Stepping into management is exciting. Congratulations if you’ve just made the jump – no doubt you’ve worked hard for your promotion!
But be warned, making that step up is no easy task. The scope and range of your responsibilities balloon in size, and suddenly you’re no longer judged just on what you do, but on how well other people perform.
Unfortunately, most new managers simply aren’t equipped to deal with their new role. In the UK, 82% of people who become managers haven’t had any formal management training (CMI).
That lack of preparation has real consequences. Without support, 60% of new managers fail within 24 months, often because they never received the fundamentals in the first place.
I apologise if you’re now slightly terrified. But here’s the good news: the skills required to be an effective manager are entirely learnable. I’ve been teaching them for over 20 years.
In this guide, I’ll highlight three of the most impactful and important skills to develop as a first-time manager:
- Core Management Skills
- Communication Skills
- Presentation Skills
What Impact Does Management Training Have?
The data is clear – well-trained managers have an incredibly positive impact on their organisation.
Research from CMI shows that 72% of employees who rate their managers as ‘effective’ feel valued. This creates a more open workplace culture and reduces turnover.
The same study shows that an investment in management training is well worth the cost and time for an organisation. On average, developing managers yields a 23% increase in organisational performance and a 32% increase in employee engagement and productivity.
3 Key Skills For New Managers
Communication Skills
When I open a workshop with new managers, I always start with a simple question: “Whose instructions have ever been misunderstood?”.
It’s an easy way to break the ice because, of course, every hand goes up. We’ve all experienced this before – if not at work, then with friends or family.
But there’s far more to communication than relaying instructions. In fact, it’s less about what you communicate, more about how you do it.
Patterns of communication (the “how”, not the “what”) are the strongest predictor of team performance and success, according to a team from MIT. Meanwhile, active-empathetic listening, a key component of good communication, is linked with employee engagement.
If you want to develop your communication skills, I recommend starting with our CPD-accredited communication skills course. It’s a half-day, practice-heavy session available in London, at your offices, or even online.
You’ll learn theory, and put it into practice with live exercises and role plays. You’ll work on building trust and rapport, telephone skills (questioning, plain language, gaining commitment), and face-to-face techniques (active listening, reading thinking patterns, adjusting style).
Key Takeaway:
- Communication underpins everything else you’ll do as a manager, and the research says it’s the lever that moves the whole system.
Core Management Skills
This sounds silly, but stick with me. To be a good manager, you need good management skills.
Okay, enough of the vague wishy-washy statements. What skills do I actually mean?
You need to know how to:
- Delegate without guilt or guesswork
- Perform 1:1s that actually move the needle
- Provide constructive, useful feedback
- Create an inclusive, supportive environment
- Ask good questions
- Motivate and lead through example
- Manage negativity
- Plan and chair effective meetings
- Identify and remove team blockers
Individually, each of these is a skill. Together, they’re the core competencies of personal leadership, team management, and task management.
The classic mistake that new managers make is simply “doing more” – working harder, working longer. That’s not what your team needs, and it’s not effective leadership.
Instead, focus on creating a structure and working pattern to regularly complete all of the above, and you’ll create the conditions for your team to succeed. That’s leadership.
If you want to learn more about these management skills, please take a look at our Management Training Course. It’s a one-day, highly interactive course, where you’ll practise strengths-based leadership, the SOFA feedback model, motivational drivers, delegation through prioritisation, and far, far more.
Key Takeaway:
- The UK is full of “accidental managers” who fall upwards into a role they’re not suited for. Build out a set of key skills, create a solid structure to use those skills and engage your team, and avoid being one of the 60% that fails.
Presentation Skills
As a manager, you will find yourself regularly leading meetings and presentations.
In my experience, people find these types of experiences a little nerve-wracking, especially if they’re new to it. Research supports that, too. In the UK, 27% of us report being “somewhat scared” of public speaking (YouGov).
But you can learn to control your fears, relax, and even thrive in these situations. And, more importantly, meetings and presentations aren’t all about you speaking for the entire time – they’re an opportunity to engage and create wider team discussions (learn how to make your presentations more interactive).
With that in mind, it’s clear that developing your presentation skills is vitally important as a new manager. You can join our one-day presentation training course to do just that.
You’ll learn how to:
- Calm nerves
- Create a clear, repeatable structure
- Turn dry updates into short narratives
- Add interactive elements
- Plan around audience needs and interests
Key Takeaway:
- The ability to present is an often-overlooked but key aspect of being a manager. Putting ideas across clearly and credibly brings people with you.
Final Thoughts
You will make mistakes as a manager. I cannot stress that enough. That’s just life, I’m afraid, and it’s as true in the workplace as it is in our personal lives.
It’s more important that you can recognise and learn from your mistakes.
Training helps, too. Taking the time to develop key management skills will fast-track you through years of trial-and-error. I’ve taught hundreds of first-time managers, and tightening up the fundamentals covered in this post can generate a noticeable lift in confidence and performance.
I wish you the best of luck on your journey. If you need any further information or support, please feel free to get in touch.