First time manager tips: how to start well

Updated November 9, 2026

Your job is no longer to do the work, it is to get the work done through other people. Meet each person on your team one to one in your first two weeks, agree on what good looks like, then keep a short weekly conversation with each of them. Most new managers struggle because they keep doing their old job and leave their people guessing.

What to do

1. Hold a listening tour. In the first two weeks, book 30 minutes with each person and ask three questions: what is going well, what gets in your way, and what should I not change.
2. Ask your boss what success looks like. Get the two or three results you will be judged on in six months, in writing if you can.
3. Set clear expectations. Tell each person what you expect from them, how you like to be updated, and how quickly you will answer them.
4. Talk to each person every week. A short, regular conversation about goals, blockers and recognition. See how to run a one on one.
5. Hand off your old tasks. List what you still do from your previous role and pass at least one item a week to someone on the team.
6. Give feedback early and small. Say what you saw and why it matters within a day or two, good or bad, instead of saving it for the yearly review.

What to say

In your first team meeting, say something like this:

I'm new to this role and I want to get it right. Over the next two weeks I'll sit down with each of you for half an hour. I want to hear what works, what slows you down, and what you'd hate to see me change. I won't make big changes before I've listened.

Avoid

• Changing processes in your first month before you understand why they exist.
• Staying the best individual worker on the team and becoming the bottleneck for every decision.
• Cancelling one to ones when you get busy: your team reads it as "you don't matter".

Questions