For a manager, taking over a new Team is almost the same as switching jobs. It surprises me that there is so little guidance for managers to make the transition successfully. I have made such a transition several times and wanted to summarize for a future me!

Understanding the challenges

An individual contributor will likely be promoted to management when they demonstrate attention to results, ability to align everyone and a self-effacing personality. These qualities are observed by their former peers, so the manager builds the Team's trust and respect over time. However, a new manager doesn't get the same time when expected to continue or improve the results.

The manager needs to gain knowledge of the system, the professional history of the Team members, and the processes the Team follows. If the manager was hired externally, they may need time to understand the organization's culture, which is essential to support a Team successfully.

The manager is expected to overcome these challenges and start making decisions under more uncertainty than they may be accustomed to.

If this is a new position, the expectations may need to be clarified or likely to change if the manager's manager changes due to a reorganization or acquisition/merger.

Building on the advantages

The manager is in the new position because their manager believes they are ready to shoulder the responsibility. Due to this, new managers can take advantage of asking as many questions as they can while they are still onboarding.

A new manager doesn't have the baggage of the individual contributor promoted to management. The latter often struggle to manage a dual set of expectations with their Team - their manager in the office and pals outside.

The lack of knowledge can also be a strength because the manager brings fresh perspectives. They tend to take on a coaching rather than a mentoring approach. The coaching approach can help Team members take more ownership and solve their problems by creating solutions independently.

If you are a new manager for a Team, you can build on the advantages by considering the following.

Not the replacement Manager

Your Team may expect you to react to situations like their previous manager. These expectations are difficult to handle when Team members benefit in some way from those reactions. When you don't respond similarly, they may be grumpy at not getting the same benefits.

You can't fall for it. You should comfortably apply your judgment, talk to your peers and manager, and act appropriately. You need to align your actions with the organization's expectations.

Meeting stakeholders and coworkers

Preferably within the first two months, meet with your stakeholders and coworkers. Meet your direct reports one-on-one, the Team in small groups of "skip-levels," squads, or disciplines. For individuals, understand how they came into this job, their prior experience, current and previous skills, and what they want to improve or learn. This understanding is valuable for performance reviews. If restructuring happens soon after you join, and you need to find Team members with different skills, you can refer to this information. Read documented feedback, but be careful of offhand feedback from departing managers - the Team member may or may not be aware.

When meeting stakeholders for the first time, do not wait till you think you have a meaningful agenda. Your intention is to introduce yourself before you need to solve a problem with them down the line. For a simple agenda, you can introduce yourself and your foreseeable responsibilities. Then, understand the risks and opportunities in their areas of specialization. This agenda is quickly covered in 25-30 minutes, and you will have valuable information to strategize later.

Establish regular communication with your direct reports and the Team you are responsible for within the first two weeks.

Onboarding process

Use the same process and materials as everyone else who's new to the Team, but compress the time and skip the lowest level details based on how much breadth needs to be covered. Dive into this learning and request that your colleagues help you learn quickly through special sessions. You'll invariably need to spend time outside the job to learn, at least within the first 90-120 days.

When the Team is new

Sometimes, you, as the manager, may have been the first member of the Team and then proceeded to hire or assemble the rest of the Team. In this case, you may have the most context and knowledge of the system, processes, and culture. The key is to get out of the Team's way as soon as feasible.

For example, initially, you could be a mentor doing code reviews, acceptance tests, architecture reviews, user stories, and so on. Over time, you delegate, build together, or review. You can occasionally research on your own.

Always build together when you feel the Team needs to learn appropriate knowledge or gain clarity before you can delegate. Creating a skeleton solution, doing the heavy lifting, or doing anything to toss a half-finished solution over the wall to the Team to add the finishing touches is a bad idea. They need to understand the problem-solving process rather than augment a solved problem.

Curiosity

Suspend immediate judgment, stay curious, and build relationships over processes. There's lots of whitespace when taking over a new Team, which can increase in case of organizational changes. Your relationships will help you in those situations because the organization will understandably not have structure and processes in that phase.