New manager check list
Managers, if you’ve just started a new job your direct reports are looking for you to make an immediate impact. Here’s five points to help you make the perfect start:
1. Build relationships - Find out a little about each team member how they like to work, how often they want check-ins, how they prefer to receive feedback, and what communication styles work best for them
2. Understand their motivations - Learn what energises them at work and what drains them; manage to their strengths, not your assumptions
3. Create psychological safety early - Share a mistake you've made and what you learned; signal that vulnerability isn't weakness and learning is part of the process
4. Define success together - Within the first week, clarify what success looks like for each direct report in their role, not just what you need from them and establish a cadence for checking in
5. Set boundaries for involvement - Be explicit about when you'll step in and when you won't, so they know how much autonomy they truly have. Then learn about what they do so you can best understand how to support them
Employees, a new manager has just started and you're excited/fearful/curious about what they’re going to bring. Here are five things you can do to help them assimilate and ensure that you get what you’re looking for too:
1. Educate your manager - They're new to the role; help them understand a little about you, your challenges, the current team dynamics, context, and what's worked (or hasn't) before
2. Be clear about your needs - Don't wait for them to guess; explicitly state what support, resources, or decisions you need from them and how you like to work
3. Flag blockers immediately - New managers can't fix what they can't see; bring obstacles to the surface early, not when they've become crises
4. Bring solutions, not just problems - When raising issues, offer at least two potential approaches; show them that you've thought it through, then ask for their opinion
5. Give feedback upwards - Tell them what's working in their management approach and what isn't; they need to learn too (save this for week four once you’ve had the time to figure each other out)
What would you add?
