Lead with confidence

[Bhati]

I am new in my role as a Sr Manager. I have around 10 reports. I have some challenges and I keep my communication as clear as possible with my boss. Looking for some advise from people who are in leadership roles on how to keep the clear communication but also lead with confidence. I have worked hard to get this role and I do not want my management think I can't manage team and their challenges.

What sort of challenges do you have?

I have a team where workload in past hasn't been aligned. Some people have tendency to grab work and be cagey about it, so team members are good but take too much and if ask them to delegate they hide their workload, some are too quite though capable of taking on more etc..

Isn't there enough work for everyone?

There is some shortage but things are in pipeline too

I think it helps if you spend time 1-1 with the people reporting to you - to learn a bit about them, what they're enjoying/not enjoying, how they're looking to develop their careers - show an interest and build those relationships. They'll then trust you and you have better oversight to assign work in a way that perhaps better aligns with their development. It also gives you great insight into challenges "on the ground" which is useful intel for feeding back upwards - particularly if you're able to demonstrate how you're helping the team overcome those challenges.

I invest a lot of time in 1-1s and it's probably been one of the key things that's helped me as a leader.

Also, with the 1-1 approach if you're ever looking to make changes, you can usually sound out your ideas and get a few people onside before making wider communications to the team.