Leadership Lessons Blog

Managing the Manager --Transition Tips

  

  

 delicious  

  

You finally received the news you've been waiting for...you've been offered the promotion from Supervisor to Manager.  Now you have a team of supervisors reporting to you.  This team will be looking for leadership, strategy setting, and assistance with employee productivity and accountability. 

You now have to deal with the transition from PEER to BOSS!  Are these the SAME people you used to have coffee with everyday?  Yes they are, but the stakes have changed.

Taking on a management role is challenging and demands that you think differently and act differently in order to be successful.  More challenging is dealing effectively with members of your team that were once peers.  You need to change peer relationships into manager-employee relationships. 

Here are some transition tips to think about:

• Make sure your personal relationships and professional relationships are separate.  You can remain friendly with a former co-worker, but you must make clear that the relationship can't cloud your decision-making or how you assess that employee's performance.  You may need to change the frequency of your interaction with the employee as some may perceive your relationship as threatening.  Perceptions about favoritism are also at risk. 
• Make sure you discuss your role as a manager openly and candidly.  Exercise your right to define expectations, goals and responsibilities.  You may have had the respect of this team as a peer, now you need to earn their respect as a manager.  You don't need to be heavy-handed, but you do need to make sure they now what you expect as it relates to their work responsibilities.
• Make sure everyone is treated fairly and equitably.  Don't play favorites.  Don't be influenced by what you think you knew when you were a peer.  You may not have ALL the information or the background.  Provide feedback and help employees improve in their roles and most importantly, make up your OWN mind about an employee’s contribution. 
• Get HELP!  There is no crime in asking for assistance.  Being a manager and managing other employees in supervisory roles is a different animal.  Use other leaders as mentors.  They have more experience and most likely faced or a facing similar situations.  Don't feel that becoming a manager means you have to have all the answers. 

Making the transition from peer to manager can be a great move for you as you grow in your career.  Like any other skill, management requires practice and training.  Respect the position and respect the employees that now report to you.