You’ve just got promoted to the role of manager, and now you have the huge responsibility to lead your entire team. You went from worker bee to top dog, and while you may have been working toward this goal for some time, it’s still uncharted waters for you.
Your coworkers have now transitioned into the role of your employees. Naturally, as a first-time manager, you will make some mistakes, but hopefully, we can help you avoid the most common ones.
Avoiding the Elephant in the Room
There’s a clear shift in power and a new dynamic in your work environment now that you have become the manager. Don’t avoid addressing this new change in management. You are bound to deviate from the old leadership tactics, and you don’t want any surprises or pushback when you do so.
Have a staff meeting with your team to discuss the new change and be transparent with them. Let them know how you’re feeling going into this role, and let them know they can come to you with any concerns. Take the open-door policy one step further and have one-on-one meetings with everyone so that you can feel them out and vice versa.
Not Delegating Task
Maybe you work better keeping to yourself, and you try to bring that strategy over into your role as a manager. While this may have been a good strategy when you were an employee, it won’t do as an employer.
You need to trust your team enough to delegate tasks to them, and this means you need to work on cultivating good relationships with everyone. Make it clear that you all work on the same team, so you want them to feel comfortable trusting you and vice versa.
Let someone else take the reins. Even giving control over time tracking software to help you when it comes time to manage your employees’ schedules will help relieve some pressure and help you avoid making mistakes.
Trying to do everything yourself won’t make you a master at the role. You’ll burn yourself out, and then things will fall through the cracks. Great leaders know when it’s time to ask for and get help.
Being Too Eager To Please
Don’t be a people pleaser. This may sound harsh, but it’s the truth. You can’t make everyone happy. That is an impossible goal, and you’ll stress yourself out trying to ensure that everyone likes you all the time. For your business to run smoothly, people will have to compromise on some things.
Compromise and change don’t always go over well, but it’s necessary for success to thrive. Don’t shy away from being firm with your team. First-time managers tend to say “yes” a lot. Try not to fall victim to this and focus on the success of the company and the individuals.
Becoming a first-time manager is unknown territory. You are bound to make some mistakes as you get settled into the role, but don’t let the common ones discourage you.