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5 Ways to Ensure a New Manager Succeeds

By Conor McMahon - Dec. 18, 2022
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Whether you hire externally or internally, managers need effective training, regular communication and the ability to take control. New managers promoted from within the company often face the biggest struggles, as they adjust from being a team player to being a leader.

They now have to manage friends and colleagues — and finding the balance between friend and manager can be a tough challenge. A new manager hired externally may have all the skills required for the role, but managing a new group of people in a new organization can be challenging.

No matter who your new manager is, being positive and motivating them will be a key part of their success. New managers will often be eager to thrive at work, but encouragement from senior management and the company will help immensely.

In order for your new manager to achieve great things, follow these five simple steps. If you do these, your new manager will have every chance to flourish in the workplace.

Key Takeaways:

  • Having regular and open communication is vital for a new manager because communication is key to a teams success.

  • Giving the new manager a mentor will help them establish a relationship and gain experience from someone who has been at the company for years.

  • Allow the manager to take control while still monitoring them because it allows them to settle into their new role while still in training.

5 Ways to Ensure a new Manager Succeeds

5 Ways to Ensure a New Manager Succeeds

  1. Regular communication is key. Good communication is vital for your new manager. In an age where more teams are working remotely, quality communication is more important than ever to ensure the success of managers, teams and the company as a whole. In a traditional office, where everyone is working together during the same hours, you’re able to observe the new manager, have quick and casual chats and offer support and encouragement easily. This won’t be the case if you’re working remotely some or most of the time.

    People are busy, but, building a regular, short, phone or face to face meeting with your new manager, at least weekly, will have three really powerful results.

    • Firstly, it will give you a regular time to check in, build a relationship and rapport, set goals and expectations, and find out about any challenging situations before they become problems.

    • Secondly, it gives you the opportunity to give feedback on your manager’s performance more or less in real time. This form of continuous performance management is becoming increasingly popular. It’s an effective way to open up an honest dialogue with managers and find the root cause of issues as soon as possible, rather than bottling anything up until an annual performance review.

      Over 60% of managers and office workers feel annual performance reviews are outdated. Bringing performance management into your day to day management tasks with frequent feedback is more productive and can lead to happier employees.

    • Finally, you’ll be modelling the kind of management conversations you’d like your new manager to be having with his or her own team. New managers will learn from your example and do the same with their own team members.

  2. Educate managers and develop their skills. New managers need effective training in order to succeed and do the best job possible. 98% of managers feel they need more training

in areas such as professional development, conflict resolution and time management.

Any training you do provide should be relevant and practical. Every manager needs certain fundamental skills, such as delegating, giving feedback, and motivating others.  As sectors and industries work differently, look at the management training which will be suited to your manager. They may find that the methods they relied on in their previous roles don’t work as well with their new team, so explore ways for them to extend their range of practical management techniques.

Which skills do they need to develop in order to succeed?  You really can’t make it as a manager without a few fundamental skills. Encourage your manager to think about what he or she would like to work on and look for a training company which can provide the essential skills and knowledge they will need to do their job effectively.

  • Assign a mentor to the manager. A mentor is an ideal way for a new leader to feel supported in their role. Mentoring is a technique many businesses have used for years — and with good reason. Richard Branson classes a mentor as an “invaluable asset in business.”

    For the new manager, it establishes a relationship with somebody who has been at the company for a longer amount of time and will know the ins and outs. It can be a great feeling to know that there is somebody they can go to for guidance. Often, the mentor is somebody who has more experience been in their position before, putting them in the position to offer first-hand advice. A mentor plays a key role in developing a manager and can help lead to their success within the company.

    Finding a mentor who is enthusiastic to teach is important. Many mentors feel complimented and rewarded by being asked to be a mentor for a new manager. The Journal of Vocational Behavior discovered that those who are asked to be a mentor felt more committed to the company and felt higher job satisfaction. Being offered a mentoring position allows an employee to share their knowledge and wisdom, alongside feeling respected by the company.

  • Allow a new manager to take control. It can be nerve-wracking watching a new manager take control. If you are the person that hired them, you want them to succeed and show they were the right candidate for the position. Offering help and making them feel supported is important. However, you also want to ensure they can work independently and take the initiative. It can be difficult, but finding the balance between supporting and being overprotective is something you should constantly monitor.

    Being a manager means they will be faced with different challenges. Allowing the manager to take control demonstrates to their team that they are competent and have the full trust of the company to do the job. Having this level of accountability can instill confidence in the new manager, but it’s fundamental to communicate exactly what they are accountable for and what their role entails.

  • Provide resources and HR knowledge In a recent survey, 25% of managers said one of their biggest concerns was dealing with issues between co-workers. A matter such as this can be tricky, but it needs to be resolved. Arranging a meeting for HR and a new manager is crucial.

    HR is an excellent resource of information and will have established policies for dealing with issues such as poor performance and conflicts between employees. Make sure your new manager has access to this information and clear expectations about what to handle on his/her own, and when to refer an issue to HR.

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    Helping New Managers Succeed FAQ

    1. What makes a good new manager?

      As a new manager, should should be open to learning from your employees and accept help from them. You won’t know everything about how everything operates and how the employees like to be managed. It’s important to allow your employees to teach you things, and doing so will help them feel valued that you go to them for that information.

    2. What are qualities of a good manager?

      Some qualities to have to make a good manager include:

      • Practicing open communication

      • Establishing and maintaining trust

      • Supporting employees and their career development

      • The ability to give feedback as well as receive it

    3. What are four basic skills needed to be a manager?

      Four basic skills every manager should have are planning, leading, controlling, and organizing skills. Good managers should be able to plan and strategize to achieve goals. They also need to be able to inspire and lead a team to help achieve those goals.

      Having good controlling skills means being able to monitor projects and establish a standard of performance for your team. Managers should also have good organization skills to be able to keep track of all the ongoing projects and where everyone is at with achieving the goal.

    4. How can you help a new manager succeed?

      To help new managers succeed, you should have open and regular communication. Communication is so important with new managers because it allows them to ask any questions and give regular check-ins to offer feedback. Having open communication both ways gives everyone a chance to succeed.

    Final Thoughts

    There are a variety of practical and insightful books for new managers and leaders. You might consider providing your own library of recommended reading for managers so they’ve got easy access to fresh ideas that will help them succeed.
    Remember how you felt when becoming a manager for the first time, or taking on a managerial position within a new company. It can feel overwhelming. A combination of encouragement, support and quality training means that your new recruit will be given every opportunity to become an outstanding manager.

    Author

    Conor McMahon

    Conor McMahon is a writer for Zippia, with previous experience in the nonprofit, customer service, and technical support industries. He has a degree in Music Industry from Northeastern University and in his free time he plays guitar with his friends. Conor enjoys creative writing between his work doing professional content creation and technical documentation.

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