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Shoutout to the manager who gave me a real choice between two paths
Last year, my boss in Chicago asked if I wanted to lead a small team or keep doing deep technical work. I picked the team lead job because I wanted to try managing people. It was hard at first, especially learning to run meetings and give feedback. Has anyone else made a switch like this and have tips for the first few months?
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oliver_nguyen152mo ago
Honestly, just focus on listening more than talking for the first few weeks. Tbh your main job is to figure out what your team actually needs from you to do their work better. Schedule quick one on one chats with everyone to hear their side of things. Ngl you will mess up some feedback early on, but own it and keep it simple.
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blakestone12d ago
Start with the one-on-ones right away, but keep them short - 15 minutes max - and ask one simple question: what is the biggest pain point in their day. You will feel the urge to jump in and solve everything, but hold off. Your main job for the first two months is to clear obstacles, not to step on their work. And when you give feedback, keep it to one thing at a time, with a concrete example.
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