When Irum Mona Idrees, BSc, MD, director of rheumatology at AnMed Health in Anderson, S.C., first took on a managerial role, it was a lot of responsibility all at once.
“I was starting my first staff job after my fellowship, setting up a new practice and doing it alone as a single practitioner—not to mention having a 2-month-old newborn,” she recalls. “Primarily, I focused on what I knew best. I tried to mirror the format I was used to during my fellowship at a large group practice, making adjustments for a solo practice.”
Irum Mona Idrees, BSc, MD
She admits that applying those concepts to an office’s daily operations required some work. “I laid out clear roles, responsibilities and expectations for all parties, such as the registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, secretary, scheduler and so forth, and didn’t forget myself. Then, I observed how things worked for the first few months and re-evaluated and refined the initial set of guidelines.”
“Initially, I had to try not to get frustrated,” Dr. Idrees admits. “I addressed any problems promptly, with grace and tact. For instance, instead of pointing out someone’s flaws and mistakes, I simply suggested a different way to do something or asked the person involved for their recommendations.”
Establish Healthy Working Relationships
Katy Tynan
Like Dr. Idrees, new managers should set a goal to establish good relationships with employees from the start. Katy Tynan, founder of Liteskip Consulting Group in Boston, believes that the best way to start off in a new managerial role is to take the time to get to know each staff member in terms of their full spectrum of capabilities and aspirations.
“Inquire about their background, what they were hired to do, how they feel about their job and where they want to go in the future,” Ms. Tynan advises. “People enjoy working in an environment where they feel like they can do their best work. So as a manager, you should understand what that means and facilitate it.”
Really listening to your team’s members is key, adds Alan Phelan, PsyD, psychologist and executive coach at Execuwise Leadership and Executive Coaching Consultants in New York. “By doing this, a new manager will be able to consider another’s thoughts, feelings and interpretations and, therefore, minimize the development of conflict.”
Alan Phelan, PsyD
It’s important to understand that by empathizing with your employees when needs conflict, a manager is not agreeing with their perspective. “This would be an abdication of your authority inherent to the role,” Dr. Phelan says. “Instead, managers need to maintain their authority by making decisions in the best interests of the organization that at times may conflict with their employees’ needs.”
