First-Time Managers Success Guide: 15 Essential Tips Uncovered!

It can be a real challenge to go from being a great individual contributor to a manager who must continue to do the work themselves and now lead others as well. It's a defining moment in your career. For many, this is where you get to prove that you can rise to the challenge. For some, it's incredibly rewarding and energizing. For others, it can be stressful and demoralizing. The good news is, if you're a new manager or about to become a manager for the first time, then you've come to the right place because this video will set you on the path to absolutely knock it out of the park. Hi, my name is Raph. Welcome to Riser, where my mission is to help you go further, faster in your career. Let's begin with a few quick facts. 87% is the proportion of managers who wish they had received more training as a first-time manager, according to a study conducted by the firm Grovo. This aligns with a report from Forbes that said 98% of managers feel they need more management training, and consulting firm Deloitte reports that 90% of companies have an urgent challenge in developing strong leaders. So, chances are, even if your company acknowledges that there's a need, there's a very high probability that you won't receive the management training you need or deserve. In fact, the average manager goes 10 years, that's 10 years into their career, without any formal management training. And I can tell you from my own personal experience, having managed hundreds of people, including managers and managers of managers, that unless you're lucky enough to have your boss show you the ropes and coach you, you're likely not to get any guidance on how to become an effective leader. And it's a real shame, because time and time again I've seen the most amazing individual contributors who are incredibly talented absolutely crash and burn when they're promoted into management. In all probability, you were promoted into management precisely because you did a great job as an individual contributor. But being a manager is a completely different animal. Now, you'll have to manage a group of individual contributors, and this is a far more complex arrangement. It requires a combination of new skills and experiences. It's a very long list. And at the end of that long list, importantly, you'll need to look after your own well-being. Combine this with that lack of training, and this is the challenge that you're probably facing as a first-time manager. Now, there'll be many videos to come on this topic, but I've designed this particular episode to cover the basics, to really kickstart your management journey. And I've broken it up into three parts. Five tips that are more focused around what you need to do as a new manager, five tips that are focused around your team and what they need, and the final five tips are general tips like power tips. So here are my top 15 tips, starting with the ones focused on you as a new manager. Number one, leave your old job behind. If you've been promoted, there might still be things to finish off in your old role. Your company might not even have replaced your old role yet. Also, stakeholders might still be coming to you for advice or guidance, especially if you're a subject matter expert. And worst case, they might still be asking to do special favours, all of which will take time and focus away from what you're supposed to be doing now. So, as soon as you're in the new role, you need to create a separation between what you used to do and what you do now, so that you can focus 100% of your effort on your new role as soon as possible. Now, leaving your old role behind also means dealing with changes in relationships. If you were someone's peer or even their friend, and you're now their boss, you'll need to ensure that doesn't influence your business decisions or it'll undermine your authority with the rest of your team. If the way you treat them at work is different to the rest of the team, it can give the impression that you're playing favourites, and this will quickly lose the respect and trust of your people. Tip number two, become super clear on your role and your deliverables, as well as the deliverables of your team. What are the expected outcomes? How will your performance be judged? Clarify what aspects of the role are going to really drive your results the most, and make those ones your top priorities. Make sure that you're 100% aligned with your manager on all of this, and make sure that you have regular one-on-ones with your manager, so that you can continue to be aligned, and also so that they can help you navigate various challenges that come up. Just as you need to be clear on your own role and your own deliverables, you'll need to do the same with your team, and you'll need to assure that their priorities also align with yours. And also make sure that you connect with your stakeholders, that includes your fellow managers in other areas, and understand and agree on both their expectations of you and your team, and your expectations of them and their team. Tip number three, is to understand your key processes, and how success is measured across these processes. It's extremely important to understand not only what your team does, but also how they do it, just at a high level to start with. You'll need to firstly understand what happens upstream of your team, all the places they get their work from, and how the work is received by them so that they can action it. When your team receives their work, who does what, and how do they do it? And then, as a result of the work that they performed, how does it make it to the next step of the process downstream from your team? If you're unsure where to start, then I suggest checking out my previous video on the SIPOC method for drawing a simple process overview. Now in terms of measuring success, become very familiar with any metrics and service level agreements that are already in place, and find out if your boss is happy with the current results. Importantly, are they expecting something different from you? And finally, don't ignore risks or compliance issues. Get on top of these as soon as possible, and stay on top of them. Always make these ones a priority. As a manager, you'll need to be a reliable, safe pair of hands. Tip number four, improve your effectiveness. As a new manager, you're going to wish you had more time. Lots more time. So, get to understand the basics of time management. For more on this, you can watch my video on the Eisenhower matrix, which is a simple and effective time management tool I've been using for many years now. Secondly, bring structure to what you do. Get organized, plan things out, and break problems down. At the very least, have a to-do list and get in the habit of prioritizing your work and the work of your team, and finishing work off. Don't underestimate the power of small, regular accomplishments. Not only do they add up pretty quickly, but getting runs on the board will give you instant credibility, and it'll also energize your team. Personally, I prioritize my own work based on impact and effort. Another link down below for you to check out. And the third part of this is to improve your communication. Be clear and specific, using simple language. Choose a format and tool to best fit each of the messages that come from you. Make sure that you're including all the relevant stakeholders, and listen. Always get feedback to make sure the message is well understood. Tip number five as a first-time manager is to establish your authority as a manager. Just because your title is now manager doesn't automatically mean that your team's going to respect and trust you as their leader. You're going to need to earn this. Firstly, your people are looking to you. You're the guiding light. They get their cues from you, and they'll feed off your energy. So be very aware of how you're being perceived by them at all times. If you're cool, calm, and collected under pressure, then you'll come across as resilient and strong. If your behavior is negative, and you're being panicky, micromanaging, and you're short-tempered, it'll probably do the opposite and undermine your authority. Secondly, don't feel the need to over-explain yourself. Something that new managers often do. They can actually make you look indecisive and undermine your authority. Be comfortable allowing people the time to digest what you're saying, even if that means remaining silent while they absorb new information. Silence can be quite powerful, so don't be afraid to embrace it and use it to your advantage. And thirdly, this one's actually the most important of all, get to know your team. In fact, this one's important enough to be a whole new tip. So tip number six, and the first of the five tips focused around your team, is get to know your team. If you're new to the team or to the organization, then don't forget to introduce yourself. Just remember to keep it simple and light. Secondly, interact with your team in different ways. You've got your formal settings like meetings, but also don't forget to mix it up by popping by their desks or checking in with them on chat or video call. Just have everyday conversations and really get to know them, which will help create trust between you. Thirdly, have regular one-on-one meetings with your team. The purpose of one-on-ones is to build empathy, to give feedback, coach and guide, and also to gather feedback. For your team member, it's their opportunity to be seen and heard, and it's an opportunity for you to clarify your expectations of them, to reinforce habits and behaviors, and address any issues or opportunities as they come up. Okay, on to tip number seven, observe your team. This is all about something called team dynamics. Now this one might be a new concept for you, but it's about how your team thinks and behaves as a group of individuals and how they interact with and influence each other. It's a really important aspect of being a manager, because it'll give you insight into what makes them tick and how you can help them perform even better as a team. When you start observing your team, you'll start to become aware of things you probably never even really noticed before, such as how the team communicates with each other, how they handle different situations and how they behave under pressure, how they go about solving problems as a team, if there's a strong team culture or any noticeable team culture at all, how they behave towards one another, do they help each other, do they motivate each other, do they blame each other for their own mistakes? Are they highly competitive? Do they seem to care about each other enough to step in and help when problems come up? What seems to be influencing their behavior and decisions? Is it fear? Pride? Are the team members? Is there someone they all look up to or an in-group or a group of high performers that sets the tone? These are just a few random examples, but just like the coach of a sports team, you'll find there are lots of clues and interesting insights when you start to look at your team in this way. Tip number eight, communicate your expectations. Firstly, be clear and structured and make sure that your team knows exactly what's expected of them and what they can expect of you. There are proven links between setting expectations and improvements in employee engagement, in productivity and retention. In other words, the clearer you are, the more likely your people will be happy contributors who stick around longer. Secondly, remember to communicate the reason behind those expectations, the why that I've talked about before. Give your people a reason to care. And in order to do that, you might need to find your why as well. And thirdly, inspect what you expect. It means checking in to see how things are going. And if your expectations are being met, it doesn't mean micromanaging. This is not about micromanaging. This is about checking in with your people to make sure they're on track and supported without waiting until there's an issue or a missed deadline. It's actually about supporting your people to achieve what they're supposed to be achieving. So inspect what you expect. Tip number nine is something that's not talked about very much, but I really think it should be. It's about using leverage. Leverage is all about making the most impact you can with a limited time that you have. You're leveraging your time and your expertise to make the biggest difference that you can. You can start by prioritizing your deliverables and your tasks. As I mentioned earlier, I do this based on the amount of effort required versus the expected impact that they're going to have. Combine this with that time management tool that I mentioned earlier called the Eisenhower matrix, and you'll start seeing some big differences. In these two videos, I talk about some specific things that you can do to leverage your time better. My top three are probably doing time blocking, setting aside time in your diary to do the things that you should be doing, which takes your intention to do something and brings it to life by committing actual time to do it. Secondly, learning to say no to tasks that don't add value, such as initiatives that are high effort and low impact. Why would you spend time on those? And tasks that are neither urgent nor important. Why would you spend time on those? And thirdly, learning to delegate really, really well. This one can actually be tricky for a first time manager because this means letting go, placing trust in your people and empowering them to contribute. But if you nail these three aspects, time management, prioritization, and delegating, you'll experience the awesome power of leverage and how one person, you, can make a huge difference within a normal working day. And tip number 10 is start to learn about the art of leadership. As a manager, you really should feel a great sense of responsibility. You have the power to literally change things for the better and the worse, including your people. Yep, you're now amongst other things in the changing lives business. Leadership is a set of skills and experiences attained over a lifetime. I'm still learning every single day. This is the mother of all topics. So where do you start? Well, firstly, try to understand what kind of leader you are. What is your natural leadership style? And how can you explore the advantages of that style and also be aware of the potential pitfalls that come along with it? In addition, especially as a first-time manager, I think it's really important to get to know how to act and react in different circumstances, at least to have a framework that you can refer to. And I highly recommend looking into something called situational leadership. I think it'll make you go much further, much faster as a first-time manager. And it's something that I personally practice. So check out situational leadership. I think it'll help you a lot. On to tip number 11. My advice is not to make any big changes to your team or to their processes until you really have a good handle on things and until you're well settled into the role. Why? Because this will all take time. You have time. But if you screw up anything that's working well, that's a less than ideal way to start your life as a manager. Tip number 12. Don't speak badly about the previous manager, the person who was in the job before you, even if they've done a really, really crappy job and left things in a mess for everyone. Even if your own team and other managers are openly talking badly about them, my advice is to lead with strength and confidence in the knowledge that you'll make your own mark and you'll prove whatever needs to be proven. Number 13. Don't become an a-hole. I'm not saying that you are an a-hole or anything like that, but just be very conscious of your position and how your behavior and actions might be perceived because perception is very much reality, especially for those that you lead. Just be aware that we often will react differently to our normal selves when we're put under a bit of pressure and you'll be under a bit of pressure. So don't forget to treat others how you'd like to be treated at all times. And just in case it ever enters your head that you'll need to become an a-hole to succeed as a manager, and I only mention this because I've known people who believe this to be true, spoiler alert, you don't. And while you're busy not being an a-hole, tip number 14 is remember to have fun. Enjoy the journey. And that also means making work more enjoyable for your team. If your team enjoys their time at work, it'll energize them and they'll back you when the chips are down. It doesn't mean just letting them do whatever they want and it's not even necessarily about doing fun things, but put some effort into making everyday work more enjoyable, even if it's just little things, and your team will really appreciate you for it. And following on from this, the last tip, tip number 15 is look after yourself. If you're feeling overwhelmed at any point, take a breath. It's okay, you have plenty of time. As I mentioned before, this one's more of a marathon than a sprint. It really is a lifelong journey. So look after yourself. Don't let a job draw you away from the positive things in your life, whether that's nutrition or exercise, your relationships, sleep, an activity that's important to you, or anything else that's important for your well-being because you'll end up in a vicious cycle. Look after yourself so that you can look after your team. 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