The prompt
Score 10 of 10, Excellent
Use it when You have been promoted to manage people who were your peers, and you want to plan the first conversations with each of them, including anyone who wanted the job.
- {{team}}
- {{start_date}}
- {{team_members}}
- {{what_changes}}
- {{what_stays}}
- {{manager_expectations}}
- {{announced}}
Full prompt and why it works
Help me plan my first conversations as the new manager of {{team}}, people who were my peers until {{start_date}}, so that the change in our relationship is said out loud, each person knows what changes and what does not, and I can manage fairly from the first week. The team, one line per person by role, with how we get on and anything I know, such as who else applied for this job: """ {{team_members}} """ What changes in my role (reviews, approvals, input on pay, confidential information): {{what_changes}} What stays the same: {{what_stays}} What my manager expects from me early on: {{manager_expectations}} What has already been announced: {{announced}} Produce, with a heading for each part: 1. My first team meeting: what to say, under 200 words, acknowledging that this is a change for all of us, what changes and what does not, and how I plan to work with them in the first month. 2. A one-on-one plan for each person, in the order I should meet them: what to say first, three or four questions to ask, and what to listen for. For anyone who wanted the job, say how to acknowledge it directly in the first minutes, ask what they want next in their career, and agree how we will work together, without apologizing for getting the role. 3. Boundaries: how to handle friendships, social plans and the conversations I used to join as a peer, and what I can no longer share. 4. Watch-outs: four to six mistakes managers of former peers make, such as favoring friends, overcorrecting by being harder on them, or avoiding a needed conversation, each with what to do instead. Keep it under 700 words, written for me to act on. A good plan names the awkward part of each relationship early and kindly instead of hoping it goes away. For example, an opening with someone who also applied could read: "I know you went for this role too, and I'd rather say that out loud than tiptoe around it. I want to hear what you want next and how I can help." That example shows the form only. Do not promise anyone a role, a raise, a project or a promotion, and do not suggest criticizing the previous manager. Do not share why I was chosen over anyone else. Base each person's plan only on what I wrote about them. If I do not know whether someone applied for the role, do not assume either way: tell me how to find out, for example by asking my manager or HR, before that one-on-one.
Variables
- {{team}}
- The team you now manage, for example "the six account managers I used to sit alongside".
- {{start_date}}
- When you became their manager, for example "last Monday".
- {{team_members}}
- One line per person, by role: how you get on, what you know about their goals, and whether they applied for your role.
- {{what_changes}}
- What is different now that you manage them, for example "I write their reviews and approve leave".
- {{what_stays}}
- What stays the same, for example "I still cover two of our largest accounts".
- {{manager_expectations}}
- What your own manager expects of you in the first months.
- {{announced}}
- What the team has already been told, and how.
Why it works
- Who it's for. The plan is built person by person, because each former peer has a different stake in the change, and one team speech does not cover it.
- What good looks like. The colleague who also wanted the job is acknowledged directly and asked about their career, without an apology or a promise, the conversation new managers most often avoid.
- If unsure. If you do not know who applied, the plan says how to find out first instead of guessing about a sensitive point.