Congratulations! After demonstrating your abilities, expertise, and commitment to hard work, you have been promoted out of your technical position. But now that you are a manager, there are a whole new set of challenges to face and skills to master. If you don’t prepare from the start, you may find the transition overwhelming. We have put together this simple guide to help you make the most of this exciting opportunity.
Seek Out Training and Coaching
Management, like most things, is aided by education. If you have never served in a managerial position before, take management courses online or at night. Your company may even offer some kind of training to smooth the transition. It also helps to seek out a coach or mentor with management experience that can answer questions, offer a supportive ear, and serve as a sounding board while you get your bearings.
Master the Soft Skills
As a technical professional, you worked with hard data, often in an isolated environment. As a manager, you will have to work with a team of people and deal with abstract issues that resist concrete solutions. Soft skills are the interpersonal skills that allow you to effectively communicate with and lead those around you, and they are essential for managerial success. You may not have needed them before, but they are now central to your position.
Understand What Is Expected of You
As soon as you are promoted, find out from your superior or someone in the know exactly what is expected of you. What is your primary responsibility? What are the main goals of your team? What metrics are being used to measure your performance? Don’t feel timid about asking these questions. The more clearly you understand your responsibilities, the better equipped you are to meet them.
Do Not Micromanage
The best managers trust those on their team to find solutions and resolve problems independently. Since you just came out of a technical role, there is the tendency to get involved whenever an issue presents itself. Ultimately, this will just stress you and your employees out. Focus on the big picture issues, and work to create an environment where your team can accomplish its goals without you looming over their shoulders.
Prepare Yourself to Interact with Upper Management
In your technical position, you probably had little contact with upper management. Now that you are a manager, you will likely have to work with them directly, and the stakes can be high. Learning to deliver presentations to the president of the company is one of the biggest and most unexpected challenges for new managers. Make sure that you are prepared, confident, and convinced that your perspective is a valuable one.
Even if you follow all of these tips, the transition to management can be difficult. Just remember that if it is difficult for you, it will be difficult for the people you manage, too. Give it some time, be self-aware, and seek out help/advice if you ever feel you need it. Find more tips for successfully climbing the career ladder by working with the employment specialists at The Squires Group.Contact our team of elite IT recruiters today for more information!
