IT Management Slideshow: Five Rookie Management Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

By Dennis McCafferty  |  Posted 03-31-2011

Mistake 1Failure to delegate

Your rookie manager may think: "Nobody can do it as well as me, so I'll just do it myself."

Mistake 1Failure to delegate

Solution

Emphasize that a manager's primary job is to improve the whole team. Encourage your rookie manager to take small risks. Early successes will build confidence.

Solution

Mistake 2Inability to get buy-in from above

Mistake 2Inability to get buy-in from above

Mistake 2Inability to get buy-in from above

Solution

Help your rookie manager to view senior leaders as partners, not as the "Big Bosses." Empower him or her to lead meetings and elevate his or her visibility.

Solution

Mistake 3A lack of projected confidence in organizational goals or directives

Mistake 3A lack of projected confidence in organizational goals or directives

Mistake 3A lack of projected confidence in organizational goals or directives

Solution

Allow your new manager to express doubts privately. Then encourage implementation as if your new manager designed and owns these goals or directives.

Solution

Mistake 4Tunnel vision focused on day-to-day needs, forgetting the big-picture

Mistake 4Tunnel vision focused on day-to-day needs, forgetting the big-picture

Mistake 4Tunnel vision focused on day-to-day needs, forgetting the big-picture

Solution

Remind your rookie that putting out fires isn't the sole extent of the job. Schedule routine meetings in which strategies are mapped out six months down the road.

Solution

Mistake 5Not welcoming constructive feedback

Mistake 5Not welcoming constructive feedback

Mistake 5Not welcoming constructive feedback

Solution

Discipline your manager to focus only on the needed outcomes that are a result of feedback. Help him or her to avoid letting individual personalities overshadow constructive feedback.

Solution