I was asked to follow up from last week’s post with more hacks for mentoring. New supervisors are often uncomfortable giving direction to those who just recently were peers. Being a first-time supervisor is probably the most difficult step in a leaders journey. So, let’s start with your mental game.
Your peers probably don’t resent your promotion and may very well feel you deserved it. Or, you are a solo-preneur and are expanding. Either way, congratulations. Expect some push back or questions. Testing boundaries is normal. Mistakes are normal. You will not be perfect. Apologize and move on.
Be clear and specific on your expectations. Don’t just say it once and expect it to be done. Ask the other person to summarize their next step and when it should be complete. If they didn’t get it right, rephrase your assignment and have them repeat. I know that may sound patronizing (talking down to them), but setting out clear expectations early will save you a lot of time. Then, record the commitments.
Have regular, short check-ins with an agenda. Make it live (or with video) if you can. Update commitments made on a shared drive or document. Have them update it, not you.
Make checklists. Keep and reuse them. Use project management tools like Asana, or many others. Find one you like and USE it. Excel is still great. Use them as teaching tools. Write your process down. And, follow it.
Once you’ve delegated the work and trained your team, don’t give them the answers. If they come to you with questions, ask them to propose answers. Analyze together the pros and cons of their solutions. Teach them the critical thinking you expect. If they are down to two good solutions, let them choose. And, live with the consequences.
If you have regular check-ins the amount of interruptions with questions should go down and efficiency should go up. Point that out to your team. It is good for everyone.
Next week, mentoring hacks for colleagues you don’t directly supervise.