Forums

My boss wants to transfer two of my peers to be my directs in about 6 months. I am currently an individual contributor, although I'm the technical lead on this upcoming 3 person project (myself plus these 2 peers). They will not know that I will be their manager for a while. How do I adjust my behavior right now to make the future transition go as smoothly as possible?

Some of my ideas include:

1. Cut down on comments about management incompetence :)

2. Spend more time training and helping.

Any MT resources I missed that already address this topic?

-Victor

430jan's picture

First of all, be very sure that things your boss has in mind right now may change. If you do not have an offer to be a manager in hand then nothing is guaranteed. Be very careful in making an assumption about an offer in the future. If you send off subtle signals that you will be boss and it doesn't happen you will be fried.

1. Cut down on comments about management incompetence :) 

     Yes, this should be happening now. Complaining about your boss is unprofessional (and so easy to do)

2. Spend more time training and helping.

     I would say spend your time right now doing the job you are supposed to be doing. Be the best at it that you can be. Don't worry about being boss. It  may not happen.

Be ready for a big challenge. It is a difficult transition from peer to boss. I have done it. Twice. There is no honeymoon, because everybody knows your weaknesses and for sure they think they can do the job better than you. The ONLY way it worked was to be absolutely transparent about how I planned to roll out the manager tools trinity and learn the new job. Be ready to be humbled by the experience. A few podcasts I can recommend are "jump-starting internal customer relationships" pt 1 and 2

Good luck!

Janet