New Manager Checklist: Your First 90 Days

By Nicole Hullihen, former SaaS Chief Operating Officer and Microsoft MVP · Updated October 11, 2026

Becoming a manager often happens fast. One week you're the best person on the team at your job; the next, you're responsible for the whole team's results, and the skills that got you promoted aren't the ones you need now. Many new managers get little training and are expected to figure it out as they go.

This checklist gives you a clear plan for your first 90 days: what to do in each phase, the conversations to have, the routines to build and the mistakes to avoid. It works whether you're promoted from within or hired from outside.

What Changes When You Become a Manager

The biggest shift is moving from doing to leading. Many new managers struggle because they keep doing the work themselves instead of helping the team do it. See learning to delegate work.

Before Day One

• Ask your manager what success looks like for you and the team in 90 days.
• Review team goals, key numbers and any known problems.
• Get a list of team members, roles and schedules.
• Ask HR or the owner which policies you'll be responsible for, such as time approval, PTO and overtime.
• If you were promoted from within, think about how relationships with former peers will change.

Days 1 to 30: Listen and Learn

Meet Each Person One-on-One

Within your first two weeks, have a 30-minute conversation with every team member. Ask more than you tell:

• What do you enjoy most about your work?
• What gets in your way?
• What's one thing you'd change about how the team works?
• How do you like to receive feedback?
• What did your previous manager do that helped, or didn't?
• What do you want to be doing a year from now?

Take notes and look for patterns. If three people mention the same problem, that's your first priority. See the one-on-one meeting template.

Learn the Work

Understand what the team does, how work flows and where it gets stuck. Shadow people, read the SOPs and look at the numbers. You don't need to be the best at every task, but you need to know how each one works.

Learn the Rules You're Now Responsible For

As a manager, you may approve time cards, approve PTO, schedule shifts and handle attendance issues. Learn your company's policies, and the basics of the rules behind them. For example, non-exempt employees must be paid for all hours they actually work, including work before or after a shift, and overtime is due for hours over 40 in a workweek under federal law. See timecard approval and the overtime approval policy.

Don't Change Too Much Yet

Resist the urge to fix everything in week one. Changes made before you understand the work often miss the real problem and frustrate the team. Fix obvious issues, such as a safety hazard, but save bigger changes for after you've listened.

Days 31 to 60: Set Expectations and Build Routines

Set Clear Expectations

Share what you expect from the team and what they can expect from you: how you communicate, how decisions get made, how you'll give feedback and what good work looks like. Write it down. See how to set employee expectations.

Start Regular Routines

See the daily huddle template and the team meeting agenda template.

Make a Few Early Improvements

Pick one or two problems the team raised in your first conversations and fix them. Early wins that the team asked for build trust faster than anything you could say.

Days 61 to 90: Set Goals and Lead

Set Team Goals

Work with your team to set two or three goals for the next quarter, connected to company goals. Give each goal an owner and a way to measure progress. See how to share company goals with employees.

Address Performance Issues

By now, you know who's thriving and who's struggling. Address performance issues early, privately and specifically. Start with a conversation about what's getting in the way, agree on next steps and follow up. Document serious issues and follow your company's process. See how to track employee performance.

Ask for Feedback on Yourself

At the 90-day mark, ask your team and your manager how you're doing. "What's one thing I should keep doing and one thing I should change?" Then act on what you hear.

New Manager Checklist

If You Were Promoted From Within

Managing former peers is one of the hardest transitions. A few tips:

• Acknowledge the change openly. "This is new for all of us. I want to keep the good working relationships we have."
• Be fair and consistent, especially with close friends on the team.
• Keep confidential information confidential, even with people you used to vent to.
• Don't overcorrect by becoming distant or bossy.
• Have direct conversations with anyone who also wanted the role.

Common First-Time Manager Mistakes

• Doing the work yourself instead of coaching others.
• Avoiding hard conversations to stay liked.
• Changing too much too fast.
• Not setting expectations, then being frustrated when they aren't met.
• Skipping one-on-ones when busy.
• Applying rules inconsistently, which feels unfair and can create risk.
• Approving time without reviewing it, or asking people to fix their time to match the schedule.
• Not asking for help from your own manager or peers.

Your First Team Meeting

Your first team meeting sets the tone. Keep it short and focused on listening:

1. Introduce yourself briefly: background, how you like to work and what you're excited about.
2. Say what won't change right away so people aren't worried.
3. Explain your plan for the first month: one-on-ones with everyone, learning the work.
4. Ask one question: "What's one thing you'd like me to know about how this team works?"
5. Thank the team and set the date for your first one-on-one with each person.

Building a Relationship With Your Own Manager

New managers often focus only on their team and forget the relationship with their own boss. Set up a regular check-in, agree on what success looks like and how you'll be measured, and ask how they prefer to receive updates. Bring problems early, with a suggested solution when you can. Your manager is one of your best sources of support and context, especially in your first few months.

• What are the top three things you need from me this quarter?
• How do you like to get updates: written, in meetings or as things happen?
• What decisions can I make on my own, and which should I check with you first?
• What have past managers of this team done well or struggled with?

Handling Your First Difficult Conversation

Every new manager eventually has to address a performance or behavior problem. Prepare by writing down the specific facts, what you've observed and its impact. Have the conversation privately and soon after the issue, not weeks later. Start by asking for their view, then agree on what will change and when you'll follow up.

If the problem continues, follow your company's process and document each conversation. See how to handle an employee who is always late and the written warning templates.

Managing Your Own Time

New managers often feel busier than ever while getting less of their own work done. That's normal; your job has changed. Protect time each week for planning, one-on-ones and thinking ahead, and accept that your calendar will have more conversations and less individual work. If you're still doing most of your old job, that's a sign to delegate more. See too many meetings for ways to keep your calendar under control.

Questions to Ask Yourself at Day 90

• Do I know each person's strengths, goals and challenges?
• Does everyone know the team's top priorities?
• Are my one-on-ones and team meetings happening consistently?
• Have I addressed the problems the team raised in my first month?
• Am I spending more time leading and less time doing?
• Do I know what my own manager needs from me next quarter?

Write down your answers and share a short summary with your manager. It's a good way to show progress and agree on what to focus on next. Then build a plan for your next 90 days, using what you've learned about your team.

Resources for New Managers

You don't have to figure everything out alone. Ask your manager for regular coaching, find a peer manager you can trade ideas with and keep a short list of the policies and templates you use most. A few that help most new managers: a one-on-one template, a weekly planning template and an escalation process.

Taking Care of Yourself

The first months as a manager can be draining. You're learning a new job, carrying more responsibility and often hearing more problems than praise. Keep reasonable hours where you can, write down small wins each week and remember that most new managers feel unsure at first. Confidence comes from repetition: every one-on-one, every hard conversation and every decision makes the next one easier.

Lead Your New Team With Updoot

Updoot gives new managers the visibility they need from day one. Project management shows every task's owner, due date and status, including what's blocked or overdue. Meeting agendas help you run huddles, one-on-ones and team meetings with timers and assigned action items, and the employee time clock and payroll report make it easy to review your team's hours, overtime and PTO each pay period.

Sources

• U.S. DOL: Fact Sheet #22, Hours Worked Under the FLSA
• U.S. DOL: Overtime Pay

Frequently Asked Questions