New Team, New Plan

Congratulations, you’ve just secured a new role and got yourself a new team with it. New Year, New Career! Whether you’re a new manager or changed jobs, the best way to start managing a team is to take the following three-pronged approach.

While they’re not the iRobot three laws, or the 10 biblical commandments of the business world, they will help you and your team get off on the right foot.

1.      Immediate Succession Planning. 

It may sound counterproductive, but start off by telling your team you won’t be around forever but, before you go, one of them will become your successor and their training starts now. Tell them you want them to learn as much from you as possible so they too will get promoted – or at least be better at their jobs. 

This also helps you. The more your team can do, the more time you have to work on your own career progression. However, it’s about enabling your team to do more, not just about you doing less. The measure of success isn’t more time in your diary; it’s an increase in the team’s output.

2.      No Single Point of Failure.

There shouldn’t be any task that only one member of the team can do. Yes, one person might be the best at it but everyone should be able to cover for that person when s/he goes on holidays or is off sick. So start some team cross-training or, at the very least, some team sharing; a professional show-and-tell across the team.

This will also help you understand not only who does what in your team but what their strengths – and weaknesses - are. Plus, identify any potential risks or danger areas in a process that your team may be responsible for but you’re now accountable for. (See here for more on a team/project RACI matrix.)

3.      Agree Personal Progression Goals

Following on from the above, having got to know your team, you should agree with each team member 3-5 personal objectives that will help them progress in their career over the 18-24 months and work with them to break that down into monthly (or at least quarterly) interim goals. These should be SMART and you should set the expectation you want to see regular evidence of progress. Don’t just set goals that build on existing skills or quick wins. They should also be focused on their key areas for development.  

When you agree them, you should commit to working with each member of your team to ensure they achieve their goals. Either by passing on your skills advice or by getting them to sign up to some appropriate training.

People management isn’t easy but if you focus on developing a person, not just managing them, it will help build trust, mutual respect and shared success.

Like or Share if you agree, or comment if you disagree or want to add your own advice for managing a new team.