New to Management? New to Difficult Conversations?

When you become a manager there are a whole load of new skills to learn!  You have been promoted because you have been good at achieving results, hitting deadlines and the task you have been employed to do, eg accountancy, sales, customer relations.

But you have yet to prove yourself good at management!!  Yikes!  I remember that during my first year as a manager I had a cartoon pinned above my desk. It was a cartoon of a terrified bungee jumper and it so clearly demonstrated what I was feeling at the time.  That there was no going back, that I had no idea of what I was doing and that I was desperately hoping I would survive!

Even if you have great support in place with an experienced  boss, mentor or coach, there is no shortcut for actually learning on the job!  And one of the many things to be learnt is now to give feedback to the individuals in your team.  When and how to praise, appreciate and thank.  When and how to bring their attention back to their job roles, how to tell them that they are not making the grade and, dare I say it, how to fire them if they really prove themselves unsuitable for the job.

This series of blogs are designed to be one more support tool for you  –  the new manager  –  in learning how to manage.  It may appear daunting at times but once learnt these skills will never be lost and will last you a lifetime!