First-time manager

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

You were promoted for being good at the work, and now the job is something else: getting results through people who used to sit beside you. Most new managers learn this by trial and error, and their teams pay for the errors. This course covers the first year in the order you will meet it. You change how you measure your own day, run one-on-ones that people value, delegate without hovering, set clear goals, give feedback that lands, handle a struggling performer, hire well, and manage your own boss. Every module ends with something you use the following Monday.

What you'll be able to do

• Audit your own calendar and rebalance it from doing the work to leading the team
• Run a weekly one-on-one with a written agenda that your direct report sets
• Delegate a task with a clear outcome, a level of authority and agreed check-in points
• Write goals and expectations for each team member that both of you could 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 a first-30-days onboarding plan
• Agree priorities and a communication rhythm with your own manager

Syllabus

Module 1: Change how you measure a good day

Understand why management is a different job, not a harder version of the old one, and rebalance your time toward 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 surface problems early, and keep notes that make each meeting build on the last.

• 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 your involvement to each person's experience with the task, and follow up without taking it 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 them alive 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

Give praise and correction that are 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

Understand what keeps people engaged beyond pay, spot early signs that someone is disengaging, and build 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 and give each new hire a first 30 days that gets them contributing.

• 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 relationships with people who used to be your peers, and build a working 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. The exercises work with a practice partner or a composite case, and you will start the job with a plan instead of building it under pressure.

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

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

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 tells you when to involve HR. It is not legal advice.

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