Recently got promoted to manager of my department. I have 2 employees working for me and expect to hire 2 more. I have no management experience and feeling nervous but excited.

I’d appreciate any tips and advice on how to act/behave to lead a happy, productive, and motivated team.

16 comments

  1. In my job I work really closely with my manager. Now I have a good one that is okay but the previous one was the best ever.
    Just listen to your people, be supportive and understanding, try to fight for them and be open and honest with them.
    Communication is key. Lead by example. Be fair. Be human.

  2. Be a part of the team. Pick up slack. Do the work that needs to be done instead of dumping on subordinates. Be hard when you need to to but be reasonable.

  3. Trusts me enough to not constantly be up my ass. My supervisor trusts me to get my projects done with little to no supervision but he’s there if I have a question.

  4. You don’t have to be their friend, but be supportive, encouraging and have their back when needed/justified. Praise them in public, give them constructive criticism in private. If shit goes south, take responsibility. If the team does something impressive, give them the credit.

  5. Listen to their problems. Your job is to keep them productive and focused on their job, so when bullshit comes up you should dive on that grenade. If there are reports they have to do but hate, help them write them. If tools or parts are missing that they need, that’s you. Build camaraderie. Make your guys feel like they are an important part of something. Recognize good work. Keep meetings short and informal. Instead of checking up on progress, give them opportunities to show off what they’ve done.

  7. Conscientiousness for sure. Or in other words, conservative (non political).

    Organized, dutiful, moral, hardworking, authoritative, leadership. Etc.

    When I look for managers, I look for the least creative but most organized people. I don’t want the manager to be “nice and friendly” to the employees… I want a manager who isn’t afraid to call them out on their shit… cordially of course.

    And the best people are the people who handle their shit and lead by example. A manager should rarely be late, for example.

    It’s their job to make sure the mechanical structure is in order, that all the cogs are turning, tuned, and on time. Someone who isn’t driven to experiment or cause chaos.

  8. I’ve been at a managerial level since I was 19, so I’m rounding out 20 years of experience this year actually…besides just being a decent human being and treating people with the respect they earn from you, my best pieces of advice are these 3 things:

    – know how to do everyone’s job. You don’t have to be an expert at it. However, you can’t expect your crew to respect your opinions if you can’t appreciate their POV by being able to perform the work that you’re overseeing.

    – your title and authority are something to be wielded in only the most dire and extraordinary of circumstances. Lording over your team by playing your manager card every fucking hand is gonna get old for everyone around you at & away from work. They know you’re their boss and you should never have to remind them of you’re good at it. I don’t even have my title in the signature of my email. If a manager is required by someone outside of your organization and your team respects you, they’ll play your manager card for you.

    -have their backs, even when they fuck up. Go to bat, ride or die…and all that other cliché shit. Always do everyone’s you can within reason to protect and care for them. They will repay true loyalty to them 10 fold in the long run if they believe that your heart is in it for them.

  13. some of my best managers that used to be employees were ones who didn’t forget they used to be employees. They didn’t act like they were above and inturn we respected their title. They pulled us to the side when we messed up, held us accountable but it wasn’t about proving who the boss was. The other trait was working as hard as we did. I had two managers and one would sit in the back and let us get slammed with customers while she ate for hours. Think of a 4 hours rush. The other manager would pop out help us to the line in order and then roll back of he needed to do stuff back there for the store. In closing he would cut some of our trips in half but at minimal bringing stuff out we needed so it felt like a team.

  14. Helping you employees understand exactly how something needs to be done and help them when they need and and that you look out for them

  15. Telling someone to do something but phrase it like they’re doing you a favor like “Can you go take out the trash” as opposed to “Ima need you to take out the trash/ Hey you need to go take out the trash” idk the psychology behind it but I’m sure there’s something there to say about how people even if they don’t have an option make it seem like you’re wanting them to do it and not telling them to do it.

    Also prop them up for good work and also don’t give them shit if they’re fucking up and be mean about it, get onto them but if something as simple as like get back to work there’s no need to be rude about it

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