A New Manager Is Drowning and Won't Ask for Help

Situation Briefing

You are a senior HR Business Partner. James was a star individual contributor promoted to Engineering Manager six months ago. Since then, his team of 8 has missed two sprint commitments, two team members have requested transfers, and James has been working 70-hour weeks trying to do everything himself. His skip-level manager flagged the situation to you. James doesn't know his team members requested transfers. He believes he's handling things and that asking for help would prove he wasn't ready for the role.

Your Objectives

• 1

  Help James recognize he needs support without making him feel like a failure

• 2

  Surface the team health issues diplomatically

• 3

  Get him to agree to coaching or a management development program

• 4

  Normalize the difficulty of the IC-to-manager transition