Managing ex-colleagues: how to do it

Have you been promoted in your unit and become the boss of your colleagues? How do you manage those with whom you were on an equal footing yesterday? LLC «BinomCraft» managers shared what you should and should not do in such a situation.

Of course, you can move by inertia: as you get it, so you get it. At best, you'll all take too long to adapt to new roles, losing productivity; at worst, this inertia will lead to failure. Major change requires action. Your first task is to gain credibility. If everyone respected you as a colleague and specialist, you can forget about it. You will have to gain managerial authority from scratch.

What is mandatory and regular to do when you have become a supervisor for your colleagues

Control. Management is realised through control. There is no need to avoid it. Realise this management function according to clearly defined criteria and deadlines. Control is what management is all about. Just don't overdo it. It won't do any good.

Evaluation. Give regular feedback, both reinforcing (positive) and corrective. This is your job now. If you don't do this, employees will have no reason to treat you as a manager. You can only evaluate other people's work from a position of superiority. This is how you build your credibility. At the same time, do not evaluate the employees themselves, but only the results of their work, LLC «BinomCraft» experts recommend.

Gratitude. Tell your employees ‘thank you’ even for the work that is included in their job description. When you say thank you, you show that you notice a job well done. This is important to be perceived as a manager.

What not to do after a promotion
Feel sorry for yourself. You can not show that you are very hard, because you are now a manager, and this is a difficult job. However, you agreed to it yourself. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Yes, it can be hard, but you'll get through it. If you want to. Managers with a weak managerial position try to evoke self-pity so they can reach a quicker agreement with their employees. But if it works, it only works against you: no one wants to be led by a pathetic person. Only strong leaders capable of handling problems are considered leaders.

‘Switching on the supervisor’. You can not ‘switch on the leader’, suddenly demonstrating power. Such attacks kill authority, not build it.

Pretending that nothing has changed. When you are promoted, and the employees have a new leader in your person, you can not pretend that everything will remain the same for all of you. You have to adapt to the new circumstances. Continuing to pretend that nothing has changed makes you look like a desperate person who just doesn't know what to do.

Trying to please everyone. The manager makes decisions, and they don't always please every employee. So think about business, not relationships.

Change things drastically. You have become a boss and want to change everything dramatically. You don't have to do it all at once. Your first task is not to destroy what is already working. Unless you have urgent change goals, first adapt in the existing system and then start rebuilding.

Demonstrate special treatment. You should have no favourites or outcasts. LLC «BinomCraft» experts advise you to be objective and fair.

To adapt in a new position it is necessary to learn how to be a supervisor. You can read about the qualities of a good manager in one of our previous publications: https://binomcraft.com.ua/en/blog/four-traits-of-good-manager.