Need advice: Just got promoted to manage team of 40 people

13 comments

1. Moving to management is tough: it’s a completely different career and skillset than you’ve employed up until now. I’m glad you’re diving into learning new skills, this is a tough one.

   I’m sure other folks are going to offer a lot of resources that you can read. [Lara Hogan](https://larahogan.me) is one I enjoy.

   One other thing a friend of mine tried that he found successful: he got a management coach. I’m not sure if that’s in your budget (or you can convince your employer to contribute), but he found it really helpful to have someone experienced to discuss problems with.

   Congrats and good luck!

2. Here’s a few pieces of mgmt advice that I have considered golden:

   People won’t care about you until they know you care about them. Take some time to get to know each of your 40 people. Take them to lunch 1:1, schedule time 1:1, whatever you need to do.

   It will feel like you are wasting time, because you aren’t actually doing any work… but that is exactly what management is.

   With 40, I would also come right out and tell them honestly that you have 40 people to manage and will not be able to pinpoint each of their problems on your own. You want them to be comfortable coming to you directly and communicating challenges/issues to you so you can do your part.

   Good luck!

3. It’s a mindset shift. The best advice I got when I was promoted from an IC (individual contributor) into management was this:

   As an IC, your work output is your product. As a manager, your people are your product.

   Help them succeed and shine. That is what success looks like.

   Another way I think about it is a weightlifting analogy. As an IC, your job is to lift the weight. As a manager, you’re more of a coach/spotter. They need to lift the weight themselves. But you can prevent disaster by stepping in ONLY as needed and training them to need you less & lift more on their own.

   Also: not all people want to be treated the same way. Emailing the department with praise for a team member causes some people extreme pride. For others it causes extreme anxiety/embarrassment.

   Find out what works for each team member and as much as possible, do that thing. When in doubt, ask.

   Don’t be overly nice but also don’t be overly harsh. I recommend the book Radical Candor for a balanced approach to personnel management.

   Set clear expectations. If you want the work done in a certain way or by a certain date, make that clear. Explain your reasoning. Allow room for pushback/discussion; know when to hold fast and when to yield to reason.

4. What is important to them should be important to you. Might sound trivial but it is key. Take their inquiries seriously but be mindful of those constant complainers that can never be happy.

5. Wow that’s so many people. Way toooo many.

   Your team should be like 8-10 people max.

   I’d find some people under you to supervise smaller cadres and really empower them to make decisions and manage their cohort.

   Also, reflect on bosses you’ve really loved and why. Reflect on those you’ve hated and why. I for one like someone who, like you, knows how the sausage is made and can do the work but gives me space to do it my way. I like ownership.

   I also like a hands off approach. Don’t pester me, or call me out in front of others. Don’t bombard me with 1:1 stuff. Have my back when I have an issue. Support me unconditionally and I will be the best employee you’ve seen, and happy as hell to boot.

6. You need 5-7 leads. You can’t manage 40 people. Meet with that team in a group every week so they all hear the same story. You should stress about quantity while measuring your leads based off their quality.

7. Approach it as a service role.

   See leadership as something you do for your team. A way of supporting them, championing them, making them feel good through sincere acknowledgement and credit. When you speak about your team, use “we” and “us” rather than “I”.

   Try to help them align with work they want to do and are excited about. Then get out of their way and let them approach it how they want. Obviously you have to keep track of progress and keep a schedule, but don’t be a micro-manager. They’re the worst.

   Remember, you are a servant to your team and it’s not about you.

8. Life long manager. CEO, VP, Director, Unit Manager and working stiff.

   Best advice is to break up each day with a 1 hour meeting with your managers and their direct reports. At first keep agenda open. As challenges arise make finding solutions priority number one. Make it a team decision. With you making the final decision and gavel in hand to stop the discussions. Daily spend 4 hours with the other managers. So that’s 5 total hours taken up for your work day. The remaining 3 are blocked for “your work”. Once your process and daily calendar is set these meetings will shrink leaving time for you to critically think about what’s best for the company vision.

   Teamwork makes the dream work. No one is perfect.

9. Be a good enabler: enable your team to do their best work by removing roadblocks, create a community of good communication and openness and empower your team to make good decisions.

10. I peak-managed a team of 45. You will need to rely on your trusted leads to be your eyes and ears, you can’t promise the attention every single person demands, and you have to be at peace with that at some point. But definitely make an attempt to check in with everyone now and then and show some presence and know the pulse of the team. Try to request some team engagement budget if possible, there’s times I’ve had to go out of pocket for lunches, coffee, birthdays, etc but it’s gone a long way to keeping people happy and engaged.

11. Lots of great feedback here about how to make your team happy and productive, which is critical to your success. Also remember what got you promoted, which was creating value for your boss and company. That’s the most important thing you have to figure out how to do now through your team. Agree with your boss on his/her definition of success for you in this new role, document that as your goals, and then set and document goals for your DRs based on those. Figure who your other “bosses” are as well — these are the execs who have a vested interest in your work but aren’t your official boss — and ask them as well what success looks like from their perspective for you in this new role. Be sure to keep all of your boss/es regularly appraised of your team’s progress, and avoid delivering surprises (good and bad).

    Also take advantage of the gobs of free and low cost learning resources out there about leadership and management. HBR and Blinkist are a couple of my favorites.

    Break a leg!

12. Okay so- you don’t manage forty people. You manage five people. It’s going to be very important for you to rely on and trust those five people and to be as clear as possible about who goes to which manager for what reasons and with what information.

    If any of the other 35 come to you you need to be crystal clear about your priorities and aligned with your management to minimize the amount of time you waste dealing with the 35 other people.

    You got the job because you were a content creator but you need to forget that skill set. Being in management you need to spend most of your time handling fundamental office decision making and bullshit so that your teams have clear purpose and the tools necessary to execute on the tasks they need to do every day. You set the expectations based on your knowledge of the company’s capabilities, you make sure the processes for getting it done are clear and accurate, and then you fuck off.

    When the process and goals are in place, the line is “new, different, or dangerous” – I don’t care if things are going well, and I don’t want some bullshit report about the basic tasks people are doing every day. If you want to know whether you should talk to me the answer is you always can but I hired you because I trust you and I trained you to do the work. You don’t need me for the routine stuff you’ve been doing your whole career. You need me when something is new, different, or dangerous and I can coach you though the situation, figure out the solution, and make the call if it’s something that you aren’t authorized or comfortable to handle.

    I talk to managers every morning to see how things are going. (We are in trucking) So it’s, What’s the board look like, how are the drivers doing, how are the trucks? Do you need anything from me and do I have anything for you from our last conversation. If it’s the supply guys then the conversation is what are markets doing, how are you reacting, and is anything big coming up we need to be looking at. Sales team how are the customers how is operations and are they backing you up and do you need me anywhere to show some face to make the customers happy.

    Then it’s what are you doing for the Fourth of July, how’s the family, etc. Keep up with the team and listen to them and make them feel safe and supported. Don’t bullshit them, and don’t let them bullshit you. Be professional but don’t act like a robot.

13. In think the fact that you ask this question already separates you and you probably know what your talking about because you did the job for a while.