When you become a new manager, and first begin leading a team, it’s important to start with clear expectations.  For me, setting expectations one of the first things I do when I begin working with a new team or a new individual.

Your expectations are unique. So is how you chose to be a manager.  They’re as much about you and your management style as they are about your work and corporate culture.  However, there are a few areas I always recommend addressing with your team.

1. Time away from the office: how do you want your direct reports to handle sick days or PTO requests?  How do you want them to handle them as a manager of their own teams?  Making it easy, acceptable, and clear how your new team takes advantage of their personal time is important to setting good boundaries.  Personally, I’d encourage you to be as permissive and flexible as your workplace allows on this one.
2. Work outside of normal hours: what do you expect from your team in terms of time?  Are you a strict 9-5’er?  Does your work require availability nights and weekends?  What do you expect when people are on vacation, working from home, or taking a sick day?  Some managers hesitate to put these things in writing – typically because they know they’re asking for too much. If your requirements are strict or you’re demanding a lot of availability outside of the work-day, you should stop and ask yourself why.  Is it necessary?  Is it leading to good outcomes?  Regardless, setting the expectation is the difference between clarity and compliance or failure and frustration.
3. Autonomy and decision making: how much autonomy do managers and individual contributors on your new team have?  How much do you need to see and approve?  Again, some new managers are hesitant to address this directly, and it’s typically because they’re micromanaging and are ashamed to admit it.  I encourage high-autonomy in your leadership style, for everyone’s benefit.
4. Issues, errors, and escalations: How should your team handle errors or issues?  Who should they notify, and how quickly?  Do you expect them to come with solutions to problems?  (Sounds good, but can delay how fast you hear about problems…). Do you want them to raise issues through you, or go directly to impacted teams and leaders? 
5. How to show up: While “showing up” can be one of the most disempowering tropes in the workplace, it’s important to recognize the power of individual character.  How do you want your team to present themselves?  How do you expect them to behave?  In most workplaces, there is some kind of behaviors and values statement – your expectations should always align with that.  But is it enough?  Think about how you operate in the workplace, and how you can express that to your team. 

As a new manager, these 5 things will set the tone for your working relationship with your team. Communicating them upfront will ensure everyone is clear on what you expect and gives you a stable platform to build off of.