How to be a supervisor For Dummies

If you’ve been promoted to management for the first time, you’re probably stoked about your new gig, ready to take charge, and, let's be honest, contemplating how to spend your first new paycheck.

But, if you’re like most, you’re also feeling pretty terrified. While graduating to management is a huge accomplishment, it's also the beginning of a pretty huge challenge. Not quite sure where to start? Get off on the right foot with these steps for a smooth transition.

1. Get Smart

First off, make it your personal mission to learn everything you can—believe me, this is the big key to success as a new manager. Seek out the management tools, resources, and classes that your company offers. Some organizations have formal supervisor training, and nearly all have manuals and HR policies. Read them, digest them, and keep them on your bookshelf.

You should also do some digging and learn more about each of the people you'll be managing. Review their personnel files, their resumes, and their past performance reviews and goals.

2. Find a Mentor

Of course, many of the situations you'll face as a manager aren’t outlined in any manual. How do you deal with a team member who's underperforming? Or an overachiever who you’d love to promote but can’t because of budget cuts?

The good news is, someone else has probably dealt before with any situation you'll face. So one of the most important things you can do is find a mentor, someone with whom you can confidentially discuss issues as they arise. If this is your boss, great. If not, find someone else in your company who can serve in this capacity.

3. Change Your Focus

You’ve likely been promoted because you're awesome at your job. But the crazy thing about your new position? It’s not about you anymore. “Before you were a manager, your number one job was to accomplish tasks,” says Penelope Trunk in 4 Worst Mistakes of a First Time Manager. “Now, your number one job is to help other people accomplish the tasks in an outstanding way.”

This shift is often difficult for first-time managers, but it’s crucial—your performance will be tied to the performance of your team. This means, if your team fails, you fail. And if they succeed? You can take credit, but you have to share it with the rest of the group, or they won’t be willing to do a great job for you in the future.

4. Listen and Learn

Many new managers want to make bold changes quickly to show that they're in charge—and it's a bad idea. Resist this temptation, and instead, take plenty of time to fully understand your organization and team. Set up individual meetings with each of your new staff members to understanding their roles. Ask questions about what they like about their job, the biggest challenges they face, and ideas they have for improving the organization.

Obviously, you can’t please everyone, but saying “I would love to get your input as I make plans for the future” goes a long way in building positive relationships and open communication. And understanding what people’s goals, hang-ups, and challenges are can help them perform at a higher level, which will only serve to help you.

Also let them know that you’re open to listening on an ongoing basis. Whether it’s having an open-door policy or scheduling “office hours” each day, make sure your employees know when and how they can reach out to you.

5. Address Relationship Shifts

The biggest mistake that new managers make? When asked this question, “90% of the women whom we interviewed replied that they tried to be liked,” say authors Caitlin Friedman and Kimberly Yorio in The Girl’s Guide to Being a Boss (Without Being a Bitch). This can be especially true if you’ve been promoted from within and find yourself now supervising someone who used to be at the same level as you.

If you do find yourself now managing a former peer, you must address the shift—immediately. You can’t keep up your twice-weekly happy hours and closed-door lunch dates with your work BFF without feelings of distrust and resentment from the rest of your team. Also keep in mind that, while your former colleague may be happy for you, she may also feel awkward or resentful.

Try starting the conversation with “You know that I value our friendship, but as a manager, I need to make sure that everyone on the team views me as being fair and consistent, so our work relationship is going to change.” Easy? No. Important? More than you know.

6. Be on Model Behavior

Complaining about the boss over cocktails? Showing up 15 minutes late to meetings? Sorry—those days are long gone. As a manager, you'll be looked to as a role model by not only your employees, but also by others in the organization. You can’t expect people to give their best at work if they don’t see you doing it, so be sure you’re always on your A game. This means meeting deadlines, sticking to your word, keeping your personal opinions under wraps, and doing your best to represent your department and organization.

7. Manage Up

Being the boss doesn’t mean you can ignore your own supervisor. In fact, it’s more important than ever to keep her in the loop, since you’ll be reporting the progress of an entire group of people. It’s also important to make sure that the goals you outline for your team are intimately tied to your boss’ priorities. Ask to set up regular meetings to discuss your goals, your progress, and any issues, and how they relate to the organization as a whole. You can only impress your boss with your team’s progress if you're moving in the right direction.

Being a manager is an ongoing learning experience, and it's probably never going to be "easy." But, do your research, set expectations, and shift your focus from the get-go, and you'll be off to a great start.

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At one of my training sessions recently, we had a discussion about being a first-time supervisor. While the group had a tremendous amount of management experience, everyone recognized how hard it can be in that very first supervisory role. Driving home after the session, it got me thinking – what advice would I have wanted when I first became a supervisor?

[Tweet “Becoming a supervisor is about developing your team.”]

So I decided to put together a list:

1. Don’t try to be everyone’s friend. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be friendly. There’s a difference. But it’s not realistic to think that you can be everyone’s friend. Especially if at some point you need to discipline an employee or deliver bad news. This is particularly true if you’ve “moved up through the ranks” and are supervising recent coworkers. 
2. Fair and equal are not the same thing. Employees want to be treated fairly. It’s possible to be fair and not give everyone the same thing. Recognition is a good example. Everyone enjoys being recognized but all people do not want to be recognized the same way. 
3. Ask for feedback and input. You don’t have to know everything. Often we put additional pressure on ourselves by assuming incorrectly that being a supervisor means we need to have all the answers. Being a supervisor means we should be able to find all the answers, not that all the answers are located in our heads. 
4. Learn how to run a good meeting. People complain about meetings all the time. Developing a reputation for chairing a good meeting will do wonders for your career – because people will attend your meetings and participate at a high level. This leads to productive conversations and measurable results. 
5. Find time to relax. Let’s not sugar coat it – most times becoming a supervisor includes extra work. We must be able to effectively manage our workload without getting burned out. Our team relies upon us to be healthy and energetic. Otherwise, we’re a drain on the organization. 
6. Find someone you can trust (and vent to) about work. Sometimes as a supervisor, you will have access to confidential information. And you’ll hear things that can be frustrating. Supervisors don’t always have the ability to share everything with employees. Find a place where you can talk confidentially. It could be human resources, someone at home, or a colleague. Just make sure you can trust that the source will handle the conversation appropriately. 
7. Take every opportunity to improve your people skills. No matter how long you’re in the corporate world, never turn down training. You can even learn something from bad training. 
8. Learn how to say “no” comfortably. The answer to everything is not “yes”. Being able to say “no” when necessary will allow you to keep your sanity. See #5. 
9. Understand how you manage change. Business is all about change. No sooner do we get into our rhythm with a project or process and it changes. Get used to it. Become self-aware about how you personally process change and what resources you need to manage change successfully. Agility is critical. 
10. Master the art of delegation. Remember #8? You do not have to complete every task. You are responsible for making sure the task is completed. But you don’t have to do it all yourself. 

Becoming a supervisor is about developing your team. When your team can effectively do the work, then you can attend training, take a vacation or go to a meeting and the department doesn’t fall apart. That’s the work of a supervisor.

What tips do you have for first-time supervisors? Please share them in the comments.