Success Tips for New Managers

Climbing a management ladder is indeed a great achievement in one's career. It definitely signifies the fact that you are a talented individual, better skilled than your peers. However, the story begins only after you have assumed your managerial duties. Few days into this new role and people sure realize what a tightrope walk it is! While there is no sure shot formula that assures success with immediate effect, you can definitely implement these tips to stay afloat while you devise your own strategies to succeed in this role. 

Seek Guidance from Your Boss   

If you are lucky to have a mentor at work, then go ahead and make the most of this opportunity. If not, you can still rely on your immediate boss to offer you support and guidance. Understand your role thoroughly, so that you can devise your plan of action accordingly. Miscommunication or ambiguity at this very first stage can be detrimental to your role as a manager.

Know Your Team

As you are going to be working closely with your team, it sure makes sense to understand their strengths and weaknesses. A few of its members could be your former peers. Chances are, some of them may not like reporting to you and may resist in every possible way. Hence, it is important to know every member's agenda. 

Know Your Own Role

Now this one is tricky! While some managers let the new role go into their heads, a few others may struggle with their first encounter with a power position. So, what is the correct way to approach this new role? A better approach is to let your actions speak rather than your words. Exude confidence and motivate your employees. While it is certainly not a good idea to reprimand employees for every small error that they commit, there is definitely no harm in giving them a strong but constructive feedback when things are going wrong. 

Perform

It is a misconception that managers only need to monitor and evaluate the performance of their employees. Remember, it was your competency and performance that helped you bag the position of a manager in the first place. So, always be on your toes to perform even better and never let complacency seep in. Your employees are going to emulate your behavior, so it is best to set an ideal example for them to follow.     

Be Ready to Get Scrutinized

A manager is subjected to scrutiny all the time. Your smallest of errors are going to be amplified and talked about. So be prepared to take any criticism that is bound to come your way. You may not be able to motivate every employee to accept your leadership, hence be prepared to let go of the ones who refuse to accept your positive guidance and spread negativity/hostility in your team. -. However, do not commit the biggest mistake of favouring some employees over others. This can cause a rift in your team and lead to diminishing performance. 

Devise Your Own Strategy

Your predecessor may have their own way of getting things done and your team may have gotten used to it. When you try to implement your own management theories and practices, you may counter some resistance. However, instead of immediately sending the rebelling employees to a change management training program, it definitely makes sense to encourage and involve them in the decision making process. This way they are bound to be cooperative as they themselves are a part of it. 

Train and Delegate

It is tempting for you as a new manager to keep doing the things that earned you a promotion. However one must remember that post your managerial promotion not only yours but your team’s performance becomes your most important responsibility. Hence avoid the temptation of doing your subordinates tasks because you believe you can do those better than them and must continue to do those to boost your team’s performance. Instead selflessly teach your best skills /work methods to all your employees and get out of their way to give them a space to develop. Finally a competent, motivated and high performing team will be taken as a strong indicator of your managerial capabilities.

The most important thing while you are fulfilling your managerial duties is not to waver from the organizational goals and objectives. All your efforts should be aligned with your company's mission and vision.