Line Management? – Top 10 Tips
So what is line management and what are line managers supposed to do? These hints and tips are our version of giving you a mini-roadmap.
Line Management Tips – Ten Top Line Management Hints and Tips
So what is line management and what are line managers supposed to do?
Becoming a line manager can be both exciting and daunting, like entering new territory without a map.
It’s an adventure, and it’s also stepping into the unknown.
These hints and tips are our version of giving you a mini-roadmap.
You’ll still have to do the navigating, but our pointers will help you make better decisions.
If you can focus on just a few of these hints and tips, you’ll go a long way to becoming an excellent line manager.
These Line Management Tips have primarily been written for people in their first-line management job, but if you’ve been a Line Manager for a while and are looking to refresh your skills and qualifications, there’s some good advice here for you as well.
- 1. Don’t Panic
- 2. Be a Great Listener
- 3. Scope Out the Lay of the Land
- 4. Get Your Team On-Side
- 5. Notice the Small Stuff
- 6. Identify What Support You Need
- 7. Accept You Don’t Know Everything…..Yet
- 8. Don’t Pretend – Full Stop
- 9. Take a Lunch Hour
- 10. Enjoy the Job!
1. Don’t Panic
Okay. We know, it’s perfectly understandable if you have panicky feelings alongside the excitement of your new position.
Panic, however, means your attention is on yourself rather than on your new team. The more you focus on how you feel, the less time you’re spending on learning what’s up with your people.
2. Be a Great Listener
One way to draw your attention away from yourself is to ask your team members open-ended questions, give them the space to respond, and allow yourself time to listen to their answers.
Even if there’s something you’d like to say right away, hold on to the thought without speaking it so your colleagues have plenty of space to articulate their thoughts.
You need to listen to understand rather than listening to respond with your own views.
3. Scope Out the Lay of the Land
Often, new first-line managers are thrown into the deep end and expected to swim, which frequently results in ineffective flailing around.
Always take time early on to understand the dynamics of your team, how the team fits into the whole organisation, what management’s expectations are for the team, and what you think is realistic in terms of goals and productivity.
Even if you were originally a member of the team and got promoted to lead it, the perspective will be different, and you will give yourself a great gift if you flail less and observe more.
4. Get Your Team On-Side
This goes hand in hand with Be a Great Listener. The best way to gain your colleagues’ buy-in is to listen to what they have to say and then share your observations and aspirations for the team with them.
Invite their thoughts and avoid dismissing any ideas out of hand (even if you think they’re rubbish).
Good stuff can come out of rubbish! Be clear about what you’d like the team to achieve and acknowledge what they bring and what support you can offer.
5. Notice the Small Stuff
Too often, line managers only acknowledge team members when they go above and beyond. However, if you want your team onside, pay attention to and praise the day-to-day.
This isn’t mollycoddling (as one first line manager we worked with told us), but showing that you notice the everyday effort people are making.
6. Identify What Support You Need
This bit is very easy to overlook. You can be so busy getting things done and ensuring that other people get things done that you overlook your own support needs.
Everyone needs support, and it isn’t an indication of weakness; just the opposite, in fact.
A good line manager sets an example, and if you let others know you can’t do it on your own, they will be more likely to let you know when they need help.
You should consider getting some line management training; it will really help. Line Management Tips are all very well, but we also offer a brilliant line management course that you could try.
7. Accept You Don’t Know Everything…..Yet
First-time Line Managers often feel an immense pressure to know everything about their new job right away, particularly if they’ve been promoted from the team they used to be a part of.
Give yourself a break and take enough time at the beginning to clarify what you don’t know; try not to pretend that you do.
8. Don’t Pretend – Full Stop
We’re not great fans of ‘fake it till you make it,’ as one of the biggest fears of new first-line managers is that they’ll be ‘found out.’ Classic Imposter Syndrome.
If you let colleagues (both above and below) know what’s going on for you, you are much better able to manage expectations, both other people’s and your own.
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9. Take a Lunch Hour
Part of your line management responsibilities is to role model behaviour.
If you don’t take lunch (and breaks throughout the day), your team members will be less likely to do so as well. They’ll eat at their desks or take shorter breaks because of your possible disapproval.
It’s healthier all around for all of you to get out of work mode during the day.
You don’t even have to switch off if you don’t want to; you do need to challenge the belief that non-stop working is more productive.
It isn’t.
10. Enjoy the Job!
On occasion, you will likely need to remind yourself that there is a fun aspect to the job, as well as the more demanding aspects.
A great line manager can create a great team of motivated colleagues: the more you enjoy the job, the more your team members will too.
Jo Ellen Grzyb
Director, Impact Factory
Listen to our How To Excel as a New Line Manager Podcast
Read What is Line Management? – What does a First Line Manager do?
