# New manager playbook

> A playbook for someone who becomes a manager: first conversations with their team, a talk with their own manager and a check-in after a month.

Category: Onboarding and playbooks

Canonical: https://shuffl.ai/templates/new-manager-onboarding-messages

## When to use it

A new manager needs to learn how one-on-ones, reviews and hiring really work here, whether they were hired as a manager or promoted from the team.

This playbook starts the day someone gets their first direct report. It puts listening first, then a regular rhythm of one-on-ones, with their own manager checking in along the way.

## You’re a manager now, new manager

To the new manager, on the day they join.

```text
**You’re a manager now, {{hire}}**

Congratulations. Your first weeks are about listening: meet each person on your team and learn what they need from you.

- [ ] Hold a one-to-one with each person on your team
- [ ] Read your team’s last review notes
```

## Talk new manager through managing here

To their manager, on the day they join.

```text
**Talk {{hire}} through managing here**

- [ ] Share how one-to-ones, reviews and hiring work here
```

## Two weeks in

To the new manager, 14 days after the day they join.

```text
**Two weeks in**

Now is a good time to agree how often you meet each person, and to write down what each one is working toward.

- [ ] Set a regular one-to-one with each person
```

## Checking in

To the new manager, 30 days after the day they join.

```text
**How is managing going, {{hire}}?**

It has been a month. If anything about your team, tools or what is expected of you is unclear, say so and a named person from HR will follow up with you directly.
```

## Ask new manager how managing is going

To their manager, 60 days after the day they join.

```text
**Ask {{hire}} how managing is going**
```

## How to adapt it

- Shuffl fills in {{hire}} and {{manager}} for each person. Replace them by hand if you send the message yourself.
- Start it from a group of everyone with a direct report, so promotions are covered as well as hires.
- Space the advice out. The first review, first hire and first hard conversation are better moments than week one.

## Managers shape every team

- **70%** of the variance in team engagement comes down to the manager (Gallup, 2018) [gallup-exit-programs]
- **22%** of managers worldwide were engaged at work in 2025, down from 27% in 2024 (Gallup) [gallup-sogw-2026]
- **20-28%** improvement in management performance metrics after structured manager training (Gallup, 2025) [gallup-engagement-2025]

## What the research says

Managers have an outsized effect on their teams. Gallup has found that 70% of the variance in team-level engagement is based on the manager.[gallup-exit-programs]

Managers themselves are struggling. Global manager engagement fell from 27% to 22% between 2024 and 2025, the largest one-year drop in Gallup’s manager data, and nine points since 2022.[gallup-sogw-2026]

Support helps. Gallup reports that managers who get structured training in management practices see their own and their teams’ engagement improve substantially, that management performance metrics improved by 20% to 28%, and that even basic training shows benefits.[gallup-engagement-2025] A buddy who has done the job is one of the simplest forms of that support.

## Common mistakes

- Assuming a strong individual contributor already knows how to manage.
- Making their own manager their buddy. A peer manager is easier to ask the basic questions.
- Cramming all the training into week one. Space it out as real moments come up: the first review, first hire and first hard conversation.
- Skipping onboarding for internal promotions. People who know the company still need to learn the role.

## Common questions

**What should a new manager do in their first 90 days?**
Meet each person on the team one to one, learn how reviews, pay and hiring work at the company, and agree early priorities with their own manager. A buddy who has managed here can explain the parts no handbook covers.

**Do internally promoted managers need onboarding?**
Yes. They know the company, but managing is a different job with new processes and harder conversations. Treat the promotion as a new start, with a buddy and check-ins.

**What makes a good buddy for a new manager?**
Someone who has managed at the company for a while, is respected by their own team and is not in the new manager’s reporting line. That makes it easier to ask questions they might not ask their boss.

## Sources (read 2026-10-13)

- [gallup-exit-programs] Gallup, “Exit Programs That Retain Stars and Build Brand Ambassadors” (2018): https://www.gallup.com/file/workplace/246524/Exit%20Programs%20That%20Retain%20Stars%20and%20Build%20Brand%20Ambassadors.pdf
- [gallup-sogw-2026] Gallup, “State of the Global Workplace: 2026 Report” (2026): https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx
- [gallup-engagement-2025] Gallup, “Global Engagement Falls for the Second Time Since 2009” (April 22, 2025): https://www.gallup.com/workplace/659279/global-engagement-falls-second-time-2009.aspx

## In Shuffl

Use in Shuffl: [New playbook](https://shuffl.ai/app/playbooks/all?create=1&template=new-managers). Opens a new playbook with these steps and timings. Each person’s steps wait for your approval before they send.

Guide: [Playbooks for other moments](https://shuffl.ai/docs/playbooks#templates)

## Related terms

- [Onboarding](https://shuffl.ai/glossary/onboarding)
- [One-on-one meeting](https://shuffl.ai/glossary/one-on-one-meeting)
- [Employee engagement](https://shuffl.ai/glossary/employee-engagement)

All templates: https://shuffl.ai/templates

Agent documentation index: https://shuffl.ai/llms.txt