Congratulations! You put in the extra effort, showed your worth, and got the promotion! You are now in a new chapter of your career. This is the first month of the rest of your life, so we’ve compiled some tips to help your well-deserved transition. Pop the champagne and celebrate, then roll up your sleeves and take a look:
Introduce Yourself - As soon as the celebratory hangover’s worn off, it’s easy to feel the need to put the pedal to the metal. But breathe, take a beat, and greet the gang, even if they’re already your team. Branch out beyond your nest to connected teams and managers, too.
Begin Building Trust - Laying those first interpersonal bricks of trust is so simple: grab a coffee or lunch, start scheduling 1:1s, keep it easy for open conversation. Even if you were promoted within, right now is an adjustment period for your team, give them every reason to believe they can count on you as their leader.
Share - Sharing is truly caring, an attribute of terrific teams. Lead by example by breaking the ice yourself, divulging your goals, reflect on the path that led you here, and even get vulnerable about what’s daunting about your new role. Develop a comfort level for others to open up.
Learn By Doing - Blindly leading is not leading at all; to truly guide your team to excellence you need a full understanding of what they do. Humbly allow your new reports to be the teachers, showing you the ropes of their day to day, while learning each person’s strengths and frustrations.
Let It Be Messy - Learning the ropes doesn’t come without a few callouses. Maybe you pull on the wrong one or give another too much slack. That’s okay! To untangle the knot you’ve inherited takes unstructured exploration; come with an open mind to find the starts and ends.
Take Notes - During this crucial period, treat your notebook and trusted apps (like Trelliswork!) like a third appendage. Take so many notes the team starts teasing you about it. They’ll be pleasantly relieved when you spin these tidbits into a cohesive operation plan and strategy.
Begin Making Your Plan - WIth the Team - And don’t surprise them -- when the wheels start spinning, it should be “All aboard!” This is your journey together, after all. As those ah-ha moments come, keep repeating earlier steps: build trust, share, get messy. Things will refine in time.
Embrace Feedback - Relax and let the firehose wash over you. Not only will you be hearing from your own manager about how you’re rolling out, you’ll undoubtedly be hearing a lot from the team about their operational visions, plus colleagues with their insights. Set your ego aside.
Have a Team Meeting - Once things are starting to gel, get everyone together for a team meeting. The confidence you’ve been building one-on-one with the members will shine through. Share what you’ve been learning, where the team is headed, and leave room for conversation.
This first month is all about establishing the groundwork for the future ahead -- not just yours, but your whole team’s. Everyone’s experience in this space is different, feel free to take our advice as a blueprint as you map out what works best for you. The main takeaway is: communicate, and communicate often, and you’ll be ahead of the game. Cheers!
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