From Individual Contributor to Manager: Mastering the Shift with 12 Tips

Have you recently transitioned into the role of a manager? Or are you soon going to step into that role? Turning into a manager from an individual contributor is an exciting opportunity and is a significant milestone for any professional. Higher positions, higher pay, and higher responsibilities. Although exciting, it can be a challenging shift for many of us out there. Today, we will go through some of the challenges a new manager might face and how you can prepare yourself for this new role.

Let’s begin with understanding what exactly a manager is. I found a very good definition for this. This is how Julie Zhuo describes the role of a manager in her book “The Making of a Manager.”

“Your job, as a manager, is to get better outcomes from a group of people working together”.

New managers need to understand that being a part of management is not about the power you might get by being a manager. However, it is about having and building the ability to work effectively with different people to achieve shared goals. It is no longer about getting outcomes in your work but getting the results from the team you manage. The manager is more like a guide and support for the team, and that role cannot be fulfilled sufficiently if one thinks about the power they get by being a manager.

When we start with a new role, we learn many things by one simple method of learning: the trial-and-error method. On your journey as a manager, much learning will happen through this. However, you cannot always rely on trial and error. As a manager, you are not only responsible for how you perform, but your team’s performance also depends on you. You would then ask, how to learn about this? Well, lucky for you, many managers before you have made several trials and errors, and you can learn from their trials what seems to work the best and what challenges await you on this journey.

Major challenges for New Managers

Although there are several challenges that you might face or might not face, which depends on many factors. But here, we’ll go through 4 significant obstacles you might encounter as a new manager and how you can prepare yourself to overcome them. Even if these aspects are not a challenge for you, it would surely help you to be prepared and take a head start on your journey of transitioning into a manager.

1. Establishing Authority: You’ve just stepped up amongst your peers to be their manager. Or you’ve entered a new team as a leader. In both cases, establishing yourself as an authority gets quite challenging. You do not want to come across as rude or arrogant and still want people to take you seriously.

• Work on building trust with your team members - Take time to know about your team members and show a genuine interest in their lives and well-being. Listen actively and be approachable to build a trusting relationship.
• Set clear boundaries and expectations - Communicate your expectations clearly and firmly regarding performance, behaviors, and outcomes.
• Assertive communication - Learn how to say no respectfully and be prompt and professional in addressing any disputes or conflicts that may arise within the team.

2. Effective delegation: You are chosen to be a manager only if you are competent enough in your area of work. And if you are a high achiever, you would feel like doing a lot of tasks yourself to do it in the best way possible. However, learn to say no to yourself as well. A team is made so that the work can be divided, consciously look for the tasks you can delegate to others, and focus on the tasks you must do.

• Understanding strengths and weaknesses - To delegate effectively, you must understand not only your strengths and weaknesses but also your team members so that you can delegate tasks that align with their skills.
• Clear communication - Ensure that whatever you communicate with your team members is clear and concise. Include details about the steps of the process and the expected outcome to keep them informed.
• Provide autonomy - it might be tempting to do much of the work yourself as a habit but learn to give ownership of the task to the team member and let them do it their way. Keep patience to go over any issues once they complete the task.

3. Time management: You would agree that time management is challenging, even with yourself. Now imagine you not only have to do it for yourself but also for your team. Being effective in managing time will work wonders in how you manage your time,

• Prioritization - understand the difference between urgent and important tasks to correctly prioritize the tasks you and your team must achieve.
• Goal-setting - Set clear and achievable goals for your teams with realistic timelines to make the most of the time.
• Use tools - Make time management tools available for teams to organize your team’s work and stay on track.

4. Being a guide: As a manager, you are responsible for mentoring, guiding, and supporting your team members and helping them succeed and accomplish the common goals. Being a guide is an essential part of being a manager, and you can do so by following the given tips:

• Giving feedback - Provide constructive feedback to your team about their growth and progress, including practical suggestions for further improvement.

• Support and guidance - Be approachable and offer guidance, support, and advice to help team members navigate their obstacles and challenges.

• Empathy - Build empathy as a skill by listening actively and allowing others to express their feelings. Being empathetic will help you build a positive environment where team members feel comfortable seeking guidance.

  
  

These are some of the skills you can develop to easily transition into the role of a manager. However, there will still be times when you will face some difficulty that might make you feel stuck. And you will make mistakes; be prepared for that as well. But also focus on rectifying those mistakes and building upon them. Don’t shy away from asking for help. Seek support from your managers and mentors and ask for their guidance. There is no greater teacher than experience, so make sure you use it to become a great leader.