Short answer
Start with the conversations they’re avoiding: giving feedback, setting clear expectations and holding people accountable. Most new managers already know the work. What they don’t know is how to lead the people doing it, especially former peers. After that, teach delegation and decision-making, so they stop doing the work themselves and stop passing decisions back up the line.
The longer answer
A useful order for the first 90 days:
- Weeks 1–4: Feedback and expectations. How to tell someone what good looks like and how they’re doing against it.
- Weeks 5–8: Delegation. Handing off work without hovering or taking it back.
- Weeks 9–12: Decisions and the departments next door. Making calls at their level and working the handoffs on either side of their team.
Each skill should be practiced on real work between sessions. A two-day workshop at the start won’t carry anyone through the first quarter.