🗂️ New Manager 30/60/90 Checklist
This onboarding guide helps you build confidence, trust, and structure in your first 90 days as a manager. Each phase has a clear objective, and weekly actions to help you achieve it.
🔹 First 30 Days: Learn & Listen (Weeks 1–4)
What: Build relationships, observe team dynamics, and learn how your organization operates.
Why: Your influence starts with trust. Early listening helps you build rapport, avoid assumptions, and identify where to focus your energy.
Week 1: Establish Trust
- ✅ Schedule 1:1s with each direct report
- ✅ Ask: “What’s one thing you’d like more clarity on?”
- ✅ Use this template for first 1:1s
- 💬 Ask the AI: “How do I run my first 1:1 as a manager?”
Week 2: Clarify Expectations
- ✅ Meet with your manager: clarify your team's charter and priorities
- ✅ Use the delegation template with at least one team member
- 💬 Ask the AI: “How do I set expectations clearly without sounding harsh?”
Week 3: Identify Early Wins
- ✅ Ask each report: “What’s one thing we could do better as a team?”
- ✅ Publicly recognize a team contribution — use the recognition script
- 💬 Ask the AI: “How do I identify a quick win for my team?”
Week 4: Give Feedback
- ✅ Use the feedback script with one teammate
- ✅ Ask for feedback on yourself from a peer or report
- 💬 Ask the AI: “How do I give constructive feedback when it’s my first time?”
🔹 Days 31–60: Communicate & Contribute (Weeks 5–8)
What: Begin shaping team behaviors and communication through action.
Why: The second phase is where people notice how you show up as a leader — what you value, how you handle conflict, and how you move work forward.
Week 5: Build Alignment
- ✅ Create or update a shared team goals doc
- ✅ Use example goals to spark a team conversation
- 💬 Ask the AI: “How do I create clarity across my team?”
Week 6: Lead a Team Meeting
- ✅ Set an agenda and send it ahead of time
- ✅ Start with a personal check-in round
- ✅ Include a reflection: “What’s working well? What could we adjust?”
- 💬 Ask the AI: “What makes a team meeting actually useful?”
Week 7: Remove Roadblocks
- ✅ Identify top 1–2 recurring friction points (process, people, tools)
- ✅ Propose a lightweight improvement to trial with your team
- 💬 Ask the AI: “How do I tackle team friction without causing drama?”
Week 8: Cross-Functional Alignment
- ✅ Schedule a sync with a peer team lead
- ✅ Ask: “How can our teams support each other better?”
- 💬 Ask the AI: “How do I build trust across teams?”
🔹 Days 61–90: Coach & Strategize (Weeks 9–12)
What: Shift focus toward coaching your team, spotting long-term opportunities, and building systems.
Why: You’ve built credibility — now use it to grow others and bring clarity to where the team is heading.
Week 9: Support Growth
- ✅ Meet with each direct report about growth goals
- ✅ Identify 1 development or stretch opportunity
- 💬 Ask the AI: “How do I help someone grow when I’m new too?”
Week 10: Strengthen Culture
- ✅ Facilitate a short values reflection or team check-in
- ✅ Model the behavior you want to see under pressure
- 💬 Ask the AI: “How do I reinforce a healthy team culture?”
Week 11: Reflect as a Team
- ✅ Conduct a team retrospective — “What should we keep, start, stop?”
- ✅ Capture and summarize themes for follow-up
- 💬 Ask the AI: “How do I run an effective team retro?”
Week 12: Write Your 90-Day Summary
- ✅ What you’ve learned, what’s working, and where you’re going next
- ✅ Share with your manager and optionally the team
- 💬 Ask the AI: “How do I summarize my first 90 days as a manager?”