A Guide to Manager Roles & Responsibilities for the New Managers?

Pride! Excitement! Expectations! Apprehension! 

These must be just some of the emotions you went through as you got called into your senior’s office and got thumped on the shoulder with a “well done” and a promotion letter handed to you. 

Getting promoted to a managerial role is a great way to have all of the efforts you’ve put in for the company to get validated and recognised. This is your moment to shine. However, while you may have done your best and are the best at what you do, settling into a manager’s role requires a load of new skills. 

This may seem like a bit a stretch to you. After all, your job title seems straightforward enough! You’re a manager, so you will manage. Nothing so “new” about that. You’ve seen your manager do it, and you know what to expect. 

While watching your manager do their job will have given you a few insights into what to expect, there is a whole world out there that you are yet to see, and in this case, MANAGE.

Here are some key aspects that will define your new role as a manager and how to go about doing it:

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1. Managing Your Team

This is one of the first visible changes you experience as a manager. From being an individual contributor, you are now responsible for the work of your entire team.

Keep in mind the 3Ps – People, Process, Product. Bring out the best from your people, using the right processes & tools, in order to deliver the product that the customer expects.

Here’s what you’ll need to do to manage your people effectively:

Communication: 

This is the most important quality required in a manager. Without adequate communication, your team’s effectiveness will be limited. Regular team meetings help in setting the direction and expectations. It’s a two-way communication mechanism in that team members too can share their updates and concerns. While this all sounds very official, make sure you have frequent interactions with your team. This helps to build rapport and is also an opportunity for you to feel the pulse of your team.

Team development: 

You need to ensure your team is well-trained to perform their tasks. Proactively, identify their technical or behavioural training needs, send them for relevant training programmes, and also monitor the effectiveness of those training in helping your team perform better.

Hiring and firing: 

That’s right, you will be conducting interviews! While your organisation may have a dedicated recruitment staff, interviewing potential candidates for an open position in your team will be part of your job. Interviewing someone is an art, and your skills in this area will develop with experience. There will also be times when you will have to play devil’s advocate and recommend the termination of an employee. Make sure you go about a professional and tactful way when terminating an employee.

Conflict resolution: 

When you have different individuals with varied skills and temperaments working together, sparks are bound to fly at some point! This is nothing unusual. Resolving conflicts within the team will require your skills of negotiation and persuasion. If a conflict occurs, you should address it immediately and tactfully without being harsh on either of the persons involved.

2. Managing Your Customers

All the work that you do is ultimately for the benefit of a customer. This could be an external customer – your clients, or it could be an internal customer – your colleagues. Exceeding the expectations, of both types of customers, is equally important. Here too, communication plays a major role.

Build a healthy working relationship with your customer such that they develop trust in you. Keep them updated on the progress of deliverables through regular status reports and meetings. If you anticipate any delays, inform them well in advance. If there is any bad news that impacts the customer, make sure they hear from you, along with an action plan to fix it.

Managing customer expectations is yet another crucial aspect of managing customers. Quite often, you’ll find that in spite of putting in a lot of effort, a customer is unhappy with what you’ve delivered. This happens when there is a mismatch between what you thought the customer wanted and what they were really looking for. You can avoid such situations by setting the expectations up-front, being clear about customer’s requirements, and regularly communicating about what you are doing for them.

3. Managing Yourself

While a managerial role brings in a lot of new responsibilities, it doesn’t bid farewell to the tasks you took on to the past. It is very easy to get caught up in meetings, reporting, presentations and so on which take up most of your time as a manager. To ensure that you don’t burnout, you can take up training in various aspects such as, ‘the art of giving feedback’, ‘conflict resolution’, ‘leadership styles’, ‘quality management’, ‘dynamics of team management’, ‘time management’, ‘negotiation’ and so on. You must also keep updating yourself with the latest developments in the field.

Identify your management style and ensure that it fits in with your organisation’s culture. If you see a mismatch, you must adapt. Continuing with what you are comfortable with, against the organisation’s culture is a sure recipe for disaster.

Pro tip: Find yourself a mentor. It’s best if it’s someone within your own organisation. This person can be your sounding board and guide you as you grow into your new role.

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4. Managing Your Boss

Yes, you read it right!

This is an aspect that not many managers are aware of. While it may seem condescending, ‘manage your boss’ simply means to know your boss’ expectations from you, be proactive and supportive!

Imagine there is an issue that has impacted your customer. Your boss would be caught totally unprepared if the customer calls them up first thing in the morning and questions them on the issue. You must be the first one to break the news to them along with an action plan to resolve it.

5. Training your Employees

Managers are usually in charge of training new employees as well as those who have been promoted to a higher level. They’re usually in charge of instilling new processes and procedures in their team. The best managers are often those who are personally engaged throughout the training process, regardless of the type of training. 
Great managers figure out how to incorporate continual training throughout an employee’s time with the company, constantly challenging and motivating staff to improve their abilities. Encouragement, constructive feedback, and regular assessments are all part of this process

6. Organizing your Workplace

A manager’s responsibility is to maintain their workplaces in order for themselves and their employees. This could involve duties like organising employee schedules and assignments, managing the training schedule, properly filing information, tracking goals and achievements, and ensuring that important tools and equipment are well-organized and accessible. 
Managers are in charge of setting up the workspace and optimising employee operations in order to boost productivity. It is the manager’s responsibility to recognise difficulties and develop effective solutions if their team or department is functioning well.

7. Ensuring Smooth Operations

As a manager, you are fully responsible for ensuring that the business’s day-to-day operations are running smoothly within your remit. Budgets, financial duties, and maintaining a positive cash flow will be your responsibilities. Writing a business case for any investment in new products, services, or technologies that will help you grow your firm is one example. You will be responsible to ensure that the staff’s collective output meets quantity and quality standards set by the organisation. Control at each level prevents overall diversion from the quality specifications

8. Managing the Organisation’s Finances 

As a manager, you’ll be responsible for overseeing an organization’s financial health and ensuring its long-term viability. You’ll be in charge of key tasks like tracking cash flow, calculating profitability, managing spending, and generating correct financial data. 

We’ll leave you with an important thought. As a manager you need to understand and embrace the motto – “the buck stops here.” Success or failure of your team is your responsibility. You cannot blame a team member, your suppliers, or unforeseen circumstances, for a failure. Accept responsibility and work towards remedying the situation. This is what differentiates a poor manager from an excellent one.

You, as a manager, are the key to organisational success, whether you’re in charge of overseeing a full company or a specialised component of finance, such as credit or risk management.

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