Frequently Asked Questions for Newly Promoted Managers

发布日期:2022年3月14日
Estimated reading time: 4.5 minutes

In my new role, I’m managing people who used to be my peers. What should I do to ease this transition?

This transition can be awkward, but it doesn’t have to be painful.

Acknowledge the shift.

在你第一次与一个新的直接报告进行联系时，你可能会说:“我想承认，我们与同龄人的关系将会不同。我期待以新的方式支持你。我想了想，也想听听你的意见:你的经理是怎样支持你的?”然后，共同定义工作关系中的成功。你也可以这样问:“在我们新的工作关系中，你最兴奋的是什么?你最紧张的是什么?”也分享你的想法。

Get to know each other with a new lens.

Assume there’s stuff about each other that you don’t already know, even if (especially!) they were your main collaborator or go-to work friend. Take time to understand each other’s roles and invest inrelationship-building. Ask what they like/dislike about the work and find out where they imagine themselves in a couple years.

Examine choice points.

One of the places bias can creep in is around your personal relationships with people you manage. So, examine yourchoice points. Which members of your team do you know better or interact with more? Who do you see outside of work or connect with on social media? Are you more (or less) likely to give feedback to people you know well—or offer leeway when you know more about challenges in their home/personal life? What about the staff you don’t know as well? Your relationships don’t need to look the same across the board, but you should: 1) spot for impacts if there are major differences (e.g., you are close personal friends with one staff member and have a strictly professional relationship with another); 2) set or redraw boundaries with staff that you have personal relationships with; and 3) invest in making genuine connections with all members of your team (even if they don’t go beyond the workplace).

If you’re feeling anxious, consider the root.

Is there real resistance coming from staff? Are you feeling some (totally normal) imposter syndrome? Either way, don’t project your anxieties onto staff. One manager we know felt certain a close colleague would resent the new dynamic, especially because they took over during a performance improvement plan—something they didn’t know about when they were peers. After a check-in to acknowledge the shift and discuss their new relationship, the staff member expressed earnest desire for candid feedback and mentorship from their new manager. The trust they had as peers created a stronger foundation for the new relationship—and an a-ha moment for the manager who realized they needed to let go of the story they had in their head (“this is going to be tough”) and trust the staff member (and themselves) more.

There’s been so much change and upheaval lately and everyone is exhausted. As the new manager, what’s the most important thing I can do for and with my team when things have been chaotic and uncertain?

Acknowledge uncertainty.

Use team meetings and check-ins totalk about change and uncertainty. Make space for people to say how they’re experiencing things. Where you have info to share about organizational changes, give as much context as possible and share the why. Let your team know when you think things might stabilize and involve staff in scenario planning to mitigate feelings of helplessness.

保持稳定。

在变化和不确定性中，尽可能投资于一致性和稳定性。保持对你的团队最重要的传统，无论是把成员聚集在一起的年度活动还是周五的团队聚会。保持定期检查(即使你决定缩短检查时间)。提升你擅长处理事情的领域，说出亮点，庆祝胜利。这可以帮助平衡他们推大石块上山的区域。

Reground and reprioritize.

In times of crisis or uncertainty, having something to work toward helps us stay focused and aligned in ways that can be empowering. So, don’t shy away from goal-setting, asks, or assignments. Guide your team to reconnect with a sense ofpurposeand transform those intentions into concrete plans. Whensetting goals in chaos, it helps to choose a North Star to orient around and leave lots of room in the suitcase.

Protect space for personal connection.

想办法庆祝胜利，并享受团队的乐趣。承认事情的亮点，并在人们感到困难的时候为他们提供分享的空间(或多或少都可以)。

你有什么建议可以远程建立新的员工-经理关系?

虽然远程/混合工作当然是不同的，但不要想太多。首先，问问你自己:如果我们在一起，我会怎么做?我们怎么能虚拟地做呢?如果你想去喝咖啡或吃午餐，就安排一次一对一的虚拟咖啡或午餐，并给你的员工寄一张外卖或杂货的礼品卡。如果你想在休息室里聊聊生活和工作，那就在Slack上创建一个#饮水机频道，用最新消息、有趣的事情和好消息来定调。如果你邀请员工来你的办公室问问题，你可以安排Zoom的办公时间，或者在门开着的时候在Slack或Gchat上把你的状态设置为“可用”。询问他们的沟通偏好，并分享你的。

当涉及到管理工作时，可能更难观察员工的行动或培训某人。所以，每周留出一些时间来计划如何保持参与。Ask staff to share more slices of early work, and use check-ins to askprobing questionsthat give you a real picture of the work. Schedule Zoom coworking sessions for connection and collaboration, and hop on video for “I do/we do” moments to model a new skill.

If managing remotely is new to you, read moretips on switching to remote management.

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