Taking on a management role for the first time can be a daunting experience for an employee that has just recently transitioned into their new position. The learning curve is steep when one goes from an individual contributor to the leader of a team who needs to drive performance, make decisions, and achieve results for the business. Although many new managers are full of passion when they are starting their new job, they often make common mistakes because of a lack of experience. If you can identify these mistakes and work on avoiding them in the future, you will be able to step into the role of manager as a confident leader who drives excellent performance.
Trying to Do Everything Alone
One of the most common mistakes new managers make is attempting to do too many tasks themselves. This often comes from trying to show that they can do everything their team is doing or perhaps not trusting the members of their team to do it. Regardless of the reason, trying to do every task yourself will only lead to burnout. A great way to counter this mistake is by learning how to delegate tasks effectively and delegating them to people who are most suited for the task. This way the manager can focus on being a good manager instead of an individual contributor, team members are able to grow and develop as workers, and the work is completed by the people who can complete it the fastest.
Micromanaging the Team
This is another common mistake that new managers make when trying to make up for not being able to do everything themselves. Often when people are micromanaging their teams they feel they have to make sure everything their team does is of perfect quality and they try to supervise this by looking at every detail their team works on. Although this may be a way to keep an eye on your team, this often makes it seem like you do not trust them and can make your team unhappy with you as a manager. The best way to handle this is by telling them what you need them to do and when you want them to be finished with it, and trusting them to do their job without needing to keep them in your sight at all times. A great way to maintain this is by having a regular check in time with them to discuss what they are working on and see if there are any issues, rather than constantly looking over their shoulder.
Poor Communication
Communication issues often plague many new managers in their jobs. Whether it is communicating instructions to a team or giving feedback to an employee, not being clear about expectations can lead to mistakes being made and frustration to ensue when the employee doesn’t know what they need to be doing. A simple way to counter this mistake is by communicating clearly and regularly with your employees by making sure everyone knows exactly what they need to be doing when. This allows everyone in the team to know what their expectations are and ensures that there are no surprises when they are done. Another thing you can do is to listen carefully to what your team says to make sure you hear what they want to say and make sure there is room for them to tell you things.
Avoiding Difficult Conversations
Often new managers find themselves in a situation where they need to have a difficult conversation with an employee. The difficult conversation might have to do with an issue about their performance or a conflict between team members, and many times they don’t want to have that discussion with their employee. If a manager has a problem with their employee, they need to be able to talk with that person about it, and not talk with them will only cause more problems to arise later. Having this discussion early on and being firm and professional, you can handle the problem without making things worse or feeling bad when you are not being honest with your employee. Make sure you focus on their issues and how you can help them to solve it. This makes it not so bad for you if you are having a bad experience with them.
Failing to Set Clear Expectations
If you don’t provide guidance or clear expectations then you risk your team being unsure about what they should be doing which will lead to poor performance and missed deadlines. New managers sometimes expect everyone knows what is required and therefore never explain it. The key here is to be very clear about roles, responsibilities and what the goals are. Written guidance and regular follow-ups are great methods for keeping everyone on track and moving in the right direction. New managers sometimes spend a lot of time telling employees what to do and forget to actually listen to what they have to say. It is important to listen, and the key way for managers to do this is to encourage open communications so that you hear both sides.
There is often much that team members can offer in terms of improvements. Another common trap new managers make is ignoring the team development aspect. If you spend all your time on tasks at hand and forget that people also need development then it will likely result in demotivation and loss of staff. Good managers take the time to train, feedback to and provide development opportunities for their staff and in doing so also benefit the business. Some new managers mistakenly believe they need to decide everything on their own. Although as a manager it is ultimately your call to make, there is still a place for discussion and team consultation on the best way to go about a task and making all the calls on your own could lead to mistakes and reduced team involvement.
Consultation allows for the sharing of ideas with your team, which can lead to more effective decisions as well as greater commitment since staff feel valued and involved. Inconsistency leads to confusion and loss of trust within teams. New managers often change style as they experiment with what works for them. If possible be consistent as far as you can in how you expect and communicate and make decisions within the team. A lack of good time management on the part of the manager can lead to missed deadlines and stress for both the manager and the rest of the team. Learn to manage your time, prioritise, set achievable deadlines and delegate if necessary and also look into tools to aid time management such as schedules, project planning tools etc. It is not all about getting the job done, it is also about getting along with your staff.
Building trust and rapport are critical components of being a great manager and sometimes new managers can become overly focused on getting tasks done that they forget to take the time to get to know their team. Having positive relationships makes everything from communication through to collaboration and morale easier. You need to take an interest in your people if you want them to be interested in their work.