Have you had to step into leading a team quickly or do you have team members who joined as graduates and are now leaders? Erin Bullions, Head of Experience at Bulb, joined us to talk about her journey of being promoted to leading a service team at the age of 24, how the role changed as her team expanded to 600 in her remit and what skills she had to develop on the job.

Working against the clock? Here are some of the key takeaways:

Know your metrics

• If you’re looking to progress into the next role, track your metrics closely.
• Pay attention to your efficiency and quality of work.
• Understand what the expectations are & deliver on them.

Learn from your leaders

• Speak to the leaders and managers in your organisation about how they structure their teams.
• Attend management training courses to learn core principles of people management and about the different types of leader you can be.
• When new team members join the business who are later in their work experience proactively reach out to them for advice.

Be open and honest when moving into management

• Going from friend to manager can be daunting but it doesn’t have to be awkward. Acknowledge you and your peers want the best for your team and align on how to get there.
• Set clear expectations when managing your peers so that everyone can progress and develop.
• You can be friends with the people you manage.

Focus on the right things

• Manage your calendar closely and block out time to focus.
• Use the Eisenhower matrix to figure out what is actually important.
• You can’t do it all and so be sure to delegate to your team. This will help you focus and give them opportunities to develop.

Hear directly from Erin and learn more about her experience in hiring at scale by watching the webinar below.

Video: Stepping into the role of leading a support team