You’ve been promoted. Now what? 5 tips for first time managers

From peer to manager: what nobody tells you about becoming a first-time manager

Getting promoted into your first management role should feel exciting. And it probably does.

But somewhere between the congratulations and your first team meeting, there might be a realisation of “so what am I actually supposed to do now?”

Or perhaps there’s a particular challenge that you hadn’t realised would be part of the job.

You may have been brilliant at your old job before (which was why you were promoted!). You may know the business inside out. You may even know your new team really well.

But being a great employee and being a great manager are two very different things. They require very different skills.

If you've just been promoted from within the team, there's often another challenge to navigate; you're now managing people who, until very recently, were your peers or even friends.

So where do you start?

1. Accept that your role has changed

One of the biggest mistakes new managers make is trying to carry on doing their old job while also managing everyone else.

It doesn't work.

Your job is no longer simply to get your own work done. It's to help your team do theirs.

That means delegating, setting expectations, giving feedback, having difficult conversations, making decisions and sometimes stepping back and allowing other people to take ownership.

That can feel uncomfortable at first, particularly if you're used to being the person who just gets things done.

2. You don't have to have all the answers

Being promoted doesn't magically turn you into an expert in managing people.

You will probably get things wrong. You will have conversations you wish you had handled differently. You'll have moments when you don't know what to say. You'll wonder whether you've been too firm, not firm enough, or whether you’ve got it completely wrong.

That's normal.

Good managers aren't people who always know exactly what to do.

They're people who are willing to learn, ask for help and reflect on what they could have done differently.

3. Being their manager doesn't mean you can't be friendly

This is particularly tricky when you've moved from being part of the team to managing it.

You don't suddenly have to become a different person.

But you do need to recognise that the relationship has changed.

You may need to make decisions that people don't agree with. You may have to challenge someone's performance. You may need to deal with something confidentially rather than discussing it with the team as you might have done before.

That doesn't mean becoming distant or formal. It means being fair, consistent and clear about your role.

4. Set expectations early

Your team shouldn't have to guess what kind of manager you're going to be.

Talk to them.

What do they need from you? What do you need from them? How do you want to communicate? How will you deal with problems? What does good performance look like?

And if you're managing people who were previously your peers, acknowledge the change.

You don't need to make a big dramatic announcement about it. Just be honest.

“I know this is a bit of a change for all of us, so let's talk about how we make it work.”

Sometimes that simple acknowledgement can take a lot of the awkwardness out of the room.

5. Don't avoid the difficult stuff

This is probably the biggest piece of advice I'd give any new manager.

Don't leave things because you hope they'll sort themselves out. They usually don't. In fact, they usually get bigger and that’s when things can become messy.

A small performance issue that isn't addressed can become a big one. A team member who is unhappy can become disengaged. A misunderstanding can turn into a relationship problem.

You don't need to have a formal HR process for every little issue.

Sometimes you just need to have a conversation.

And if you're not sure how to have it, ask for help.

And finally… don’t be hard on yourself.

Nobody becomes a brilliant manager overnight.

Managing people is a skill. Like any other skill, it takes practice.

You will learn what works for you. You'll learn what doesn't. You'll make mistakes. You'll get better.

The important thing is not to expect yourself to be perfect from day one.

If you've recently been promoted into your first management role and you're wondering whether you're doing it right, you're probably asking the right questions already.

And if you want some help figuring out the people management side of your new role, that's exactly the sort of thing I help managers with.

You don't have to figure it all out on your own.

Would you like to feel more confident in your role? Let’s chat.