New Manager Training

In small businesses it’s not unusual for your team members to work their way through the ranks until they are managers or even team leads. With this comes a few frustrations, such as training management skills and helping someone go from “co-worker” to manager or lead.

It can be a difficult transition to make. Team members that become managers may worry about losing their friendships. They may avoid holding their co-workers accountable for fear of becoming unlikeable. And they may worry that they’ll lose the respect that they have earned over time with their co-workers.

This often creates a dynamic where the manager is afraid to manage. They are likely to let things slide. And most of the times it’s because they don’t have the right tools to succeed. This article will be too short to cover all avenues of training a manager, but here are a few elements you might want to consider if your team members are working to take on management or team lead responsibilities:

• Ensure they understand their new role. Managers and team leads exist to manage the company resources, which includes people. A manager or team lead should be able to get the best work out of the team. We often see team members who worked their way up feel like they have to continue to prove themselves to their team members. If something needs done, the manager will often do it themselves just to show the team that they are still willing to do the work. Sometimes this is a great thing. You want the entire team to know that no one is above the work. However, if this is done too often the manager isn’t able to do what they’re supposed to do. There’s simply not enough time to do all the tactical work and their work as a manager. Instead, it’s important for the manager to understand that they have a different role in the company. That role’s most important job is to manage resources and ensure others have what they need to succeed in their positions. Managers will do better when the business gives them:
  • A clear job description
  • Clear metrics that manage their success
     
• Introduce them to core documents within the business. Every leader within the business, including managers, should be approaching management in a similar way. There are core documents that your business should have to help ensure that the business is “managed” in a similar style. These documents include:
  • Your Optimal Outcome – the vision of the business.
  • Culture Value Statement – defining behaviors and qualities you value in your workplace.
  • Customer Service Promise – defining the experience you want your clients to have.
  • Leadership Statement – a brief statement describing the leader you choose to be. If you’re comfortable, share yours.

These documents are the guideline to how your business wants employees, customers, and even vendors to experience their interactions with your business. Take the time for the new manager to read these documents, but also ensure that they understand the leverage points that they control to bring these core documents to life.

• Have an “Employee Issue” system. Conflict, or what others see as conflict, can be difficult to handle without having an objective way to work through it with others. We have two documents to get you started. Check out our Employee Issues document as well as this checklist.

We also suggest that you look at our Business Insight Library under the management folder for more resources. If you’re ready to create managers in your business or see the need for more training, our business coaches are ready to help.