CHALLENGES NEW MANAGERS MUST CONQUER

Struggling as a Manager?

Its tough to make the transition from an individual contributor who does the work well, to a leader who must continue to do the work plus lead others. Many first-time managers feel that no one understands what theyre going through and find themselves struggling as a manager.

The numbers prove it: 20% of first-time managers are doing a poor job, according to their subordinates. 26% of first-time managers feel they werent ready to lead others to begin with. Almost 60% say they never received any training when they transitioned into their first leadership role. No wonder 50% of managers in organizations are rated as ineffective.

Our researchers found that those new to managerial roles often struggle at making the identity shift needed as they transition from being an individual contributor doing the work themselves, to a leader of others in doing their work. As outlined in our white paper, that these are the 12 most common challenges of management especially for those who are new to leading others and the skills needed to tackle these common challenges.

1. Leading former peers.

First-time managers often find it difficult to transition from being a friend or colleague to being a superior, all while maintaining positive personal relationships and gaining respect. New skills needed include influencing others, managing, and coordinating employees who arent in their direct line of authority.

2. Balancing the new workload.

First-time managers must learn to be leaders while still being productive employees themselves. New skills needed include time management, stress management, relationship management, and industry-specific expertise.

3. Driving team achievement.

First-time managers must provide leadership and guidance to their team when directions and expectations are unclear, a challenge thats magnified when leading hybrid teams. New skills needed include the ability to give directions to team members and monitor the teams work to stay organized and meet deadlines, the ability to build and lead a team, and the ability to maintain or enhance team chemistry.

4. Navigating the organization.

First-time managers now must learn to assert their opinions to upper-level management, including speaking for their subordinates or department. New skills needed include gaining visibility with upper management; gaining an understanding of the companys corporate structure, its culture, and politics; and navigating organizational change for themselves and their team. Those without strong political skill may find themselves struggling as a manager.

5. Motivating and inspiring.

First-time managers must be able to motivate both direct and non-direct reports. New skills needed include the ability to inspire others to complete assigned work, to encourage them to meet or surpass expectations, to understand and boost employee motivation, and to be able to communicate the vision of the organization to subordinates.

6. Holding people accountable.

First-time managers must overcome discomfort with giving different types of feedback, especially negative feedback, and this can feel even trickier when it involves managing remote or hybrid teams. New skills needed include holding subordinates accountable for their actions and effectively dealing with employees who lack ability, knowledge, or experience.

7. Coaching and developing others.

First-time managers are now in the position to develop subordinates knowledge, skills, and abilities. New skills needed include mentoring team members in their career development and holding coaching conversations with their people. For most new managers, a focus on developing employees is new.

8. Communicating more effectively.

First-time managers must be able to span boundaries and communicate with people across all levels in the organization, including team members, superiors, and peers in other departments. New skills needed include keeping lines of communication open, learning how to communicate to achieve the best outcome even (and especially) when that message must be delivered as a virtual communication and effectively setting goals and expectations with subordinates and superiors. Communication is one of the most important skills for leaders.

9. Delegating and trust-building.

First-time managers need the ability to identify which tasks can be done by themselves, versus which tasks can be given to subordinates. New skills needed include giving up control; knowing when to interfere or assist team members without micromanaging or taking over a task; and trusting others on the team to do the work for which the first-time manager will ultimately be held responsible.

10. Resolving interpersonal conflict.

First-time managers must proactively and reactively resolve conflicts between group members. New skills needed include identifying and addressing smaller issues before they turn into larger conflicts, mitigating conflict once it occurs, and dealing with resistance from team members. Confronting problem employees is often especially challenging for new managers.

11. Connecting across differences.

First-time managers must be able to work effectively with and lead employees who have different opinions, personalities, backgrounds, and abilities. And leading with a focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion requires that they be able to understand others perspectives, as well as how aspects of their own identity affect the way they lead. New skills needed include the ability to adapt their behaviour based on the ways in which different people work and showing sensitivity and compassion when leading multicultural teams.

12. Prioritizing competing demands.

First-time managers must learn to hold competing interests in mind and discern how they align with organizational goals. New skills needed include the ability to manage paradox and understand how to balance competing tensions, moving from a mindset of either/or to one of both/and.

QUESTION 1

The article has provided an assessment of the challenges that a manager will encounter in an organisation, analyse the statement below found in challenge 8 (communicating effectively):

First-time managers must be able to span boundaries and communicate with people across all levels in the organization, including team members, superiors, and peers in other departments. New skills needed include keeping lines of communication open, learning how to communicate to achieve the best outcome

Evaluate how the statement above will impact each of the elements of the micro- environment if properly managed, provide benefits for each element evaluated.

QUESTION 2

After reading the article, explain and evaluate how the FOUR (4) Factors of Production will be affected negatively if the challenge 4 (Navigating the organization) is not managed properly. Provide examples to describe problems of each factor affected and a solution to each problem.

QUESTION 3

Provide a basic definition of Planning, leading, organising, and controlling (POLC) and show how each management function can be improved if challenge 7 (Coaching and developing others) is properly applied in the organisation.

QUESTION 4

Assume you are a senior manager in the Human Resource department, Implement the FOUR (4) Steps of the control process in the Human Resource department. Explain how each step will benefit within the department if challenge 6 (Holding people accountable) is managed properly and provide examples how this will improve the overall performance of the organisation.

QUESTION 5

Your organisation has achieved success after implementing the control process in question four and now the CEO of the organisation wants to expand the company infrastructure by opening another branch. The CEO of the organisation has approached you as a senior manager to explain to him any FIVE (5) objectives of entrepreneurs and how this can be successful if challenge 5 (Motivating and inspiring) is managed properly in the organisation.