A 30-60-90 Day Plan for a New Manager at a Small Company

A new manager’s first 90 days should run in three stages. In the first 30 days, listen and learn the rules, including California supervisor training within six months and the ban on off-the-clock work. In days 31 to 60, set routines: weekly one-on-ones and clear expectations. In days 61 to 90, make visible decisions and ask the team what is working.

I am Mac Malbrough. I hold a J.D. and an MS-HRM, I am not an attorney, and I help small employers prepare people for their first management role. This article is general information, not legal advice, and the examples are hypotheticals I made up.

What problem does a new manager face?

In a small company the best technician or salesperson is often promoted to lead the team. The skills that earned the promotion are not the skills the new role needs. The person is expected to run meetings, give feedback, handle conflict and follow employment rules, usually with no training and a full workload still attached to their old job.

The result is predictable. The new manager either does all the work personally, which burns them out, or avoids hard conversations, which lets small problems grow. The team feels the change before the manager does. A plan with a clear order of operations reduces that risk, because it tells the person what to do first and what can wait.

What should a new manager do in the first 30 days?

The first month is for listening and for learning the rules that apply to the job. Four tasks matter most.

1. Meet each team member for 30 minutes and ask three questions: what is working, what is getting in the way, and what do you need from me?
2. Read the handbook and the key policies, so you know what you can promise and what you cannot. If your handbook is out of date, the California employee handbook template is a starting point.
3. Learn the wage and hour basics for the people you supervise. The federal rule on hours worked says that work not requested but suffered or permitted is work time, and that management has the duty to prevent work it does not want performed. In practice, a manager who sees a non-exempt employee finishing a task after clocking out has to act, not look away.
4. Find out which training you need. In California, employers with five or more employees must give supervisors at least two hours of harassment prevention training within six months of becoming a supervisor, and every two years after that.

For the training requirement, see my article on harassment prevention training for small employers in California. If you deliver the training yourself, the California Harassment Prevention Training Facilitator Kit gives you the materials.

Avoid big changes in month one. Your goal is to understand the work and the people, and to show that you listen.

What should a new manager do in days 31 to 60?

The second month is for building routines. People relax into a new manager when they can predict what will happen each week. Set four routines.

• A weekly one-on-one with each direct report, 20 to 30 minutes, with a shared agenda and a record of commitments. The One-on-One Meeting Templates for Managers gives you 12 agendas and a tracker.
• A written statement of expectations for each role: what good looks like, how it is measured and how often you will talk about it.
• A team meeting with a standing format: wins, priorities, blockers.
• A habit of giving feedback within a few days of the event, in private for corrections and in public for praise.

This is also the month for your first hard conversation, because small issues avoided in month one grow by month two. If you have never had one, a script helps. The Hard Conversation Scripts for Managers offers 15 scripts for feedback, boundaries and repair. My article on when to coach and when to tell explains how to choose your approach.

What should a new manager do in days 61 to 90?

The third month is for decisions and for asking whether the first two months worked. Three tasks matter.

• Make one decision the team has been waiting for, such as a process change or a schedule fix, and explain the reasoning.
• Run a short check with the team: what should I keep doing, what should I stop and what should I start?
• Set goals for the next quarter with each person and agree on a development step for each.

Then have a conversation with your own manager about what you have learned, what support you need and what the next quarter looks like. A new manager who never gets feedback stops asking for it.

How can the company support the plan?

The plan is more effective when the company treats it as part of the promotion. Give the manager a written 30-60-90 outline on the first day, assign a mentor who is not their boss, and schedule the check-ins before the person starts. The 30-60-90 onboarding kit has the templates, and it is built for new hires, so you can adapt it for a new role.

For a group, the First-Time Manager Workshop Series is a six-session facilitator kit with a guide, a workbook, 79 slides, scenario cards and an evaluation sheet. If you want one package covering the conversations, the Manager Conversation Bundle includes stay interviews, one-on-ones and hard conversations. For a walkthrough of what a manager’s skill set looks like, my article on manager coaching skills gives a learning plan.

What legal pitfalls should a new manager avoid?

• Accepting off-the-clock work from a non-exempt employee, even when they volunteer
• Asking about protected characteristics during interviews or casual conversation
• Promising a raise, a promotion or job security you do not control
• Ignoring a complaint because it seems minor. Report it to HR or the owner the same day.
• Making a termination decision alone

A new manager does not need to know the whole law. They need to know when to stop and call someone. Write the name and number of that person in the 30-day plan.

What does a hypothetical first month look like?

Take a restaurant group’s best server, promoted to floor manager with eight direct reports. In week one she meets each team member for 30 minutes, asks the three questions and writes down what she hears. In week two she reads the handbook sections on scheduling, breaks and tip handling, and asks the owner what she is allowed to approve without asking. In week three she shadows the owner on a schedule change and learns that a non-exempt employee may not finish side work after clocking out. In week four she sets her one-on-one calendar for the next quarter and books the harassment prevention training. At the end of the month she has changed almost nothing about how the restaurant runs, and she knows what she is dealing with. That is the point.

How do you know the plan is working?

Measure what you can see. After 90 days, check three things. First, whether the one-on-ones happened as scheduled, since a skipped meeting is the earliest warning. Second, whether the team’s answers to “what should I keep, stop and start” show any surprises, and whether you acted on at least one. Third, whether any employee has left or requested a transfer in the period, and whether the exit conversation points to the manager. Add one question to the manager’s own review: what did you learn that you wish you had been told on day one? Use the answers to improve the plan for the next person promoted.

What should you do this week?

If you have a new manager, or are one, schedule the 30-minute meetings with each team member before Friday and put the first harassment prevention training deadline on the calendar: six months from the date they started supervising. If you are building a program for several managers, choose the one routine that would help most, probably the weekly one-on-one, and start there.

The 30-60-90 onboarding kit and the One-on-One Meeting Templates for Managers are good places to begin. For help designing a program for your managers, book a free consult through my HR services for small businesses.

Related reading: why a great manager is a retention strategy.

Sources

• California Civil Rights Department, sexual harassment prevention training requirements: employers with five or more employees, supervisor and employee training timing
• 29 CFR 785.11 and 785.13, Electronic Code of Federal Regulations: work suffered or permitted and the duty of management
• Harassment prevention training for small employers in California

McKinley holds a J.D. but is not a licensed attorney. Articles here are general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, talk with an employment attorney.

Data current as of November 2026. Sources are linked where each figure appears.