Can you outright ask if you’re being put on an informal support route to competency plans?

[PithyMauveZebra]

I’m a very new manager. I’m late 20s and I’ve never led. Team before. I was thrown in and didn’t really have much of an idea of what I should do before I start and how to prioritise etc. I had liaised with lots of other heads of departments to gain their support and things then started moving.

It seems I’ve arrived at a bump in the road. There’s been some heated exchanges between me and my manager. There’s lots that’s expected and minimal time to complete it. I’m on a strained time table with lots of duties so my time is so minimal and I usually, if I’m lucky have 15 mins to eat.

I’ve been told that my manager would like me to engage in coaching to help me grow in my role. I can’t get through to my union at all as I finished late today. I will try again tomorrow. However, is there anything wrong with me outright asking via email if this is an informal process prior to performance management targets?

Im losing sleep, not eating well and worrying about this lately. I have been receptive to the coaching and made sure to work with the person.

Why would you assume that? How heated is heated?

Coaching is a pretty normal support for a new manager, so I wouldn’t assume there was anything to read into this, unless I’d been completely unprofessional in my dealings with my own boss

Why are you asking this again OP? I suspect the responses will be similar. You sound very stressed. Perhaps it would be best to take some time off?

Of course you can ask.
But coaching is a perfectly normal way of supporting someone new in their role.
"heated exchanges" are a concern though,

Coaching = good. Take the opportunity to ask lots of questions and learn. Watch people who you think are good managers and bad and learn from each of them.

Heated discussions in any office environment is not good. You need to learn how to communicate your issues and find resolutions without things getting heated.

I'm an advocate for coaching at all career stages and so it would not be unusual if I recommended it, it would usually be meant positively/constructively for growth.

It’s coming from one of the exec leaders though. Which makes me a bit concerned about the intent. It could surely be from any level of leadership.

From your other thread, this is a temporary post, after which you will revert to your previous post. Did you find any of the suggestions/advice on that thread to be of any use?

Your manager is managing you and you are responding quite aggressively, from what you’ve said. Coaching is a recognised form of support.

It shouldn't matter who it is from. They're there to help you improve in your role.

And I’m willing to take that on but I know schools don’t always have to disclose that they’re placing an individual on a performance management plan.

Of course they have to disclose.

Stop being a dick about it and accept the coaching. You're new to a role, clearly inexperienced and have had heated exchanges. Eat some humble pie and take the help being offered.

I’ve been mentored several times in various roles by senior leaders, I’ve also mentored people. I’ve always seen it as an honour and learnt huge amounts from it, it’s also a great opportunity to raise your profile with senior leaders. I’d see it as a positive personally.

Where have i been a dick about it? Ive been receptive. My union rep at school has said be careful of how much information I give in the meetings. It’s not about being a dick it’s about being clear about job security.

You have greater job security if you engage with the process.

Is this teaching/in a school?

Yes

I have engaged. Is this the informal part of capability? Or the pre cursor to support plans and performance management? I was told via email it waa to support growth in the role, but I am the only HoD receiving this.

You're having heated exchanges and posting multiple threads about it. Accept the support with good grace and improve yourself.

Coaching is training and personal development which is good. Very common to offer this to support someone who is relatively new into a role and a positive from your manager as a way of trying to support and help you. I would be worried about heated exchanges though - never good with a boss , or anyone else in the office environment- not professional.

You’ve also said that you will return to a role which isn’t managerial in a few months, so why not accept the support you’re offered and use the experience and what you learn from the support when you apply for a substantive post as a manager.

It might be.

Or they might be trying to support you.

And you can't possibly know that you're the only one.

I fear the senior exec who’s kindly offering you coaching might be wasting their time.

What an attitude.

As a senior person who does a lot of coaching, I agree.

We are all coached at the school I work at. Regardless of position. It honestly has nothing to do with competency. It’s more a support role.

There’s really no attitude. It’s concern for job security but if you perceive it as an attitude it may be misreading the tone.

I don’t work in education and I appreciate that it’s a particular field with its own specific processes which are not always the same as commercial business. However, I have looked at some of your other threads and it sounds like you are on a hiding to nothing with this role. You say that the department is fractured and toxic, Problems which already existed before you arrived from what you have posted. It seems that your line manager may have seen this maternity cover role as an opportunity to push through some changes which, for whatever reason, had not been implemented previously. The department staff though must be aware if he/she is calling you out in meetings and speaking to you aggressively that you do not have their support and so they are not going to feel any particular impetus to change the way they operate. Why would they? You’ll be gone in a couple of months! I presume you were already a teacher in this department and will go back to your original teaching role afterwards – were you aware of how difficult the department was and your line manager before interviewing for the role? What were you hoping to gain from the temporary promotion?