Submitted by rsteck on
in
Forums
I am looking for some advice on announcing a new manager that will replace me.
I have been asked to take on some additional responsibilities, and one of the teams I manage directly today, will have a new manager inserted betwixt me and them.
Two of the five people on the team applied for the position, one backed out on their own, and I plan to let the other one know why they were not selected in person, before any announcements.
The new manager is a current employee that will be promoted from another team.
I was planning on announcing it in our weekly team meeting, but I am having second thoughts. Should I meet with everyone on the team individually, in private?
Thank you.
Been there ...
RSteck,
I've been with this company for seven years, essentially doing two different jobs in the same department. In that time, I've worked for eight different managers. The hand-off of one group of people from Manager A to Manager B is fairly common around here.
Provided you've given the interview / application feedback to the remaining 1-of-5 who interviewed for the position already (and making sure NOT to indicate who was actually selected), I would have a team gathering as close to immediately-thereafter to the application feedback discussion to announce it to the group. It needs to be a verbal (rather than written) thing. And it needs to be as a group so that everyone's getting the information at the same time.
If you tell the 1-of-5 person who the new manager will be, I can almost guarantee you that word will spread like wildfire before you even have a chance to meet with the full group of 5. That 1-of-5 person likely told at least one other person they interviewed for the position so when word comes back that 1-of-5 was not selected, 1-of-5 will likely share this news with their confidant. After that, it's completely out of your hands and "the damage is done."
One of the managerial hand-offs I experienced was to a manager that ... well, he was a through-the-roof-C that none of us really cared for. When Manager A told us we would be going to Manager B, there was a lot of grumbling, moaning, whining about the way he'd treated various members of the team in the past, his horrible communication style, his reluctance to actually do anything, deal directly with anyone, etc. It was Manager A's responsibility to contain and curb the grumbling to prevent "groupthink" from setting in. Thereafter, Manager A checked on each of us one-off (in lieu of actual O3s) to see how we were each processing the news and offer any specific advice possible.
One of my two jobs involved handing off my own team of 8 people to a manager they had worked for previously and didn't really care for. I did it as a group and checked with each individually (in the regular O3) afterward.
My two cents ... for whatever it's worth to ya!
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Thank you! I like the idea
Thank you! I like the idea of the "tell them all at once", followed up with a O3. I have often found people rarely speak up in a group on a subject like this when you say "any concerns".
I'll let you know how it goes.