Advice: Coming in as director, what to do

[Anonymous]

people don't want to hear that what they have been doing has been a waste of time. that is unless they agree.

from the get go make it about finding a better way or evaluating current duties so they can spend their time learning and doing other more important work. some people will just disagree, they want to do the same thing over and over. make the others your allies.

whatever you do, if you come in saying what they do makes no sense or is stupid it will give them the vibe you think they are stupid or their jobs should be eliminated.

[Anonymous]

30 days: learn

- schedule meet and greets with each staff member
- take them to lunch
- identify their roles
- ask old managers for performance feedback on staff to gauge where the team is
- ask each person what theyd like to work on but arent
- ask each team member to present a deep dive on their area of expertise to get you up to speed

day 30 to 45
- lay out a strategy
- build consensus from the bottom up with your team first
- then allow your team to build each component relevant to their area
- the team, not you, presents to the executives to get buy in

day 45 to 60
- design a strategy to implement
- lay it out with the right resources and alignment
- go back to what you learned in day 1 to 30 and listen to the feedabck you got on what people wanted to work on
- find ways to align the team against interests and skills

day 60
- begin executing strategy
- set up weekly touchbases with each team member
- allow them to present updates to exec staff

thats basically how you do it

[Anonymous]

Well I know what not to do. We had a new director come in last year. NEVER asked us what we currently did and then stuck us all in positions we were a bad fit for. Please sit down and talk to every single individual who works directly for you and ask about what they do, what they'd like to do and for any input they have. You never know, they might have great insight.

Also, something I've always wanted was a suggestions box that could be anonymous.

[Anonymous]

If it were me (I wish) I would do what they do at DH's office: 360-degree reviews. IE, when staff writes their work plan for you, write a work plan for them. At review time they should evaluate how you're doing your job.

My manager at my last job was so uninspiring and bad at managing but she didn't seem to care, and never asked for honest feedback. That's one of the reasons I left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's not enough to be said for establishing trust. It's the difference between having your people stand behind you to support you or standing back there with knives. Trust starts with communication and communication starts with listening. Do the one-on-ones and find out what each staffer thinks they bring to the table and what they feel is most challenging for them. Once you know what's most important to them, you'll know what you need to do to sell your vision and get them to see what their part in it will be--because it's worth nothing if they don't buy into it.

This - when I came in as Director the first thing I did was have one on ones with my staff. And, set them for one hour - but don't schedule anything after (in case you need to go long, don't cut them off).

Listen, without offering any solutions. This is your chance to let them speak their minds about any and all issues they want to tell you about the place without you coming up with soutions. Perhaps lay out some of your big picture management strategy (how you work, how you manage).

I agree 6 months is way to long, 2-3 months max to make changes. You'll be able to see who the "go to" people are from the first couple days.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Congrats on your new position.

When I first became a manager, my mentor gave some spot-on advice. He said "Do not walk in the door with heavy feet!" LOL!! What he meant is that a lot of new managers come in with the "there's a new sheriff in town" mentality. As a result, they alientate the people they were brought in to manage. Think of it this way - your short term success as a manager is determined by getting the people you manage to buy what you are selling.

Come in - have a team meeting and state your overall vision. Observe for a period and have your one on ones. During those one on ones, ask each employee for input. If that input makes sense, implement it. After the individuals, have another team meeting with a revised vision based on your observations and the meeting. The end goal is to give each employee a stake in team success.

GL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never been a director but as an employee I would want you to have a clear understanding of what I do, why and how I do it. I would also want you to seek my opinion on what has been going on and what you seek to do. I would sit down with each person individually to do this. Let them know you value their opinion, even if you don't agree. Nothing worse than a new boss breezing in without asking for the opinions of the people who do the actual work.

Millenial?

[Anonymous]

Show that you are in charge early on. Fear is not always a bad thing.

[Anonymous]

Was promoted to director and many of my peers were not happy about it. I got a lot if push back- but then again, I was younger, newer to the agency etc. What helped was meeting with ppl 1:1, listening to what they were working on, writing out individual goals. I'll be honest, the transition was rough and the staff who were miffed didn't make it easy. Remember you're their boss, not their friend. Sounds harsh but that was a tough one for me.