Reflections on Being a Manager for (Almost) 2 Years

Learning and Improvement Leadership

It’s been almost 2 years since I became a line manager and I’ve learned a lot in this journey so far.

I have found this role both challenging and rewarding. There were some things that surprised me when it came to managing people and others that were fairly expected.

In this post, I want to reflect on starting at a new career ladder (so to speak) and hopefully help someone else who may also be new to line management or is thinking of stepping into a line management role. I’ll be focussing on a few things I have learned along the way.

So in no particular order…

Sometimes Follow Ups Are Needed

I’ve done my best to make sure that I stay well-organised and have systems in place to not let things fall between the cracks (or they say in Swedish “mellan stolarna”/“between the chairs”). I schedule reminders for things that can only be done at a certain time and have daily to-do lists and monthly tasks as well.

When I attend or facilitate meetings, I also make sure I’m clear on which actions are on me and by when they need to be done (if applicable).

But sometimes, I forget.

I’ve told my team to feel free to follow up with me when needed and not to worry about bothering me. This change of perspective has also meant that I know I sometimes need to follow up with the manager I am reporting to.

I don’t think needing to follow up with someone from time to time is a bad thing.

It’s a whole other story though if someone makes a habit of forgetting and you start to make a routine of following up.

Mastering the Art of a 1on1

I’ve read books on management, done some courses on management and leadership and also asked for advice from more senior managers.

I think 1on1s are extremely important because as a manager one of the most helpful things you can do for someone who reports to you is give them your individed attention on a regular basis. It also means that if they need support with something (whether it is help doing a task, or need some sort of approval etc.) then they know that we can talk about it at our 1on1 (if not before then).

This is something I am still working to improve on and I’m probably going to go back to some of the resources I used in my first few months of becoming a manager and remind myself of the things I learned.

Building Relationships With People in My Team

It did take me some time to build relationships and trust with the team members in my team, and the time lengths needed to do so varied.

This was also easier with some people than others - this isn’t a reflection of what I thought of anyone, but more of how different i was more different to some people in my team more than others.

Now, I am proud of how far all of these relationships have come and I do my best to continue to invest in those relationships and maintain that trust.

How Do I Know If I’m Doing a Good Job?

As a software tester, it was a lot easier to know if I was doing a good job. (I even created a video on this topic)

But as a manager, I feel that it gets a lot harder to answer this question.

It’s forced me to take a more zoomed-out perspective on things to see how I am doing, and how I can improve.

I also need to reframe the question and ask myself:

Here are some of the resources I used to learn about becoming a manager and that I think helped me along the way:

Books:

Courses:

Learning and Improvement Leadership