3 Underrated Skills First-Time Managers Need

Leadership

Mar 14

Episode 393 | Author: Emilie Aries

skills first-time managers need — Today I want to share 3 underrated skills that first-time managers need, especially in today’s volatile and uncertain business climate where it appears the only constant is change.

In a way, I’m picking up where I left off after sharing how to think like a leader rather than a manager.

But today I’m sharing a few skills that are especially significant during uncertain and volatile times like we’re living through right now. This will be especially relevant if you’re a new manager or someone who’s been recently promoted, particularly if you were previously doing the work of executing the tasks yourself. This will also be helpful if you’re someone who struggles with micromanaging, or you tend not to delegate well because you feel like you can get it done better or faster by doing it yourself.

So let’s dive right in:

1. Think in systems

When you’re an individual contributor, you’re just working to get things done, right? You’re working you TO DO list, making sure that things are being done well, and you’re often “in the weeds” of taking care of business.

As managers, managing other people’s work, it’s so important that we get out of the weeds and design the whole landscape instead. This isn’t because we can’t get into the weeds when we need to, or that we’re somehow “better” than getting our hands dirty. No, this is because someone needs to be designing the systems and structures, processes and policies for getting things done in a synchronized way. That work is important, but it is often invisible. And oftentimes, it’s undervalued.

That means taking a step back to consider how work is being structured. Who is responsible for what, and when does there need to be cross-functional team communication. How can we streamline and systematize communication and reporting out, so there’s some semblance of predictability.

Truly, it’s your job as a manager to bring structure to the chaos, to make some order out of the day-to-day grind.

2. Redefine your involvement in the work

If you previously were running your department’s social media - you were writing all the copy, designing graphics, scheduling posts, responding to comments - and now you’re managing someone else doing that work, you need to decide how you want to be involved now.

That requires being explicit about delegation. And look, we’ve talked a lot about delegating before here: how important it is to establish crystal-clear expectations, how to avoid becoming a micromanager, and how to deal with difficult coworkers who make it hard to work together collaboratively.

The clear responsibility here as a first-time manager, is to not only delegate well, but to clarify your role. How and when do you get involved in the work now? Will you have your new direct report(s) draft posts and then send them your way for approval and edits? Or do you expect them to get social media out the door without your pre-approval? Will that change over time, or no?

This is part of giving ownership and responsibility to others, so that you’re delegating a whole piece of work to others. As a manager, just make sure you’re getting the information, data, and reporting that you need to know things are getting done to your standards and that team members are meeting your expectations.

3. Leadership Agility

Being agile can mean different things to different people. But when you’re managing others, it’s critically important to have a plan…but also to not cling to that plan.

I think of it as being in ready position: when I played volleyball, the worst thing you could do was preempt where the ball was going to go too early. It would leave you sailing off in the wrong direction as the ball gets spiked to an open gap on your side of the court.

In the face of increasing volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (called ‘VUCA’ for short), managers have to keep our eyes and ears open to a changing landscape and be ready to pivot as needed. Clinging to our plans or defaulting to habits can be disastrous.