I need help - Thrust into leadership position without management skills and mentorship.

4 Comments

1. AnonymousAugust 4,2022 at 6:50PM UTC

   Look at your job description and breakout the specific items you feel you need to develop. Then go to HR for help on those. Another approach is to ask your supervisor what specific output they would like to see in the next 30/60/90 days and be sure those expectations are defined in terms of SMART goals. Or do both of these things.

2. Lesa Edwards, Career Coach & Master Resume WriterAugust 4,2022 at 7:28PM UTC

   Once you've identified the specific areas of help you need, think about how you learn best. Will you be best served with in-class training, virtual learning, book/video trainings, etc.?

3. AnonymousAugust 4,2022 at 10:15PM UTC

   The best advice is to create a plan with a timeline. Schedule a brainstorming meeting with your team and draft something then refine the plan with major and minor milestones.

   Vatious action plans can be assigned to your team to draft which will help the to "own their plans" and be invested.

   That can help anchor the group and give them a feeling of direction. Then you can work with HR on performance goal setting abd tracking for each individual driven in part by accomplishing goals that roll up to the plan you created.

   This should help give you a framework. There are countless resources and conferences, classes and professional groups available too.

4. AnonymousAugust 4,2022 at 10:52PM UTC

   Great suggestions so far. Wanted to add another couple things you can do and things to consider.

   Go to each person in the team 1 on 1 and ask them how they want to be supported. You can open with "I know we are all frustrated, I'm frustrated myself, but I want to learn. Help me help you." They might be too frustrated to help right now, and some of their comments might sting, but you cannot let it phase you. They will see you trying and eventually the trust will grow.

   If you aren't already having a staff meeting at some point during the week, you should definitely start. We have one and I use it as a place to ask if there are things that I can do to support others (push things up the chain of command, sign off on things, review things, etc) and also ask about the status of things that were being worked on previously.

   Another great place to start is to think back on past managers that you've had. What did you like about them? What didn't you like? What do you wish they would have done to support you.

   One of the things that I've learned with remote work, is be open to different communication styles. I communicate via text, email, and phone on the daily with my team (we don't have slack or anything like that but I'm sure some of us would use it). Each person has their own preference, I prefer text myself, but I respect their choice and try to use their preferred method as much as possible. I'm not sure if that applies in this case, but something to consider in general.

   Another important thing that most people don't talk about is the time that it takes to support the people on your team. Be prepared to have to adjust your schedule and personal project deadlines a bit, especially in the beginning. You'll get into a good rhythm, and figure out where to add padding in your timelines, but there is definitely a learning curve.

   Lastly, be nice to yourself. You said you're already burnt out and now you're being thrust into this position. Whatever you do, do not punish yourself for any perceived failures in the next few months as you figure things out. You are bound to make mistakes, but as long as you learn from them that's all that matters.

   Good luck! :)