Complete New Manager Toolkit: First 100 Days

This course is part of New Manager Skills Toolkit Specialization

Instructor: Chris Croft

Access provided by University of Colorado

8 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

8 hours to complete

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

8 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

8 hours to complete

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

Discover practical techniques for delegation, communication, performance management, and building a motivated, high-performing team.
Learn how to build trust, understand your team, and make the right decisions during your first 100 days as a manager.

Details to know

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Assessments

9 assignments¹

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Taught in English

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This course is part of the New Manager Skills Toolkit Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

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There are 8 modules in this course

Created by Chris Croft, an internationally respected management trainer, author, and speaker who has helped more than 250,000 people develop their professional skills, this course will help you make the transition info management. You'll learn what management really involves, how leadership differs from management, and how to balance delivering results with supporting and developing your team.

Starting your first management role can be exciting, but it can also feel overwhelming. Many new managers make the mistake of trying to do everything themselves, when their real job is to get results through other people. We'll explore how to prepare before you start a new role, make a strong first impression, build credibility, and avoid the common mistakes that many new managers make in their first few months. You'll learn a practical framework for your first 100 days, helping you understand the team, the business, and the priorities before making major changes. Along the way, you'll discover how to build productive relationships with your team, stakeholders, and manager, communicate effectively, delegate with confidence, and create accountability without micromanaging. We'll also look at performance management, team development, and the routines and habits that help good managers stay organised and effective. The focus throughout is on practical, real-world management techniques that you can apply immediately. By the end of the course, you'll have a clear plan and a complete toolkit to help you succeed in your first management role and build a strong foundation for your future career.

In this module, you will clarify the real work of management so you can shift from doing the work yourself to leading people, systems, and results. You will examine how management overlaps with leadership, how strong managers balance delivery with team development, and how to stay focused while meeting the demands of your boss, your organization, and your own priorities.

What's included

5 videos1 reading1 assignment2 discussion prompts

5 videosTotal 19 minutes

First 100 Days: Starting Strong in a New Management Role5 minutes
Be the Captain: Build the Machine of People4 minutes
Visionary Management: Creativity, Teams & Continuous Improvement3 minutes
John Adair’s Leadership Model Explained4 minutes
How to Keep Your Focus and the System Happy3 minutes

1 readingTotal 10 minutes

What is Management For?10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 9 minutes

Understanding Manager Responsibilities Quiz9 minutes

2 discussion promptsTotal 20 minutes

Reflect on the Shift from Doer to Manager10 minutes
Identify One Quality You Need to Strengthen as a Manager10 minutes

This module provides you with a practical roadmap for navigating the most sensitive phase of your management transition. You will use the SPONGE approach to observe before acting, build trust through listening, understand how work really happens, use data to test assumptions, and decide when to move from learning to action with stronger judgment and organizational support.

What's included

10 videos1 assignment2 discussion prompts

10 videosTotal 27 minutes

Prepare Before Day One: Research Your New Employer & Meet Your Boss2 minutes
Bridging the Management Skills Gap3 minutes
Be a Sponge: First 100 Days for New Managers2 minutes
Day One: Say Hello & Listen (The S of SPONGE)4 minutes
Postpone — The P of SPONGE3 minutes
Official vs Unofficial: How Work Really Gets Done1 minute
The Numbers: Getting Truth from KPIs2 minutes
Get Close (MBWA & Back to the Floor)4 minutes
External Stakeholders: Customers & Suppliers2 minutes
100-Day Leadership Playbook: Sponge, Announce, Act4 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 6 minutes

Your First 100 Days Quiz6 minutes

2 discussion promptsTotal 20 minutes

Do you think you have a skills gap?10 minutes
Which part of SPONGE was most interesting to you?10 minutes

A strong relationship with your boss can accelerate your success, while a weak one can create confusion, friction, and missed opportunities. In this module, you will learn how to set measurable expectations, communicate clearly and consistently, and earn trust by showing sound judgment, reliability, and growing independence.

What's included

3 videos1 assignment2 discussion prompts

Strong management depends on habits that shape how you spend time, make decisions, set standards, and respond to people. In this module, you will evaluate how much technical knowledge you need, practice visible role-model behavior, manage your time more deliberately, strengthen delegation and accountability, and respond more effectively to trust and performance challenges within your team.

What's included

6 videos1 reading1 assignment1 discussion prompt

6 videosTotal 29 minutes

How Technical Should a Manager Be?6 minutes
Managers as Role Models: Behaviours That Spread2 minutes
Time Mastery for Managers: Control, Capture, Delegate4 minutes
Don't Let the Monkey Jump: Practical Delegation and Empowerment6 minutes
Finding Your Trusted Lieutenant: Vet, Test, and Monitor Key Team Members5 minutes
Tackling Three Difficult Subordinates: Jam Tomorrow, The Hedgehog, The Martyr7 minutes

1 readingTotal 10 minutes

Phrases to boost delegation and empowerment10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 9 minutes

Management Habits Quiz9 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

Reflect on a Standard You'd Like to Spread Using Behaviour10 minutes

New managers can damage trust quickly through habits that seem small but send powerful signals. This module helps you recognize two especially risky patterns: clinging to your old role and creating unfairness through praise or favoritism. By avoiding these mistakes early, you can protect credibility, fairness, and team morale.

What's included

2 videos1 assignment1 discussion prompt

This module focuses on the operating disciplines that distinguish strong managers from average ones. You will explore how effective managers build teamwork, avoid micromanagement while staying involved, protect quality and standards, communicate clearly, strengthen problem-solving and delegation, hold people accountable, and use measurement and development to improve results over time.

What's included

11 videos1 reading1 assignment2 discussion prompts

11 videosTotal 38 minutes

Sustaining Teamwork: How Good Managers Build and Monitor Effective Teams5 minutes
Motivate from Day One — A Maslow-Based Guide for New Leaders4 minutes
Obsessed with Quality: Measuring What Matters2 minutes
Tidy Signals: Quick Wins for New Managers2 minutes
Customer Service: The Last Forgotten Competitive Edge4 minutes
Communicate to Lead: 5 Essential Methods8 minutes
Delegation and 'Grip': How to Check Without Micromanaging2 minutes
Delegation: The Sliding-Scale Approach3 minutes
Keep Promises — Enforce Reliability from Day One2 minutes
Measure What Matters: Practical Measurement for Managers3 minutes
Sharpen the Saw: Training to Retain and Develop Your Team2 minutes

1 readingTotal 10 minutes

Communication: Why & How10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 9 minutes

End of module Quiz9 minutes

2 discussion promptsTotal 20 minutes

Which Maslow stage are you going to focus on improving?10 minutes
Reflect on a measurement you'd like to implement immediately10 minutes

Great managers learn faster by asking sharp, practical questions that reveal how the business really works. In this module, you will build a diagnostic questioning toolkit for strategy, culture, customers, pricing, operations, quality, projects, and planning assumptions so you can uncover risks early and make more informed decisions.

What's included

8 videos1 reading1 assignment1 discussion prompt

8 videosTotal 23 minutes

First 100 Days: Strategic Questions for New Hires3 minutes
Shaping Team Culture: 7 Diagnostic Questions for New Managers5 minutes
5 Questions to Know Your Customers and Costs3 minutes
5 Pricing Questions That Drive Revenue2 minutes
100-Day Manager Checklist — Team Time, Timewasters & Role-Model Self-Check3 minutes
Obsess Over Quality: Measuring and Improving Service & Support2 minutes
Five Quick Questions to Keep Projects on Track2 minutes
First 100 Days: Six Questions to Assess Your Team2 minutes

1 readingTotal 10 minutes

New Job Questionnaire 10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 15 minutes

Good Questions to Ask Quiz15 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

Which Diagnostic Question are you most excited to try out?10 minutes

Sustained management success depends on routines, not one-off effort. In this final module, you will design practical daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and long-term rhythms that help you stay visible, aligned, organized, and focused on both team performance and your own growth as a manager.