should maintain continuity by creating an operational plan to ensure short-term deliverables are met, bring in changes, and create long-term plans. The newly promoted leader should pay attention to their relationships with key stakeholders, such as team members and supervisors, and seek their approval before implementing changes.
3. Seeking feedback and Adjusting - Lastly, seeking feedback and making adjustments is crucial to the success of the new manager. They should seek feedback from their supervisor, team, and customers about their behavior and the new processes put in place. Feedback from the team should be about the manager's working style and delegation of work, while feedback from the supervisor should focus on their people skills and delivery of business results. Feedback from customers should be about the quality of work and relationships outside the team.

Transitioning into a new role requires a new mindset, a new set of skills, and new work relationships. Newly promoted managers should follow this process to maintain continuity, get the buy-in of the team and supervisor, and make changes that align with the new role's objectives. With time and experience, they can adjust and excel in their new role.

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