After spearheading many challenging projects, your manager finally promoted you to your first management position. Then it hits you … you have a fairly good idea of what it takes to “be the boss,” but some preparation for your new role may be in order.

Here are 10 tips to help you successfully begin your climb up the management track:

1. Get acquainted with your peers.
In the first few weeks as a manager, get to know the people with whom you’ll be working. Try scheduling informational meetings and interviews with other managers and peers. This will give you the opportunity to ask them what they think it takes to succeed within the organization.

2. Focus on the right things.
Meet with your boss to find out the departments goals and where your team fits in. Develop strategic goals that are in line with your departmental and company goals and communicate them to your team.

3. Meet with each of your new team members to discuss their individual goals.
Review your team members’ prior performance appraisals and make a note of their strengths and weaknesses. Discuss their career goals and let them know that you are there to help them succeed.

4. Set achievable goals.
Don’t establish unrealistic goals and expectations. Take the time to discover what the current productivity levels are within the department. Once you understand each member’s role allow them to participate in the goal setting processes. Remember that their goals and your expectations must be realistic.

5. Remember the importance of coaching and training.
Identify opportunities for your team members to strengthen their existing skills and learn new ones. After the training, incorporate follow up sessions to discuss how their new knowledge and skills can help them reach their goals. Training can also serve as a motivator for employees and result in increased productivity.

6. Don’t make any promises regarding merit pay or other rewards.
During your initial meeting you might receive feedback from an employee who believes that his past performance warrants a pay increase. Don’t make any promises that you can’t keep. Instead, do your homework by going to human resources to find out the compensation history and have an honest discussion about what can and cannot be done regarding compensation and bonuses.

7. Provide ongoing rewards and recognition.
Employees want to feel valued more than once per year. Don’t wait until it’s time for their formal performance appraisal to recognize them. Find out what your team members like to do outside of the office and provide gift cards or time off for them to pursue their hobby. Or, distribute a note to the entire team acknowledging a team member’s recent success.

8. Delegate.
Many new managers save the most challenging assignments for themselves instead of assigning them to their staff members. Use new projects as training opportunities for your staff.

9. Establish office hours.
Make yourself accessible to your team as often as you can. If you are regularly unavailable due to all day meetings or business travel, set up office hours for your team members so that they know that you are available to mentor and support them in meeting their goals and objectives. 

10. Listen and learn from your team.
Although you are serving as the teacher in many instances, don’t underestimate the value of listening to different points of view to solve problems and improve processes. Your team members may have been around longer than you and could have valuable historical information to offer.

As the saying goes, first impressions mean everything. Regardless of how much or little experience you’ve had in overseeing others’ work, giving a first impression to your new subordinates and coworkers that you are prepared and qualified to do the job will go a long way in building respect, loyalty and productivity from your team.