Hey guys, I'm going into my first job managing someone - any tips or advice on how best to coach/mentor and get the most out of it? Thnx!
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- @Clay Price Thanks Clay, that's really helpful! :)
- Through the years, I have managed many people in various capacities. Take the time to truly understand the role the person plays within the context of the position/teammates. Take the time to examine their workflow itself, to make sure improvements aren't needed for them to perform their job efficiently. What challenges will they face that are due to internal processes or hardware/software needs? Let them be aware that while your title may be "manager", you want to be their "leader" and mentor. And, back that up. Make the effort to educate yourself on their strengths and weaknesses. Go to them often for small talk. Just casual conversation. This works by educating you on their likes and dislikes outside of the work environment, and by giving them peace of mind that you are willing to listen. How you approach them is important. If they make a mistake, both of you can educate yourself on how the mistake happened. Reverse engineer the mistake. Then follow up with opportunity for additional training if you or they feel it's needed. If you've made mistakes, talk about them so they know it happens to everyone at times. Let them know what process or work practice you put in place to prevent that from happening again. Just communicate. Set all personal thoughts aside and you'll learn more about how to manage that person.
- Sounds exciting, Georgia! I had a quick & dirty scan of the (brilliant) answers you've had already. Didn't notice motivations.Not everyone is motivated by money. In fact, few of us are. Meaning, significance, autonomy, upskilling, prospects, supporting family, & more, are often more important to us in the roles we play.Have a conversation with your charge to understand what drives them at work. Understanding what's really important to them will help you understand how to get the best out of them – not for yours or the company's sake, but for theirs.Understanding your own motivations is key, too. When the rubber hits the road & your team's up against it, a clash of motivations might not help. If your motivation is impressing your seniors & improving profitability, & your charge's motivation is always be learning, which puts time on each job, sparks will fly if that isn't identified early & a conversation had about what's expected.Another thing that just occured to me is trust. Trust often means different things to bosses & workers.Workers need to know they can trust you to treat them fairly & have their best interests at heart. Whereas trust for you means can you give them a task & trust they'll handle the responsibility well & in a timely fashion.So managing someone who feels their boss' interests & motivations come first will likely lead to performance issues & a less cohesive team culture.Is this of any help to you, Georgia…?
- So much excellent advice! Thank you again for taking the time to share your thoughts with me. Can't wait to get started now and to put this into place! G :)
- Try to aim to lead with compassion. Be a good listener, and give the person space to lean in to their new dynamic with you. You may want to make some changes to the way things were. Depending on whether the person is also new or you are, they will need to be on board with the changes, which you may find some resistance or may take coercing. Simply be confident in yourself and your decisions without the need to micromanage. If setting a task be clear on time frames and what you need. All the best on your new role.
- Try to remain consistent in your approach. We all tend to perform better when we know the kind of direction we are going to get.Make sure your team feel safe... when we know our leader has our back, we are not only more willing to go the extra mile, but we perform better in our work.Hope that helps, Russ
- Lots of great thoughts here, one other thing to mention, it's about what the person puts in and managing that energy. So don't feel under pressure to do lots. It's also a balance of their well-being and performance, making sure they're happy in their role. Enjoy it! Good luck.
- Listen more. Speak less.then write notes about daily updates and research on how best you can add value to what you've been fed with
- Schedule check in meetings twice a month to see how they are doing. This can be for venitng or just socializing either way. It's improtant to foster a bond and show you A. care about setting them up for success and B. care about their mentla well-being. It doesn't need to be more than a half hour if that's all you can spare. But the more regular you can keep it, the better.
- Lead by example. Always...
- Always give them frameworks to work with, suggest how long things should take (but build in extra time), give honest feedback. Try and ignite a spark with examples and then allow them to learn by doing the actual work. It's better to ask someone to re-do something again and again until they understand what they are doing than to get sucked into a situation where you fix everything. They will know, will lose confidence and you'll end up doing twice as much work. Also find out what they're interested in and see if you can get them onto some courses that will help develop both your business and their career in the long run.
- Be honest. Admit you're new to it, listen, watch and don't be afraid to speak your mind. I highly recommend watching the excellent Martin Scoses doc on Fran Lebowitz. Not everybody has to like you, but at least those the do know who you are and where you stand.
- Clarity - work with them to understand what each one wants out of the relationship. It's not just one way, but if you're not clear, they wont know.Empathy - work isnt everything. Listen to them and their needs.Patience - your first management position, probably their first job... take time with each other, and learn how to work with them. They dont have to like you, but it helps!Empowerment - treat them like one day they'll be in charge. Set them up for success. They win, you win. We not I. You're not a manager, you're a mentor, a coach, a positive influence and someone who helps them achieve their dreams. All of my best people are now Head Ofs. That's empowerment.Trust - With the above, you build Trust. With selflessness, belief in their abilities, you build trust. Putting them on a pedestal and celebrating them, you build trust. And with trust, you get results. And if not, fire them.
- Congratulations Geogia! I would say, management doesn't always have to be about work. It's ok to book a 1-1 meeting for a general, 'how are you?' catch up. Those go a long way for both of you. Builds stronger bonds and everyone appreciates feeling listened to and supported during work life.
- Wow! This is all such fantastic and useful advice! Thank you all for taking the time to share your thoughts and tips with me. I'm a big believer of having a positive and healthy work environment to encourage people and their best work to flourish - so now I just need be confident in creating it! And all of this will be a huge help. Thanks again! G :)
- Hi Georgia! Good luck! My only tips would be 1) to model the vibe that you are striving for. People, specially subordinates, are really receptive to others’ vibe, so the motivated, inspired, and emotionally understanding vibes make it for a very open and safe space to be able to rely on each other. And if you do 1), then 2) make a decision for yourself how much of your personal life and what aspects of your personality are willing to share and what you want to hide. It is a professional relationship after all. Congrats!
- Dear Georgia, first and most important thing you can do is sharing how passionate you are about your job. Mentoring someone means inspiring them! Share your success and failures your highs and lows. Teach them that as long as they are focused and into what they are doing, they always gonna get the best of it ;)
- That's exciting! I would say communication is very important. Also, making sure you are on the same page about what your goals / targets are as a team. Passion from both sides is key as you will be working closely together.
- Hello Georgia, Having managed a few people but not tons in my career, I can honestly agree with others that there is no right or wrong here. I always tried to think of how I liked / disliked to be managed by others that had managed me in the past. Just try not to be overbearing, listen when there is an issue and be approachable. You will naturally have picked up things from people that you like and implement them. A big thing is listening to the team, no matter how big or small it is. People like to have a voice and a strong team is all about great communication. Best of luck with the new role!
- Hey Georgia,I was a manager for four years and most of the time it was OK, but my number one issue was not calling out crappy behaviour. It was a small team of all women and there was one in particular who had a bad attitude some days but could be sweet as pie the next.It's a long story but looking back on it I wish I had nipped it in the bud when it first started. Instead I tried to peacekeep and was far too nice to her - I should have told her to grow the f*ck up and tell me why she was acting so poorly. I'm far too much of a people pleaser and a conflict avoider, and in the long run it was the wrong way to handle it. Hindsight has 20/20 vision as they say!So yeah I'd say don't be afraid to meet conflict head on. It'll be crunchy in the short term but soooo worth it in the long term.Second thing I'd say is if you're teaching someone the ropes then don't overwhelm them with information. Get a feel for their capacity for new information and work with that. Give them space to ask questions and have a bit of breathing space.Finally, try not to micromanage. Have trust and faith that the person might have different ways of doing things to you, and as long as the job gets done then that's OK. Allow space for them to fill the role in their shape.Best of luck with it all!
- Hey Georgia - congratulations, it's a great privilege to get to manage someone! Some key things, 1. Your time is key. Would suggest a bi-weekly one to one to make sure they have space to share any challenges. 2. Make space for their approach to work, if it's different to yours, 3. Fight for them - make them feel safe that you have their back, 4. Keep your eyes peeled for opportunities for their development. Hope that helps! Alexandra
- Something I've found really useful is using workload managing tools like Asana. This can help manage the workload for everyone and make things easier.
- Everyone is different, and wants to be managed differently. Some people want a lot of help or reassurance that they're doing the right thing (and also praise when they do good work), others prefer a hands off approach. It can be good to ask the person how they want to be managed, what do they respond best to? I guess also, what they struggle with that perhaps you could help with... like is it time management, how they prioritise certain tasks etc.
- @Georgia Clare Eek good luck!! You've got the right mind frame going into this which is more than I could say for a lot of managers ;-)
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