So, you’ve finally reached the top of your industry and earned advancement into a managerial position. Having your hard work, talents, and dedication to your career recognized with a leadership role not only offers you the monetary increase that usually comes with a raise, but it also creates an intrinsically rewarding feeling that you’ll attach to your work because of all of the effort and success you experienced to get here. While earning the right to lead in the workplace is an exciting feeling, a lot of responsibility comes with this type of transition as well.

Even if you were extremely effective in your previous position, your former job title might not relate as much to a manager’s role because of the leadership skills you need to have when you are running the show. Because of that, we have come up with a new manager checklist to help you avoid many of the first-time manager mistakes many companies witness after a staff member is elevated to a managerial role. By understanding how to utilize these first-time supervisor tips, you’ll be able to make better connections with customers and outside of your company, continue to build a positive employee culture, and also focus on each employee’s individuality, and understand how to adapt with them while also getting them to work more successfully.

#1: Practice What You Preach

Keep in mind that leaders in an organization also act as examples to the employees who take orders. So, you need to remember that the way you want your employees to act, work, and train should always be demonstrated first hand by you as you interact with them.

#2 Being the Example Means Your employees Will Experience more Motivation

Not only will your employees perform better if you act as an example, they will also respond to your behavior and actions, and the way you demonstrate both of those concepts can influence the motivation your employees will experience.

#3: Avoid Getting Overwhelmed

When you start your new role as a manager, you will need to give yourself some time to transition and make sure you don’t overwhelm yourself. Kicking off your change in roles while focusing on how everybody else underneath you will also need to get used to your leadership style. You need to make sure you make the time to get to know your employees so that you can comprehend their personalities, skills, and weaknesses and come up with employee-specific ways that utilize their strengths and help them to capitalize at key jobs.

#4 The Team

As the manager, your individual performance does still matter, but it isn’t the most important thing your bosses will monitor. How you interact with the members of your team and the team’s overall performance, not just yours alone, become very important when your higher-ups gage your performance. After all, it is your job to get the best out of every group member. So, if somebody starts to struggle in your group, you will need to take time out to speak with that member here and there and help him or her with their new plan.

#5 Communication

Now that you are working in a leadership role, you need to make sure you are very consistent and direct when you speak to your employees. The clearer you are with your communication, the easier it will be for your employees to understand your goals. If you are delivering clear plans and goals that everybody understands, then your employees can do a much better job of meeting your expectations and excelling with their performance standards.

#6 Stay Informed About Your Business

Since you are now in a leadership role, it is your responsibility to comprehend all aspects of the business so that you can use your knowledge to better prepare your employees to meet company standards. Knowing what is occurring in all aspects of the business can help you make better decisions as a leader, and that means you can also guide your employees in the right direction.

#7 Spend One-On-One Time with Your Employees

Making sure that you set aside some time to discuss individual strategies with each one of your employees can help give them the guidance they need. To successfully use this one-on-one time with your employees you will need to make sure you understand their strengths and weaknesses as employees and people; that way you can address ways that can help them boost their performance.

#8 Don’t Elevate Your Status

Many first time managers make the mistake of thinking that their promotion means they no longer have to do the grunge work attached to their jobs. Thinking this way is a mistake because if you got the management promotion, it is likely that you did a great job at the grunge work, and that helped the company to succeed. Continuing to perform well everywhere will not only help the business, it will also motivate your employees.

#9 Delegate Appropriately

While you might want to be involved in all aspects of your team, you won’t be able to achieve everything you need to do if you are busy handling others’ jobs. You need to make sure you are handing out tasks to your team based on your employee’s skills, and that you are able to check in and help as others are working on projects.

#10 Consistency is Key

Staying consistent with your decisions is one way to demonstrate strength and knowledge to your team. If you change your mind too often, you’ll look under confident and your employees may begin to question your leadership skills. You need to show your team that you can make the right kinds of judgment calls and not second guess yourself.

Should you need ad
ditional guidance on hiring and recruiting executive leaders in the Americas (Mexico, Latin America, Canada or the USA), please visit us at: https://www.bipsearch.com, or email us at: barbachano@bipsearch.com.

Written by: Barbachano Staff