Summary

When you change roles from Developer-to-Manager, it's vital to proactively listen and learn, in order to gain an understanding of your new position as soon as possible. Management meetings are a great forum for you to gain insight into your new management role. Start building a healthy relationship with your peers and fellow managers. A relationship is about more than just simple transactions. So, try to have meaningful conversations focusing on feedback and ideas where possible and appropriate, over simple exchanges of tasks and information.

Be aware of how openly they're likely to share their challenges with you, then request or perhaps enlist your help. Always remember that collective problem solving is at the heart of good management. So, collaborate where possible, but also remember that you have your own priorities to take care of.

No matter which methodology your project adopts, there are widely accepted approaches and seven typical associated roles in a software project, which the project team should all be aware of. A Project Manager is focused on planning, controlling (specifically of risks), and reporting.

The Project Sponsor is the senior key decision maker, who has a big responsibility in approving and steering the project, but isn't concerned with implementing any day-to-day tasks.

The BSME has a deep domain knowledge of the business area of the project and represents the majority of end users at a project level. The Business Analyst has the responsibility of formally discovering, modeling, and recording the business requirements in a way that is pertinent and useful to the project.

The TA is the technical subject matter expert, who brings a solution-oriented view to the project team and is responsible for the overall technical design of the solution. The humble Developer has the critical responsibility of building the agreed solution design. The Tester is responsible for verifying the design and validating the solution to the required quality standard.

It's important to get off to a great start on your first day. Meet your manager to discuss vision, strategy, and urgent priorities. Be mindful of the impostor syndrome and stay confident in your fantastic and unique qualities. Start the conversation about how you, your experience, and key skills can help the team. Don't forget about your induction training.

Meet your team on the first day, individually and collectively, to build rapport and trust with them – your most valuable asset and responsibility. By having your first team meeting immediately, you send a clear message that you value them. It also sets an open tone for responsive and collaborative team-working going forward.

Within your first week, you should also meet your stakeholders. Setting your own schedule is an important step to getting and staying organized. Make a plan and agree this with your manager, as well as any stakeholders, if required.

Then, you can start thinking about methodically building a productive and creative environment for yourself and your team, in order to foster creativity and enable effective delivery, which we will discuss in the next chapter.