Transitioning from Peer to Boss

You’ve just received your promotion. You’re ready for it, even if you’re not totally comfortable with the new role.

While you may be feeling some butterflies, you’re eager to prove yourself.

It’s easy to take the first steps toward transition to management, but you want to do it thoughtfully and be prepared for what’s to come.

Taking on the role of manager is an exciting and gratifying experience. Helping others develop their abilities, progress as professionals, and attain increasingly ambitious goals can be extremely fulfilling.

When you shift from peer to boss, you shift from doing work to leading others through the process of accomplishing a goal.

The focus moves from doing work to supporting, guiding, and developing others in doing work. It’s a shift from working on a project to overseeing many projects. It’s a shift from working with people you trust to working with people you don’t know or control.

To manage a team successfully requires a shift in mentality and in your approach to your job. You need to reframe your goals and expectations. Your goals shift from being an expert in your job to being a facilitator who helps others become experts in their jobs.

With so much on the line, define your goals for the next year, put together a plan, and take steps to make it happen. Understand the role you’ll need to play as a manager.

The way a manager functions varies from organisation to organisation, but most managers will need to be able to do the following:

• Hire and train staff.
• Maintain a good working environment over time.
• Delegate duties.
• Assign Projects.
• Create a work plan that can be followed efficiently.
• Oversee existing processes.
• Listen carefully and communicate well with clients and co-workers.
• Manage time well from day to day.

People management is a talent that must be honed and mastered. If you aren’t where you want to be in a day, don’t be too hard on yourself.

Finding your management style, seeing what works, and practising and perfecting your talents will take some time.

The key takeaways

People management is a talent that must be honed and learned. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you aren’t where you want to be overnight.

Accepting your job as someone who supports, guides, and develops others can help you make a positive impact on your team.