4 Common Mistakes Every First-Time Manager Makes

It is a huge moment of achievement when you advance to your first managerial position. But the transition is often quite a tricky one. The role of the manager is so different to that of an employee – it’s not merely a case of doing the same job as before. Your responsibilities center on enabling your team to do their best work and ensuring that the machine and processes behind the scenes run smoothly. However, as with any new experience, there will always be some bumps along the way.   

Our leadership training series on first-time managers previously looked at the important traits new managers should look to embody. Now, we’re examining the particular behaviors to avoid. According to research, almost 90% of first-time managers wish they had received more training before transitioning to the position. So it’s our job at SocialTalent to help you navigate around a few of the most common blunders. Let’s get to it!

1. People pleasing
2. Failing to delegate tasks
3. Rewarding hard work with more work
4. Hiring a team just like you

SocialTalent’s Leadership Training is designed to empower all on this journey, from first-time managers, to seasoned CEOs. Take a look!

1. People pleasing

It’s an easy trap to fall into when you become a manager for the first time. Eager to make a good impression on your team and the wider company, you’ll say yes to everything and everyone. We get it, you want to be seen as a positive team player, as someone capable, and understanding. And in this current economic climate, where companies are trying to boost employee engagement figures and devise strategies to retain their best talent, saying yes all the time can seem like the obvious approach to take. But leaning too hard into this desire of being liked has severe drawbacks, such as:

• Increased risk of burnout.
• Becoming overloaded with additional tasks.
• Avoiding taking charge and making difficult decisions.
• Overlooking plans and processes.
• Being resistant to giving honest and necessary feedback.
• Damaging productivity.

Remember, it’s normal and healthy to say no and set some form of boundaries, both for yourself and your team. Without clear structure and sturdy direction, it’s impossible to create a sense of consistency. You need to be able to hold people accountable, have frank conversations, and understand that you can’t always control how other people are feeling. Operate with compassion and you can’t go wrong!

2. Failing to delegate tasks

Failure to delegate is a classic, and something first-time managers routinely struggle with. Afterall, the qualities that secured your promotion – excelling in your role, acute attention to detail, an efficient executor of work – all lend themselves to being a doer rather than a manager. And these desires can be exacerbated by an anxiety to control the outcome of work – something that will feel even more heightened in your new role. 

While it can seem easier to not relinquish the reins, failing to delegate won’t only hurt you (think increased stress, burnout, poor time management, etc.), it also impacts your direct reports. This came up when we spoke  with Kelly Jones, the CPO at Cisco, last year on The Shortlist and she gave us some incredible advice:

Being resistant to delegation can stunt the development of your team. A big part of being a good manager is enabling your team to grow by giving them the opportunity to learn new skills and make mistakes. Constantly jumping in will weaken the trust you’re trying to build with your people and create a frustrating culture of micromanagement. So do yourself and your team a favor – recontract with yourself, as Kelly says, take a step back, and look to be a coach rather than a player.  

3. Rewarding hard work with more work

There will always be those people on your team that you know you can rely on to get the work done. They see around corners, covering off every eventuality, they understand the brief, edits are minimal, and they consistently deliver – in essence, they’re the star performer. So it can be all too easy as a new manager to over-rely on these team members and overload them with additional responsibilities. Perhaps you see it as giving them more opportunity, but it’s a dangerous narrative to follow. Rewarding hard work with more work often just leads to burnout, friction, and a sense that you’re being taken advantage of simply because you’re a high achiever.

In his content on the SocialTalent learning platform around the topic of recognition, New York Times bestselling author, Dan Heath says that it is “the most neglected currency in the organizational world.” And he’s right. A recent Gallup survey showed that only 23% of employees agree they get the right amount of recognition for the work they do. Perhaps this comes down to HOW managers approach this subject of reward? In their eyes, by giving an employee extra work, they believe they are showing acknowledgment. But the reverse is actually true. Dan even talks about this in his training, calling it the “recognition gap” between what leaders think they’re doing, and what’s actually being perceived by staff. He believes that effective recognition makes the employee feel noticed and appreciated for their work. So what can you do?

• Regular shout-outs in company channels at the end of projects or for particular wins.
• Building praise into 1-1s.
• If you are looking at giving someone a new opportunity in recognition, make sure you take something else off their plate.
• Physical gifts or some extra time off to say thank you.
• But most importantly – make sure recognition is done regularly.

Dan Heath was also a guest on The Shortlist – catch his episode below:

4. Hiring a team just like you

An ability to hire well was listed as one of the most important elements of a good manager in our article on the best characteristics every leader should have. But it’s fair to say that new managers will probably have had very little interviewing training or experience to understand how to recruit the best talent for their teams. And one of the easiest traps to fall into is hiring a team that simply aligns to your way of thinking. A lot of this can come from unconscious biases – associations or prejudices that form outside our awareness or control. There are many different examples, like similarity bias where we are naturally drawn to people like us, or halo effect where we let certain positive attributions trump all other information. And we are all susceptible to its effects. But in order to hire the best team, full of diversity of thought, you have to learn how to recognize these biases.

John Vlastelica deals with this topic a lot in his interviewing training for managers on the SocialTalent platform. For him, the steps to overcome bias in the interview process boil down to the following: 

• Don’t make assumptions.
• Focus on evidence gathering, not gut feel.
• Try to screen people in, not out.
• Compare candidates to your hiring standard, not other candidates.
• Be aware of cultural issues. 

It can be tough as a first-time manager to juggle all the requirements associated with hiring. But it’s worth investing the time to get this right. A team saturated with like minded people will always fail to reach the potential of one sparked by diversity and difference.

Looking to learn more about unconscious bias? Check out our in-depth study here.

The final word

Being a new manager is an exciting and rewarding position. But it also entails a lot of responsibility. Sustaining and nurturing a team of people requires exacting skills and dedication – it’s not simply about leading projects and barking orders. There are so many areas where you can trip, but hopefully with our guidance we’ve given you a heads-up to a few of them! 

SocialTalent’s dedicated Leadership Training Solution can give any first-time manager the skills and confidence they need. Chat to our team today to learn more.