In the business world, we focus an incredible amount of attention on developing new team members and employees. Questions of how to recruit, welcome, and train them are recurring concerns when making plans for company growth and success.

What’s surprising is that similar questions about developing new managers seldom receive the same amount of consideration. How companies prepare and empower their leadership is too often ignored, and the managers are left to flounder on their own as they transition into new roles.

Yet, the managerial team is the central component of most work environments. Especially within startups, managers and team leaders facilitate the smooth running of all operations, both new and old.

If your startup is a critical point of transition and growth, but you are unsure how to develop your team in terms of its leadership, then keep reading. These tips are sure to build your management program strong enough to weather even the most difficult of emerging obstacles.

1. Systemize Training Practices 

Age-old business wisdom states that employees tend to respect managers much more when they have in-depth knowledge of doing the work tasks themselves. Plus, when a problem arises (as they often do at startups), you want your manager to know the work inside and out so they can be in the best position to fix it.

For these reasons and many others, your manager should undergo training in all aspects of the job. Not only will they be able to fill in anywhere amongst their team, but they’ll be able to oversee the training and development of new members much better, too.

Since most startups are too new to have their training systems perfectly compiled already, it might be worth investing in professional help in this area, such as the training services offered with Learn to Win.

2. Plan a Smooth Transition

Whether you are promoting a top-notch employee from within or hiring someone completely new, there will always be a steep learning curve when it comes to stepping into management.

Even the most promising new manager needs time to grow accustomed to their new position and set of responsibilities. So, the earlier you can start planning for the transition process, the better.

If you are thinking of promoting someone, start giving them more advanced jobs to do ahead of time, so you can build them up emotionally and empower them to feel like a leader. Or, if you have advance notice that a current manager will be stepping out of the role, have your new manager shadow them for a while.

3. Prioritize Shared Responsibility 

No matter how skilled and talented they are, your employees can’t pull the weight of the entire company on their own. Neither can your managers.

All team members — managers included — should feel comfortable and confident helping each other out when necessary.

If a manager feels their only job is to delegate work and not share it actively, they are at a considerable disadvantage. When a stressful work circumstance arises, they won’t be integrated well enough into the team to lead them through it.

Conclusion

Having strong leaders at the helm is crucial to any business’s success, especially new businesses still figuring out their daily operations and place within the industry. Without solid management, even the best and brightest teams will suffer due to a lack of direction.

Spend a little more time and effort on developing managers upfront and save a lot of effort down the line.

___________________________________________________

Some other articles you might find of interest:

Make your business rock with these business plan writing skills:

Startup’s Guide to Write a Business Plan

Would you like to know how investors value a startup?

How Do Investors Value a Startup?