HOW TO SURVIVE YOUR FIRST FEW WEEKS AS A MANAGER

To help you survive during your first few weeks as a supervisor, try the suggestions presented in the following pages. They can help make the difference between a sound, easy transition and a needlessly difficult one that will cause you problems before you can show your real ability. They may get you through the crucial period when people's reactions to you may be the most critical.

Use Your New Power in a Sensitive Manner

You may think it can't happen to you, but sudden authority has a strange way of inflating your feelings of self-importance without your being aware that it is happening. Guard against this danger by neutralizing your new power with a strong dose of humility. Keep reminding yourself that you are basically the same person you were before you became a super visor. You must now succeed through the efforts of others, but you do not want to abuse your new authority and create hostility in those who must now look to you for leadership.

Be Patient with Yourself

Your first days as a supervisor may be hectic. You will likely face paperwork and deadlines you didn't expect, meetings that will gobble up your time, and problems you didn't anticipate. At the same time, you may become impatient because you want to try new things right away. Relax. Back away. Try taking the long view. You may wish to confide in a fellow supervisor or with your supervisor. Support from others you trust can help you deal effectively with change.

Decide to Be a Professional

The only way you will be happy as a supervisor is to satisfy your belief that you are effective. Personal pride will come only after you feel comfortable with your new role—not before. Recognition from both your employees and superiors will signal your arrival.

Stay in Close Contact with All Employees

The temptation to please management by increasing productivity may cause you to be less sensitive to the people in your department and their problems. This insensitivity would be a serious mistake. Despite all your pressing new responsibilities, it is important that you take time to make personal, positive contacts with each employee in the department during your first few weeks as their supervisor, regardless of whether you were promoted from within the department or were brought in from outside. These contacts can be accomplished through brief stand-up conversations, by coffee-break talks, or by invitations to talk things over, depending on the number of employees, the time available, and other circumstances. The purpose of each contact is to let each person know that you appreciate her or him as an individual. It is your responsibility to initiate the contact and build the relationship.

Make Changes Gradually

Sudden change scares many people. Unless management demands immediate changes, it is best to get used to the way the department operates before introducing major innovations. When you are ready to make changes, explain them to the people who will be affected by them. And remember, people are more motivated to make changes when they have been involved in the planning of the change.

Watch the Up Side—Protect the Down Side

Naturally you will want to satisfy your superiors during your first few weeks because you must earn their support. In doing so, however, be sure to protect those who work in your department. Don't pass on to your people the sudden pressures you feel from above. You must act as a buffer and keep your frustrations and disappointments to yourself if you are to keep a smoothly operating, productive department. Your job is to make the work of those in your department easier, not harder.

Save Some Planning Time

The hustle and bustle of being a new supervisor may cause you to spin your wheels and try to operate without a plan. You may spend too much time moving in one direction and not enough in another. You might solve one problem only to discover that a problem having a much higher priority has been neglected. Take the time to think and plan. Evaluate yourself and your performance on a day-to-day basis. If you cannot find any time for planning while you are on the job, do it at home.

Redefine Your Workplace Friendships

It is possible that some of your close on-the-job friends may try to capitalize on a previous personal relationship now that you are a supervisor. In other words, they may seek preferential treatment. Do not permit this manipulation. Your first responsibility as a supervisor is to keep all relationships with your people fair and equal. If you violate this principle at the beginning, you may jeopardize the respect and confidence you receive from others.