“First-time manager?” 

“Yes”, replied the new manager. 

“Congrats on stepping up a ladder, how does it feel?”

“It’s exciting but overwhelming. I’m constantly stretched between meetings, team activities, and I almost get no time to work on my to-do list. I didn’t realise managing people would be this complicated and exhausting…… honestly, sometimes I feel like I’m not the right fit for the role.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I struggle in so many situations. I don’t always know what to do, the conflicts drive me crazy, delegating is chaotic, and I often feel dumb in front of my own team.” 

This is a story of every new manager, especially tech managers and leads. I was once there too. It took countless failures, imposter syndrome and constant learning to master leadership and to become a CTO. 

If you related to the script even a little, this article will help. It’ll walk you through practical tips and tricks on how to lead as a first-time manager in tech. 

Let’s simplify and focus on one thing 

If you hang out on the internet in the section of first-time managers and leaders, you will hear multiple perspectives, challenges, frameworks, ideas, tips, tactics and guides. 

Every single piece aims to help you out, but the amount of information is overwhelming. By the time you close the tabs, you feel more lost than before. 

So, before we get to the listicle part of this article, I want to define one main focus for you as a manager, which is growing and building your team. 

Your success is defined by your team’s success, and your performance is associated with your team’s performance. 

• Solve your team’s problems 
• Resolve the challenges and roadblocks they’re facing 
• Help them improve their skills 
• Ensure the team is aligned with the goals
• And make sure the work is done with the required quality on the required time

Your main job is to help your team function and grow. So whatever you do should tie back to your team. Now, let’s get into some tips on how to lead a team as a first-time manager, keeping the focal point in mind. 

Also read: Time management for new managers and leaders in tech and data

9 Tips to lead a team as a first-time manager

1. Learn people management  

Since you’re dealing with people and your core focus is your team, you need to have a grasp of people management skills. 

Consider communication, conflict resolution, helping a team grow, inclusivity, feedback, handling difficult conversations and being an inspiring and influential leader. 

All such skills fall under people management and are the foundation of management. Work to strengthen these skills, and they will solve 50% of your problems. 

Also read: 5 practical tips to influence at work as a data professional

2. Build trust 

Since you’re new to the team, your teammates will observe you in the first few days. They’ll notice your behaviour and actions to learn about your temperament. They’ll be hesitant at first, which is natural, but it’s on you to build trust and credibility so they can easily communicate their problems with you. 

Start by being approachable. Assure your team you’re all ears and that they shouldn’t hold back their concerns. 

• “We are a team that works together to fight problems.” 
• “If something’s blocking you, we fix it together”.
• “No one here needs to struggle alone. We move forward by supporting each other.”

Such statements set a positive ground and ease the tension between you and your team. 

Also read: What new tech and data leads should do first

3. Lead by example 

You’re in the leading position, and your team will follow you. They’ll mirror your energy, actions, behaviours and values. 

Do you see how powerful that position is? You have the authority to set the tone for almost everything within your team. 

The point is, you should embody the values, discipline, actions and behaviours you want to see in your team. 

Pause and define the kind of team you want to shape moving forward. Write down the actions associated with those behaviours. Besides addressing these values and actions, make an active effort to embody them.

4. Connect the team on shared vision and goals 

As you lead your team, you need to start with a clear vision and goals that fuel the team. 

Share the bigger picture, explain why each goal matters, and show how everyone’s work contributes. When people see how they fit into the vision, they collaborate better, stay motivated, and tackle challenges as one unit.

Also read: The anatomy of a good leadership vision in tech

5. Be aware of your resources and limitations

Knowing your situation helps you make better decisions. 

By limitations and resources, I mean everything from material to human resources and limitations. This includes your software, capacities, bottlenecks, and your team’s strengths. 

When you have the full picture, you can pass on certain tasks to the right people in the team. It increases efficiency and gets the work done faster. Moreover, you can work to eliminate constraints that again benefit the team. 

Also read: What to delegate and what not to delegate for tech and data leads

6. Prioritise 

You will always have a hundred tasks on your plate, and most of them will seem to be important. The key to efficiency is to prioritise based on impact on the business or the team and alignment with goals. 

For instance, fixing a bug that’s breaking the user onboarding flow takes priority because it directly affects revenue and user retention or building a new dashboard for key metrics, because it supports the team’s goal of making data-driven decisions faster. 

7. Help the team grow 

All the points above were ensuring your team functions properly. This one is targeted to the second aspect of our focal point, which is team growth. 

Get to know your team mates’ career ambitions, their weak points and skills they want to develop or improve. You can either coach them on the skills you’ve expertise in, recommend a company training or delegate them the tasks that help them strengthen their skills. 

It will not only advance their career but will also ensure they can handle tasks better and independently, freeing up your calendar. 

8. Be open to trial, error and learning 

No matter how many books or articles you read and how many trainings you’ve attended, there will always be trial and error. There will always be a few things you’ll learn the hard way, by actually being in the situation. Tough conversations, under-pressure situations, challenging technical tasks and everything in between. 

Being a manager doesn’t mean you’ve already mastered the art; it’s a learning phase. The more you focus on your team and help them perform their best, the more you learn and grow as a manager and lead. 

9. Delegate, but don’t sit on extreme ends 

When we enter our management and leadership careers, we find ourselves handling everything on our own. No matter the reason, we stick to certain tasks when we know we should delegate them. 

When we finally internalise the thought of delegating, we either micromanage or totally leave it to the other person. 

Fight the urge to fall into either extreme. Maintain the balance by having an effective check. You can achieve so much by delegating: 

• it takes away from your to-do list, 
• you start relying on your team,
• the team improves, 
• and their skills strengthen. 

If you want to learn how to delegate without making a mess, you will benefit from my guide on effective delegation, where I share a simple process that makes delegating easy for new leads and managers. 

Take one step at a time 

I tried to articulate this wide realm of being a first-time manager, but still, it might feel like too much to do. Take a deep breath, and focus on one thing first. Over time, everything will start to connect, and it won’t feel like a burden. 

If you’re already leading or about to lead your first ever team, I’ve something for you. I’ve compiled my years of experience into one e-book to help new tech leads and managers smoothly navigate their first management/leadership journey. 

This short e-book will give you the much-needed mindset shifts and practical frameworks to manage your team, better communicate with them, delegate your tasks, handle conflicts and much more while helping you manage your own stress and workload. 

Learn more about the Foundations of Leadership for Nerds.