For those who have recently made the move from individual contributor to manager, what do you wish you'd known before you made the move?

5 Comments

1. AnonymousDecember 11,2024 at 6:52PM UTC

   First of all ask them what the priorities are and then assesses if they are solvable. For example if the issue is turnover but the pay is lower than market, be careful about what you promise- you will have to either increase volume without increasing staff, improve efficiency and then decrease staff or reduce required training/credentials to pay market rate and reduce turnover. Asking thoughtful questions about what they'd like to see and what success in your role looks like in specific terms is a good start. Be aware employers totally mine candidates for input even if they have no intention of hiring the person. First 30 days should be learning and maybe 1-2 very small positive changes. A lot of it depends on if you are filling a role they were satisfied with (when the former person has moved up and is now your boss) or if it's a mess. Good luck!!

2. AnonymousDecember 11,2024 at 7:18PM UTC

   First time people managers is so difficult. Where companies fail is promoting people to manager roles but not supporting them. They do it because it's the next natural step and then they don't provide the necessary training for a first-time manager, and it becomes a failure. If this is what you are looking to do, you may struggle to find something outside your current organization without manager experience. You need to seek those opportunities internally and explore what sort of training your company provides for first time managers.

3. AnonymousDecember 11,2024 at 9:04PM UTC

   I would have loved to have appreciated that most of my time was spending managing people. I missed the work.

4. AnonymousDecember 13,2024 at 2:00PM UTC

   Even though you feel like the same person (because you are), everyone treats you differently. They speak in a different tone because you now have achieved a level of power you didn't have before. Your former coworkers weigh their words before talking to you and are more likely to tell you what they think you want to hear than they mean. Even though I was moved to a different group to become the manager, I still knew many ICs there.

5. AnonymousDecember 13,2024 at 3:51PM UTC

   You're going to be working longer hours than regular employees, you'll have to participate in managerial meetings, you need to be prepared to give negative feedback to your reports if anyone is not up to scratch, and you need to make sure that your reports are doing what you need them to do.

   You also need to earn their respect, and if someone was passed over to place you in your current position and/or they have the sense that "you're not one of them" and/or otherwise feel like they can't relate to you or your place in the company or hierarchy, they'll give you pushback. And one size doesn't fit all. What works with one report may not work with everyone else, yet you need to avoid the appearance of favoritism, and that can be a very fine line to walk. Be prepared to listen to them so they feel heard, even if you don't agree with them. But don't let them run over you.

   Also, you might have to enforce unpopular rules and regulations or otherwise make yourself unpopular to ensure that the work gets done on time and according to the specifications needed, so don't go in there expecting to be liked.