First-time manager

For people moving from doing the work to leading the people who do it, with the routines a first-year manager needs.

You were promoted because you were good at the work. Now the job is getting results through other people, and some of them used to sit beside you. Many new managers learn this by trial and error, and their teams live with the mistakes. This course follows the first year in the order things usually come up. You change how you measure your own day, run one-on-ones your people find useful, delegate without hovering, set clear goals, give specific feedback, handle someone who is struggling, hire, and work with your own boss. Each module ends with a task you can try with your team the following Monday.

What you'll be able to do

• Audit your calendar and shift your time from doing the work to leading the team
• Run a weekly one-on-one from a written agenda set by your direct report
• Delegate a task with a clear outcome, a stated level of authority and agreed check-in points
• Write goals and expectations for each team member that you can both check at the end of a quarter
• Give specific feedback using the situation, behaviour and impact structure
• Plan and hold a performance conversation with someone who is falling short
• Run a structured hiring round and plan a new hire's first 30 days
• Agree priorities with your own manager and how often you will update each other

Syllabus

Module 1: Change how you measure a good day

Management is a different job from the one you did before. You will see why, and move more of your time to the work only a manager can do.

• 1.1 Your output is now your team's output
• 1.2 What to keep doing yourself and what to let go
• 1.3 Find the real problem: purpose, people or process
• 1.4 Write your first-90-days manager charter

Module 2: Run one-on-ones people look forward to

Set up a weekly or fortnightly one-on-one that belongs to your direct report. Use it to spot problems early, and keep notes so each meeting picks up where the last one ended.

• 2.1 Why the one-on-one is the most useful hour you spend
• 2.2 Questions that get past everything is fine
• 2.3 A shared document that makes each meeting count
• 2.4 Hold and review a real one-on-one

Module 3: Delegate without dumping or hovering

Hand over work with a clear outcome and the right amount of authority, match how involved you stay to each person's experience with the task, and follow up without taking the work back.

• 3.1 Delegate outcomes, not instructions
• 3.2 Match your involvement to their experience
• 3.3 Follow up without taking the work back
• 3.4 Build your delegation plan

Module 4: Set goals and expectations people can act on

Turn the team's purpose into goals each person understands, write expectations clear enough to check, and keep using both through the quarter.

• 4.1 From team purpose to individual goals
• 4.2 Write down the expectations you assumed were obvious
• 4.3 Keep goals alive after the planning meeting
• 4.4 Write a goals and expectations sheet for one person

Module 5: Give feedback that changes what happens next

You'll learn to give praise and correction specific enough to act on, make feedback a weekly habit, and hold a structured conversation with someone who is falling short.

• 5.1 Care personally and challenge directly
• 5.2 Situation, behaviour, impact
• 5.3 When someone is falling short
• 5.4 Documenting performance fairly in Singapore
• 5.5 Practise a hard feedback conversation

Module 6: Keep people motivated and growing

Learn what keeps people engaged once pay is settled, how to spot early signs that someone is losing interest, and how to agree a simple growth plan with each person.

• 6.1 What motivates people once pay is fair
• 6.2 Recognition that people believe
• 6.3 Spot disengagement and burnout early
• 6.4 Write a growth plan with each person

Module 7: Hire and onboard your first people

Run a fair, structured hiring process for a non-sales role, then plan each new hire's first 30 days so they are doing useful work early.

• 7.1 Define the role before you write the ad
• 7.2 Interviews that predict the job, not the conversation
• 7.3 The first 30 days decide how fast someone contributes
• 7.4 Build a hiring scorecard and onboarding plan

Module 8: Lead former peers and manage up

Reset your working relationships with people who used to be your peers. Build a relationship with your own manager based on clear priorities and no surprises.

• 8.1 Your old peers now report to you
• 8.2 Learn what your manager actually needs
• 8.3 Bring problems with options
• 8.4 Write your 90-day management plan

Frequently asked questions

How long does the course take?

About ten hours across eight modules, including exercises. Most people spread it over five to six weeks so they can try each routine with their team between modules.

I do not manage anyone yet. Is this still useful?

Yes, if you expect to manage within a year. You can do the exercises with a practice partner or a composite case, so you start the job with a plan already in place.

How is this different from Leading a sales team: hiring, coaching, forecasting?

This course covers the general skills of managing any team, and the sales leadership course adds quotas, pipeline reviews, forecasting and pay plans. Sales managers often take this one first and that one after.

Does it cover employment law in Singapore?

Only enough to know where to look. It points you to MOM and TAFEP for fair employment practice and the Workplace Fairness Act, and explains when to involve HR, but it does not give legal advice.

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