The First-Time Manager (First-Time Manager Series)

by Jim McCormick

One of your first decisions should be to refrain from immediately instituting changes in the method of operation.

View the authority of the new position as you would a limited inventory. The fewer times you draw on the inventory, the greater is the supply that remains for when it is really needed.

Sometime during the first sixty days in your new management position, you should plan on having a personal conversation with each of the people in your area of responsibility.

A good rule of thumb is not to have more direct reports than you can meet with once a week.

If you want to be thought of as a brilliant manager, be an active listener.

In fact, just saying, “That’s interesting. Tell me more,” will make you a brilliant conversationalist in the minds of everyone with whom you come in contact.

The height of active listening is restating what you believe you’ve heard. Restating is powerful for two reasons. It sends a clear message that you are engaged in the conversation and it significantly reduces the chance that you are mistaken in your understanding of what is being said.

As a manager you need to play many roles—coach, standard setter, performance appraiser, teacher, motivator, visionary, and so forth.

What enables you and your employees to succeed in the long run, however, is helping your employees to become self-directed. This means that you must get their support and commitment, share power with them, and remove as many obstacles to their success as possible.

As leader, you should do the following:

Some sample questions to ask are: • What did you like best about your last job? • What did you like least about your last job? • Tell me about your last manager. • How did your last job allow you to grow professionally? • How would you have restructured your last job if you could?

It is one of the manager’s key duties to see that the facts and the perceptions are basically the same.

It is more difficult to correct people’s knowledge of what is not so than it is to let them know what is so in the first place.

What areas of this employee’s performance or attitude should you mention? • What areas not covered in the performance appraisal do you need to mention? • What are some of the items of personal interest about this employee that you should bring up? • What questions should you ask that are likely to generate some conversation and opinions about the work? • How can you help this employee do a better job? What are the areas in which this employee will be self-motivated? • How can you let this employee know he is important to you personally, not just for the work performed? • How does this employee fit into the company’s future plans? Is this person promotable? What can you do to help her advance?

For others there may be a need for them to add capabilities they do not currently have. List those.

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Most management decisions do not require extraordinary wisdom; they require your ability to acquire the facts and know when you have enough information to make the decision.

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During the planning for and delivery of the presentation, keep these well-known words about presentations in mind. Tell them what you are going to tell them (do this in the opening), tell them (do this in the main body of your talk), then tell them what you told them (do this in your conclusion).

“Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”