Moving into management

re14796

I been offered an opportunity to move into management. I will be managing 5 people. I am quite nervous about the opportunity. I never managed anyone before. It is more money but the team I am managing have been there for a long time and are quite set in their ways. I been speaking to a manager there who said they are quite difficult to manage. I will have to do one to one review and I am not a very confident person. I am also not confident person on the phone, I get nervous when I think people are listening to me. Is the only way to get ahead is to go into management? Should I stay or should I go?

Me2you

Do you want the job?

Most employees require management.

ohreally

You don't sound a good fit for this role, perhaps get some further development and look for another opportunity.

elsien

If you do go for it you will need proper training and effective support/supervision? Is that on offer?

re14796

I will ask in the interview. As I will need support otherwise I will struggle

jonnygee2

I will have to do one to one review and I am not a very confident person

Have you thought about why this is? You are really putting yourself down here, ruling yourself out of a promotion because of you think you aren't confident enough.

One to one reviews are normally just conversations. Most of being a manager involves skills that are useful inside and outside of the workplace.

Is the only way to get ahead is to go into management?

Depends on the field but in most jobs there are paths that don't involve becoming a manager, which isn't for everyone.

But, your confidence issues are likely to affect you in almost any job or workplace, so it might be worth thinking about ways to increase your confidence and the underlying issues that are making you nervous.

TELLIT01

If you are lacking in self confidence, which seems to be the case, you will need formal training on how to handle people and on conflict management. Both are fundamental to any man-management role.
If you are being offered the role somebody must think you have the ability so use that as a confidence builder.
Managing people is not always easy and you need to be prepared for people to 'play games' in order to develop their own position.

Fireflyaway

I'd think about the culture of the company too. I recently left a job where there was a blame culture. It was very competitive and not supportive. I was supervising 6 people. If any of them ever made a mistake it was me that got in trouble. I was also criticized by my supervisor regarding my management style. I didn't do anything wrong, just chose to do things differently from her.
I'd say a certain degree of confidence is needed. Your team will probably accept that you have areas of development. That's more endearing than trying to be a know it all. However you might be taken advantage of or not listened to if the team are established and sense you are nervous. Particularly if you try to introduce change.
I'd say go for it though. It's the only way you will know if management is for you. There are plenty of books and online courses to learn from.

Smodlet

I think the very fact you are questioning your ability testifies to your integrity, probably the quality I admire most in a person. Unfortunately, it has been my experience that it is out of place in many work situations: "Who cares about the customers? Profit is all!" kind of mentality, you know?

Perhaps the questions to ask yourself are, "Will I enjoy this challenge?", "Will I feel fulfilled in this role?" and "Will I lose sleep and stress over every little thing?" Only you can answer those.

Depending on the type of role/industry you are in, often promotion to some level of management or supervision is the only way to get ahead; I think that would apply to pretty much any admin based role I can think of. Perhaps less so in more technical or manufacturing roles.

Whatever you decide to do, I wish you luck and I am fairly confident you are much better than you think you are.

Spudsey

Hi
Did you accept the managers position? I too have just moved into a managing role, and like you I am not at all confident and also have anxieties. I am managing one person, and sort of managing another two (more welfare side then their actual work) which is a weird situation.
The person I am managing I have a great working relationship with, the other two hate each other and are causing me to rethink whether I actually want this responsibility or not as they have clearly just been dumped on me!

Takeaway_Addict

The problem with moving up within the same organisation is creating the boundaries. Often you'd be far better moving away from the organisation to somewhere new where you can set the tone you want from the off.