Being effective in a new organisation or setting

Getting into a new organisation, or role, or department, is much like the process of going to live in another country. You need to learn the language and customs, "the way we do things around here,"  if you want to be taken seriously and have some influence. 

Treat the first few weeks as a learning process, with or without a formal induction. Get a sense of who gets listened too, where the power lines are. 

Figure out what matters to people. If you know what matters to them, what their priorities are, then you can explain what you want or bring in new ideas in a way that will get heard.  Connect with the language and style that you see around you - not by imitating, but by matching in a subtle way. This helps people to feel comfortable with you and able to trust what you say.

what is strategy, really?

Strategic thinking helps us take positions in a world that is confusing and uncertain. You can’t get rid of ambiguity and uncertainty—they are the flip side of opportunity. I liked this comment from an interview with Richard Rumelt 

He goes on to say that we should distinguish what he calls "rolling plans" from strategy. For him, strategy is about exploiting some change in the environment:  in technology for example, or consumer tastes. Strategic planning, he says is opportunity-driven. Our annual 'strategic planning' efforts should be called 'long term resource planning, he says, and separated from the strategic thinking activities that need to respond to change, and respond early.

How does this affect a new manager? Personally, it implies that you should have two distinct ways of thinking about  your future - one 'resource planning' which is your plan for what you'll learn in your new role and how you'll learn it:

 and the other a more 'strategic' approach where you look out for subtle changes in what's taken for granted, for the emerging work  or career opportunities, any straws in the wind that indicate what you need to be ready for.

At work, where does strategic planning and strategy fit in for the new manager? It's the kind of thinking you need  to do as you look around your organisation, think about your team and staff development. Where is the organisation going? where is your part of it going? and most importantly, what are the changes that you need to be aware of? What are your customers saying, for example?  What do the people in your network at work complain or worry about? How is this all changing? If you think in this way from time to time, you can pick up the subtle changes that may affect your team and that you need to be ready for.

As Rumfelt says, Strategic thinking helps us take positions in a world that is confusing and uncertain. 

That applies to most of us these days.

getting started as a manager

When people join the New Managers members group, they are asked what their challenges are. (This is to help us tailor the site to meet what people are dealing with right now.)

When I read them I often feel daunted, and am impressed by their determination and, yes, their courage. It's a big change, moving up to making things happen through other people rather than doing it yourself. Many of us have done it through our lives in small ways, and it's useful to reflect on how we deal with these kinds of shifts: moving from one way of valuing yourself and "getting things right" to a place where thise are less valid and there are a new set of assumptions, standards, guidelines.

membership of newmanagersonline

New Managers Online is moving forward. 

There is more material on the open area of the site which we add to regularly. As well as this, there are the members pages with more information, different ways of learning and new ideas.

You can join now for free and won't be charged ever again!

At the end of this month we'll be charging (a very small amount) for membership.  

Ask a question about your work as a manager and get a reply within 2 days. Join the forum and see what others have to say. Look up subjects like team meetings, conflict, delegating, and many more, to get down to earth advice that really works.

http://www.newmanagersonline.net

dealing with other people's stress

With people worrying about their jobs, their savings, even their homes, you have quite a task as a new manager to keep your staff calm and focussed on the work in hand. You may even have your own stress to manage as well.

For some people a certain amount of stress or anxiety keeps them active and energetic, but for most of us it makes us less effective. What can you do?

Firstly, look after your own state of mind. Do the obvious things - sleep enough, eat the right food, take some exercise. Do the less obvious things too - watch your breathing, making it deep and refreshing, breathing out the anxiety and breathing in a sense of calm: watch your body language the way you sit and stand, staying firm yet relaxed: and watch your voice,  talk pleasantly and clearly. Like the old saying "fake it till you make it," acting calm can help you to feel calm.

Even this can have a good effect on your staff - they'll feel more secure with you. As well as that, be ready to listen to worries without getting caught up in them. It's unlikely that you'll have solutions, but if you help people to sort out their fears and their options they have a better chance of finding some possibilities for themselves.

what's hardest for the new manager?

The transition from "worker" to "manager" is tough and often unrecognised. As well as taking on a new role, it can also mean seeing yourself in a new way. Quite often, what worked for you as an effective team member is not what's needed as a manager. Or rather, those skills and qualities are important - you're probably still a member, of a new team - but you need to take on a new set of skills, knowledge and understanding. And it's important to pick them up or refresh them in a hurry.

This adds to the feeling of stress that many managers feel.

Whatever the new manager finds hardest, the thing that matters most is to be clear - clear about what your team is meant to deliver, clear about the working style that you want to establish, clear about what success looks like.

On the new manager site new members say that they face a variety of challenges: from dealing with a difficult team member to keeping calm under pressure. We're trying to incorporate ideas about the various challenges as they come in.

When working with new managers, I've seen that in many cases they need to learn a different way of thinking, one that focuses on outcomes, both in personal relationships ("how do I want this relationship to be?") and in tasks ("What are we actually trying to achieve here?") This requires some moments of standing back and looking at the situation, including oneself as well as others. Looking at one's own impact is hard but necessary if one is really to succeed as a manager.

new managers

The New Managers site is just about ready, at least the free pages. The members pages are coming on reasonably well too. I'm offering free membership until March (or maybe later) as I want more feedback on the site and to involve more people in the forum.

Now I need to find ways of publicising the site - the more people see it the more useful comments I can get, so as to make the membership something really valuable. Have a look - http://www.newmanagersonline.net

hot weather thoughts

Here in the UK the weather is unusually hot for this time of year. Many offices have air-conditioning or fans, and of course many don't. How hot does it have to be before the building becomes an unsafe working environment? How tough should you be with your team about taking time off, or extending their lunch breaks for some sunbathing in the park? It's sometimes a hard decision to make, between not wanting to seem a killjoy and wanting staff to maintain a professional attitude in spite of the weather.

Managing people older than you

One of the questions that people have asked me, when they are thinking of going for a management job, is "What if my team are older than me? Will someone mind being managed by a person who's younger than them?"

In my experience what people of any age want from a manager is that they manage effectively, that they make it easy for everyone to do their best, and that they show respect for the people they are managing. If the manager focuses on clear outcomes, clear boundaries and the reasons for work being done well and to time, then whether they're older or younger is not very important.

Age is more important in some cultures than others; for some, the fact that a person is older indicates that they should be respected regardless of that they do. In many Western cultures this is not so common, and some groups can feel superior to older people, automatically assuming that they must be out-of-date. At work, however, in whatever culture, it makes sense to respect the experience and reliability that older people can bring, while valuing the energy and enthusiasm that can be brought by younger people.

Check this site for more ideas - http://www.newmanagersonline.net