Becoming a manager can be a daunting process. One day you’re you working on your own things, trying to impress your boss and suddenly the next day you have people looking to you for the answers!
It can easily become overwhelming. But it needn’t be this way. If you approach managing your team the same way as you would building any relationship, as an iterative process then you’ll do just fine.
Someone once said to me, “you have two ears and one mouth, use them in that proportion”. I think the key to being a good manager is listening. Then using the information you are given to make decisions or make changes or advise someone of the next steps they might take.
Make being a manager an iterative process, you will need to adapt your style depending on the character of the person you are talking to. Focus on what has worked before and build on that.
There is no one way to manage your team, there are plenty of bad ways (shouting, demoralising, generally being an arse!) but to listen, communicate, share your knowledge and experiences whilst listening to the desires of your team for their own careers and you won’t go far wrong.
