As exciting as this is, with everyone around congratulating you for your new position, there is nervousness within. New position brings with it its own set of challenges. It is always easier when you are a part of the team but when it comes to leading the same team, suddenly the dynamics change. There is motivation, nervousness and the inevitable pressure to perform. You might have to unlearn everything you learnt up till now, you trusted tricks that worked earlier might not work anymore. Every new manager faces certain challenges, which one can easily overcome with a little patience and effort.

Few challenges faced by new managers are-

• Changed Role, Change Mindset- With the change in position, your responsibilities change tremendously. Initially, they were limited to individualistic goals, but now you have to be instrumental in letting others achieve theirs. Before you were in charge of just yourself but now you are a leader. As complex as it may sound, but transition is the key, adapt to the change smartly.
• Pressure to Perform- The higher you go, higher will be the pressure. There is an intrinsic need to justify the opportunity given to you. The people who succumb to this pressure, fail. The ones who take it in stride and handle it well, are the ones who go places. The pressure is natural but it shouldn’t take over your performance. Instead it should motivate you to work harder. From the beginning, be very clear of the targets and expectations set by you and for you.
• Co-worker To Lead- This is one of the major concerns faced by new managers. Once a co-worker, the transition from that to a lead is more often than not an awkward situation to navigate from. The transition, ideally should be smooth and normal but it is always better to communicate with your team and convey how the responsibilities have changed but the person isn’t. Be a team player, don’t boss around but establish yourself as a leader by staying a part of the team.
• Effective Communication- Two words here: Clarity and Consistency. Just follow these two and your anxieties will be sorted. It is essential for you to communicate well with your team, which needless to say, starts from being a good listener. Be open so that people can come and talk whenever they want to. This serves two purposes, one, it will make them believe in you and be more productive, two, it will check you from being overbearing or micromanaging.  Be clear about the expectation you set, tasks allotment and individual responsibilities. Conduct one on ones and team meetings once or bi weekly.
• Overlapping Tasks: You as an individual will have a certain set of tasks to do and then as a manager you will be taking care of the team as a whole. This situation generally leads to tasks getting overlapped, wherein, either way your productivity and performance suffers. The best way to manage this is to maintain a calendar in order to organize your availability.
• Time Management- You’d have to strike the balance between individual time and the time allotted to the team tasks. Your time as a new manager will be segmented into long blocks full with meetings.
• Inspiring Others- Because you are a leader now, people look up to you and you wouldn’t want to set a bad example. The main challenge is to strike the right balance as an individual and as a team. Inspiring people is a dynamic and subjective thing, so even if you are unable to deliver, don’t stress it out, always encourage productivity and make your team believe the fact that efforts don’t go in vain.

Every profession at every level comes with its own constraints but the one who succeeds is the person who finds a way out even in such situations. You can be one too.