The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You

by Julie Zhuo

“the curse of knowledge”—the cognitive bias that makes it difficult for them to remember what it’s like to be a beginner seeing the content for the first time.

help everyone come prepared.

Sending out an agenda ahead of time shows a level of care and intentionality in helping the group stay focused. It’s a good idea to do this for meetings of any size, even 1:1s, but the larger the meeting, the more important the preparation.

After the meeting, the follow-ups need to be treated with as much care as the preparation.

In the last few minutes of a meeting, get into the habit of asking, “So before we break, let’s make sure we agree on next steps …” After the meeting, send out a recap to the attendees with a summary of the discussion, a list of specific action items and who is responsible for each, and when the next check-in will be.

MAKE IT SAFE FOR PEOPLE TO CONTRIBUTE

Not everyone is comfortable rattling off whatever’s top of mind in front of a group.

What helped me find my voice were environments that felt safe, supportive, and nonjudgmental.

It was easier to share when I saw everyone else doing the same versus just one or two talkative people.

get your entire group to contribute.

Be Explicit about the Norms You Want to Set

“I’m here to do a Q&A because it’s really important to me that we can have real talk about all the things happening on our team. But to be honest, I don’t get the sense that I’m hearing all of your top concerns. So I want to say this up front: Hard questions are good! Get them off your chest! I promise to be as transparent as I can.

Change Up Your Meeting Format to Favor Participation

You can combat natural group dynamics by suggesting more structured approaches. One example is going around the room.

Another tactic I like is the “Post-it note” opening. Before launching into a discussion about a complex topic (for example, what our marketing goals should be or what success looks like three years from now), give everyone a pad of Post-it notes and ask them to write down their thoughts on the topic.

By encouraging people to get their own thoughts down on paper before sharing them, the barrier to participation is lowered.

Manage Equal Airtime

Be on the lookout for interruptions. If someone starts making a point but another loud voice cuts her off, provide cover by saying, “Hang on, Ann wasn’t finished.

Similarly, if you see someone seeking to get a word in, you can help create an opening: “John looks like he wants to say something.

“Rick, we haven’t heard from you yet. What’s your opinion?”

For the overtalkers, be clear but polite in letting them know that it’s time for someone else to get a turn: “Ian, it’s clear you have more you want to say, but let’s first make sure other people get a chance to weigh in

It’s not always comfortable to interrupt others and manage the flow of conversation in this manner, but it sends a strong signal that you believe better outcomes come from hearing a diversity of perspectives.

make a habit of asking for feedback, especially on recurring meetings with a larger audience.

Think back to the best meetings you’ve had. How did they feel? My favorites are the ones with a friendly and genuinely curious vibe.

For a week, I made a note of every meeting I attended and how I felt at the end of it. Did I participate? Was I critical to the outcome? Did I get something meaningful out of being there in person?

At the end of the week, I was stunned to discover that for about 40 percent of my meetings, the answer was no.

They found that 65 percent said meetings prevented them from completing their own work, 71 percent found their meetings unproductive and inefficient,

and 64 percent said meetings come at the expense of deep thinking.

I asked the meeting organizers to include me on pre- and post-meeting notes.

As a manager, your time is precious and finite, so guard it like a dragon guards its treasure stash.

Be on the lookout as well for meetings that don’t seem valuable for anyone. They should be canceled or revamped.

Bad meetings can “leave employees feeling frustrated, and can also trigger employee exhaustion and potential burnout,

If you find yourself in a recurring meeting of questionable value, do everyone an important service by kindly letting the organizer know. Life’s too short to be wasted in subpar meetings.

At a growing organization, hiring well is the single most important thing you can do.

Hiring doesn’t just matter at scale—even a single great hire can make a big difference in your team’s outcomes.

hiring is not a problem to be solved but an opportunity to build the future of your organization.

hiring isn’t just about filling holes. If you approach it that way, you’re not going to bring in the best people.

It’s about figuring out how to make your team and your own life much, much better.

our favorite coworkers teach us new things, inspire and support us, and make going to ...

Looking back now, I can’t think of anything more satisfying than meeting someone for the first time, realizing how awesome they are, and working with the...

DESIGN YOUR TEAM INTENTIONALLY

When you are buckling under the strain of a short-staffed team, it can be very hard to resist someone who seems available and ready to do the work.

One exercise I do every January is to map out where I hope my team will be by the end of the year.

How many new people will I add to our team this year (based on company growth, expected attrition, budget, priorities, etc.)?

For each new hire, what level of experience am I looking for?

Which specific skills or strengths do we need in our team (for example, creative thinking, operational excel...

Which skills and strengths does our team already have that new hires can stand to be weaker in? What traits, past experiences, or personalities wo...

it’s useful to consider the possibility of attrition and where you’ll look if someone on your team leaves.

HIRING IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY

No recruiter can possibly know what an ideal candidate looks like for your team.