The Manager's First 90 Days
The common advice for new managers is to quickly find easy things to fix to show you are good at your job. You are told to spot obvious problems and solve them right away to prove you deserve the promotion. This seems like a good idea, but it often causes problems later. When you walk in and start changing things right away, you are not showing you are capable; you are showing you don't respect the work your team has already done.
This habit of "fixing things first" is the fastest way to annoy your new coworkers. It creates anger and mistrust because the team feels judged by someone who hasn't taken the time to learn how they actually work. Instead of seeing a helpful leader, they see an outsider criticizing systems they don't understand yet.
To succeed, you need to stop trying to be the main person who solves every problem and start being a Student of the Team. Real influence comes from knowing the situation, not from making guesses. You need a planned way to look at what is happening now before you try to change anything. A careful check of the department's real methods and relationships is what moves you from guessing to having a real plan — leading with the knowledge needed to earn your team's respect instead of making them defensive. According to Gallup, managers account for 70% of the variance in employee engagement across teams. That number alone tells you how much the first 90 days matter.
What Is a New Manager 90-Day Plan?
A new manager 90-day plan is a structured approach that divides your first three months into three distinct phases: learning (days 1–30), aligning (days 31–60), and optimizing (days 61–90). Rather than jumping straight into changes, the plan gives you a framework for building team trust, understanding existing systems, and only then introducing improvements backed by real observation.
The concept was popularized by Michael Watkins in The First 90 Days, and it remains the standard framework used by leadership coaches and HR departments when onboarding managers into new teams. The core idea is simple: you cannot lead what you don't understand.
Key Takeaways
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01
Change in Thinking Switch from being someone who "does the work" to someone who "manages and organizes." Stop judging your worth by the tasks you finish yourself. Your new main job is to remove roadblocks and provide what your team needs to succeed.
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02
Change in Action Move from just "Putting Out Fires" to "Building the Plan." Start setting goals for the long term. Success comes from focusing on important strategies instead of just checking things off a list of small tasks.
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03
Change in Influence Swap "Checking Everything Manually" for "Creating Lasting Systems." Set up clear ways for communication and processes. Use systems that work every time so the team can perform well even when you are not there.
Management Checkpoints to Review
Checkup #1: Trying to Be an Instant Hero
You spent your first two weeks pointing out easy problems and inefficiencies in team meetings to show how smart you are.
Jumping straight into "fixing" things tells your team you think they are not smart or that they have ignored problems for years. Trying to prove your worth in the first week creates a wall of resentment that makes leading later genuinely harder.
The 30-Day Look Period
Decide not to change any team structures or main processes during your first month. Instead, use that time to privately write down what you see and ask your team "Why do we do it this way?" to learn the background of how things are currently done.
Checkup #2: Adding Too Many New Rules
You get eye-rolls or heavy sighs when you suggest new ways to report information or new tools meant to "make things easier."
You are making things harder for people before you have earned their trust. If you don't know the team's daily flow, your "fixes" likely solve problems that don't exist while just adding more paperwork for people who are already busy.
Inventory of Roadblocks
Have one-on-one talks that focus only on the team's current problems. Only suggest a change after you can clearly show it removes a specific hurdle they have pointed out, not just something that pleases your management style.
Checkup #3: The "Do Nothing and See What Happens" Way
The "quick fixes" you made are getting blocked by other departments, or your team is secretly ignoring your new rules when you aren't watching.
Every company has an unspoken network of politics and history that explains why things are the way they are. Changes made without knowing the bigger company situation can accidentally upset important people or create promises that the company's current budget or culture cannot actually support.
Map Out Key Contacts
Meet with three managers from teams that work closely with yours to ask how your team affects their work. Use this outside feedback to understand the real expectations for your group before you try to change how your team operates.
The Leadership Launchpad: A 90-Day Action Plan
This plan is designed to help you change from "the person who does the work" to "the person who leads the work." Follow these three steps to build trust, clear the path for your team, and show results.
Phase 1: The Learning Time
Goal: Stop guessing and start learning. Collect the facts you need to lead well without taking over. If you want to think about how this fits into your longer career development, reading about how to build a personal development plan your manager will support is a natural next step.
- Have "Talking Meetings" with a Goal: Meet with every person who reports to you: Ask "What is the main thing stopping you from working faster?" and "What do you need from me to do your best work?" (Do not talk about project status).
- Draw the Way Work Moves: Create a map showing how work gets done, pointing out where things get stuck and where communication breaks down.
- The "Watch" Rule: Spend more than 5 hours watching the team work without giving any instructions, just to see where things get difficult.
Phase 2: The Agreement Change
Focus: Stop doing the hands-on work yourself and start setting clear targets for others based on what you learned.
- Set Three Main Goals: Decide on three clear main objectives. Every task the team does must relate back to one of these goals.
- The "Let Go" Handover: Give one major project you used to handle to a team member. Tell them what the final result should look like, but let them figure out the best way to get there.
- Start the Check-in: Hold a short, weekly meeting just to talk about "roadblocks" that are stopping the team from reaching its goals.
Phase 3: Checking Speed
Focus: Move from organizing to making things better, proving the team performs better because you are leading them.
- Get Rid of One Old Process: Stop one meeting, report, or paperwork step that doesn't add value to instantly build trust and show you value people's time.
- The Progress Talk: Meet with each person to talk about their personal wins and switch the focus from "what we finished" to "how we are getting better."
- The 90-Day Report Card: Compare today's work speed to Day 1. Share a short summary of the team's wins with your manager to show your leadership is working.
How Cruit Helps You in Your First 90 Days
For Strategy
Career Guidance ModuleActs like a mentor available anytime, using deep, thoughtful questions to help you see your own blind spots about your 90-day plan.
For Validation
Journaling ModuleWrite down your daily successes and thoughts; the computer system summarizes them to help you spot real patterns of what is working in your new processes.
For Alignment
Networking ModuleHelps you plan conversations and writes friendly messages to effectively manage important contacts outside your team.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if my boss wants me to make changes right away?
It is normal to feel pressure from your boss to show quick results. However, most senior leaders like a manager who can explain why they are making a move.
Tell your boss about your 90-day plan. Explain that you are spending the first few weeks learning everything deeply to make sure that any changes you make later are based on facts and will last. This shows you are a thoughtful planner, not just someone reacting to pressure. If you want to think through the kinds of questions to ask during your onboarding process, our guide on onboarding process questions to ask employers covers exactly that.
What if I see a problem that needs to be fixed today?
If you see an urgent "fire"—like a major safety risk, a legal danger, or a mistake that will cost the company a lot of money today—you should step in.
For everything else, pause. What looks like a mistake to someone new might actually be a fix for an even deeper process problem you don't see yet. Write down the issue, ask the team what they think about it, and include it in your long-term plan instead of "fixing" it right away.
What if I was promoted from within the same team?
Yes, maybe even more so. Even though you know the work, your job title has changed how your teammates see you overnight.
If you start changing things immediately, your former teammates might feel you are trying to show off your new power. Pausing to look at the team from your new manager position — instead of your old peer position — shows them you respect their knowledge and want to lead based on what the department actually needs now, not just what you wished for as a teammate.
How do I show progress without big changes in the first 30 days?
Progress in the first 30 days looks like relationship-building and structured listening, not reorganization. Write a short weekly summary for your manager that shows what you have learned, what blockers the team faces, and what patterns you are noticing.
This format — observation, pattern, hypothesis — demonstrates analytical thinking and leadership judgment. Most senior leaders respond well to it because it signals you are thinking strategically rather than reacting impulsively. Small visible actions (removing one unnecessary meeting, responding to team requests quickly) also signal competence without disrupting what works.
What should I do in my first week as a new manager?
In your first week, focus on three things: introducing yourself with context (not just your title), scheduling one-on-one conversations with every direct report, and observing at least one full team workflow cycle from start to finish.
Do not reorganize anything. Do not announce a new vision. Do not call out problems in group settings. Your only goal in week one is to collect information and signal safety — showing the team that you are here to understand them, not audit them.
Focus on what is important.
Doing well in your first 90 days is not about how many things you change or rebuild; it's about how well you learn the current situation. Falling into the trap of "fixing things first" might make you feel busy right away, but it often results in leading a team that has already stopped listening to you. Learning first is what builds the trust needed for real change later. Focus on gathering facts now, so your future choices are based on what is real, not what you assume. You have the skills to lead this team, so give yourself permission to slow down and get it right.
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