First-Time Managers Start Here

Building a Solid Foundation for New and Aspiring Managers

Donna Aldrich

• Publisher: Aldrich Coaching
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9780578671178
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Management
• Index: Business

First-Time Managers Start Here is where new and aspiring managers begin.

In our fast-paced work life, companies don’t spend the time to cultivate and grow new managers. Often, they expect managers to know what to do, which leaves you with the question:

“Where do I begin?”

Ask yourself: How do you approach your first week in management? How do you hire the best employees for your team? What approach do you take for meetings so people actually want to be there? How do you have a difficult conversation with a problem employee?

This book will answer all those questions and provide you the blueprint you need to be successful in your first management position.

- CHAPTER ONE -

Your First Week

This chapter will give you some concrete steps that will allow you and your team to get to know each other. Employees want to know what to expect from you, and your openness and willingness to make your team a priority will create positive momentum for you as the manager and will spill into all aspects of your work for years to come.

So let’s get right into it!

The First Meeting: Introduction to the Team

You’re the new manager and you want to hit the ground running. It is important to begin positively in your new role. This is true whether you are new to the company or coming to the role as an internal employee. I recommend you have an introductory meeting early on after you have been announced to the team. This will signify your desire to have a great beginning, and it will build rapport.

I am not a fan of “winging it” so don’t go into this introductory meeting unprepared and without practice. Being prepared will help you answer questions that come up as a part of the natural dialogue in the room.

So, what do you want to know about your new team? What do you want them to know about you? If you have a Human Resource business partner, she can be quite instrumental in assisting you with this. She can reach out to the team and ask them what they want to know, then provide you with a list of questions to address during your meeting.

If there is no HR business partner, this is something you can do yourself. Send an email or memo to your team asking them the types of questions they have for you. You can say something like:

“I want to make this meeting meaningful for all of you by answering your most pressing questions. As a manager, I value your input. I plan on talking about the following (see examples below). Please let me know what other topics you might like me to include.”

Some Examples of Topics You May Include:

• Your values
• Your management style (or how you would like to manage)
• How you like to work
• How decisions will be made
• How important fairness is in evaluating employees, especially if you were a peer and now the manager. (At some point, you may need to address favoritism and how to avoid it, especially if you were more friendly with some in the department and not so much with others. This does not have to be an obstacle if you behave in a way that is fair and professional.)
• Your communication style
• Your experience (if new or transferring into the team)
• Your subject matter expertise
• Your role as advocate for the team
• Your interests and hobbies
• Your family

This is not an exhaustive list, but it is a great start. Keep in mind, how much you share from a personal perspective is unique to you. However, let them know the total you. Paint a total picture, not just the picture of you at work.

Be authentic.

For me authenticity means showing up and behaving in a way in which my actions match my values. For example, if I say communication is important yet I keep things close to the vest, is that being authentic?

However, be cautious about sharing everything at the onset. If you are going through an embattled divorce and you are looking to gain custody of your three children, that’s too much to share in the beginning. But, as you come to know the team and they you, you may want to share your personal story with them, especially if you need to be away from the office or you are distracted in any way. Basically, your employees want to know who you are, what’s important to you, and what impact you are going to have on them as their manager. Trust at the beginning is very important.

Just remember (and I can’t stress this enough):

Whatever you are communicating to the team, ensure that is who you are. Ensure your values and your actions are aligned.

Nothing will hurt your reputation and erode trust more if what you’re saying and how you’re behaving are not aligned. I have witnessed this time and again where the leader’s credibility is lost as a result of not being who they say they are.

I used to work with a manager that would sit in management meetings and talk about the importance of developing his employees, especially when our boss was in the room. In reality, he did not find the time to meet with his employees nor did he ever talk about their development or career aspirations. After a period, the employees knew he could not be counted on to help them move their careers forward.

People may not notice at first. However, as your time as a manager goes from weeks to months, your employees will be very perceptive and good at assessing this pretty quickly.

What do you want to know about your employees?

Just as important as sharing your perspectives with the team is being interested in what the team has to say. As the meeting ensues and your employees begin to share their experiences, struggles, and concerns, it is important to listen for clarity and to refrain from judgement. If you are transferring into the role you may have heard things, and if you are coming from the outside, you don’t know enough to judge. There will be plenty of time to talk one-on-one with the team, but for now your job is to listen.

An icebreaker may be a great way for you to get to know a bit more about the team. You’ll even find that teammates will be surprised at what they find out about each other.

Some examples of ice breakers that could reveal more are:

1. If you could visit any place in the world, where would you choose to go and why?
2. If money, talent, and education weren’t an issue, what would your dream job be?
3. What’s the best advice you have ever received?

Once people are feeling more relaxed, you can ask questions to the team as a whole. For example:

1. What does the team enjoy doing together?
2. What is the most success this team has had?
3. How does the team work together?
4. How much support does the team need to be successful? Is this a new team or a fairly mature team?
5. How have you been rewarded as a team before? Has it been effective?
6. What are the top three challenges that face the team today?

Again, this is not an exhaustive list, but these questions will reveal information on how the team works together, what is important to them, and what challenges they face. Remember that you do not have to solve anyone’s problems in this meeting. Your job is to listen and take stock of what all this means, because as you gain more information, the workplace environment will become clearer to you. If you and the team feel comfortable with someone taking meeting notes, it could be valuable and make listening a bit easier for you. This is definitely a personal decision.

Involving Everyone

During this meeting, one of the observations that you’ll make is who is doing most of the talking. If you are hearing from only a few of the more assertive extroverts, ensure you have a plan for getting everyone’s feedback. Introverts typically need time to think and process when asked questions versus thinking on the spot.

One way to address this is to provide the team with the list of questions you have ahead of time. This gives the introverted employees an opportunity to reflect and think about what they would like to contribute. You still may not get everyone to speak up, but in your role of manager, you can use this opportunity to encourage them to participate. Let them know you are really interested in their contribution to the discussion.

Because you are new, people may not feel as comfortable sharing in the group. Don’t worry about this. This is your first of many meetings with your team, and an opportunity to create a two-way communication plan. When I say communication plan, I mean a schedule of regular calls/meetings/formats that I will continue to discuss throughout this book.

Are you Managing a Remote Team?

If you have a virtual team, it is critical that everyone is included. This is especially true if your team consists of employees both present with you in-office and employees who are remotely located.

I have heard and experienced this numerous times. The remote team will feel slighted if you don’t spend the time to make them feel included, so ensure you are talking to and hearing from everyone in the meeting. This may be difficult due to time-zone differences but find a way to make the meeting as inclusive as possible.

A good best practice is to have each person use a video camera. For some larger companies, they have telepresence rooms and I encourage using those rooms for this type of meeting as much as possible. Let’s face it—in our world of business and busyness, without a video presence, multitasking occurs. If you do not have the full attention of the team, things will be missed from both perspectives. Productivity and communication will be negatively impacted, especially if items have to be repeated or actions are missed.

Meeting with Employees One-on-One

Soon after your introduction to the team, it will be important to individually meet with all of the people who report to you. This will give you an opportunity to get to know them better and understand some of those topics that did not get discussed during your introduction meeting.

Everything may seem very transparent at your first team meeting, but in my experience that is not usually the case. There are typically items that people want to discuss in private. I have seen this happen most often when there is some sort of conflict between two employees, because the one employee doesn’t want to air that in front of the group but wants the manager to know about it.

Instead of the traditional one-on-one, in the first week I suggest you do a “getting to know each other” meeting with each employee, especially if you are still feeling your way around your new job. You need to make that decision based on your individual situation (new to the company, new to the team but a company insider, or a previous team member), and whether you need more time to assess what is expected in your role. Trust your instincts and, if you are unsure, get some feedback from your manager or your peers.

During this initial “getting to know each other” meeting, you are trying to understand:

• Their role in the company
• Their background
• Whether they like their job
• How long they’ve been working in this role
• What motivates them to come to work each day
• What kind of recognition is meaningful to them

Additionally, the employee might share personal information about what they do outside of work, and they may even share their career aspirations. At its core, this initial one-on-one is a conversation that will serve as a catalyst to build individual relationships with those on your team.

When you have done this with all of your team members, you still will not have all the information you need. However, you will have started to build a foundation of understanding and you will learn how your team works with each other in order to get the work done.

After this initial one-on-one, following meetings will be for discussing goals and objectives. These are what I call the traditional one-on-ones, and you should continue these meetings throughout your time in mana...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER 1: YOUR FIRST WEEK
• Chapter 2: GETTING STARTED WITH YOUR NEW BOSS
• Chapter 3: MANAGING PEOPLE
• CHAPTER 4: INSPIRING & MOTIVATING YOUR TEAM
• CHAPTER 5: HIRING
• CHAPTER 6: DEVELOPING PEOPLE
• Chapter 7: COMMUNICATION
• CHAPTER 8: MEETINGS
• CONCLUSION
• APPENDIX/RESOURCES
• INTERVIEW QUESTIONS