Editable Word and Excel files. Designed to be adapted to your team and your voice.
The New Manager Kit
Lead your team with a plan for the first 90 days, the words for the conversations most new managers avoid, and the templates to run it, all in one kit you keep.
One-time purchase, no subscription. Instant download.
- The full 30, 60, and 90 day plan for every area, not just the top two.
- Word-for-word scripts for the hard conversations: delegating, giving feedback, holding people accountable, and leading those who used to be your peers.
- Editable one-on-one, delegation, goal, and development templates you keep and reuse.
- A short guide to documenting decisions and conversations consistently, so they hold up if HR or legal ever reviews them.
- Editable files you can adapt for one manager or a whole team.
Your readiness check shows you where to start. This kit gives you everything to close the gaps: the full plan for every area, the scripts, and the templates, ready to use.
A development resource, editable templates, and general business information for planning, not legal advice. It is not a hiring, promotion, or selection tool. Employment rules vary by state and change over time, so adapt anything here to your company policy and applicable law. For a specific situation involving an employee, pause and get qualified HR or legal help.
Not sure where to start? Take the free New Manager Readiness Check first.
Five files that take you from your first week to a working first year
A plan and the words to run it, not a stack of reading. Start with the Start Here, work the 30, 60, and 90 Day Plan, and use the scripts and templates as each situation comes up.
Start Here
The two-page orientation: everything in the kit, the order to use it, and a table that maps your readiness check result straight to the pieces that address it. If your check flagged delegation and time, this tells you exactly where to start.
Your 30, 60, and 90 Day Plan
The spine of the kit. All six areas across three phases, Establish, Build, and Lead, with the specific moves for each window and room to write your own commitments. Decide what to delegate, who to coach first, and where your time has to go. Adapt it for yourself, or hand a version to each new manager on your team.
Manager Scripts for the Hard Conversations
Word-for-word openings, plus the branches for when they get harder, for the four conversations new managers avoid: handing off work without taking it back, giving feedback that lands, holding a commitment accountable, and leading people who used to be your peers. Edit them to sound like you, then use them.
Editable Manager Templates
The forms you reuse every week: a one-on-one agenda and notes, a delegation brief, a goal, and a development plan. Type into them or print them, and save a copy for each person or each cycle.
A Guide to Documentation
How to keep a short, fair, factual record of your decisions and conversations, so they hold up if HR or your own manager ever reviews them. Includes a decision and conversation note and a running log, with clear guidance on what to leave out.
What the kit adds to your readiness check
The free New Manager Readiness Check shows you where you stand. The kit is how you act on it, across all six areas, not just the two the check flags first.
Your free readiness check shows you
- Where you stand across the six areas that decide a manager's first year.
- Your two biggest strengths to build on.
- A first move on each of your top two gaps.
- A fast read in a few minutes, at no cost.
The New Manager Kit gives you
- The full 30, 60, and 90 day plan for all six areas, not just the top two.
- Word-for-word scripts for delegating, feedback, accountability, and leading former peers.
- Editable one-on-one, delegation, goal, and development templates you keep and reuse.
- A short guide to documenting decisions and conversations so they hold up under review.
The first 90 days, in the order they happen
Start with the plan, work the six areas, and use the scripts and templates as each situation comes up. The kit structures the start; you make the calls.
Set the foundation in week one
Use the Start Here and the one-on-one agenda to meet your team, learn the work, and set expectations. Make the shift from doing the work to leading it explicit, to yourself and to them, so the team knows what changes and what does not.
Build your 30, 60, and 90 day plan
Open the 30, 60, and 90 Day Plan and set specific moves for each window across all six areas. Decide what to delegate, who to coach first, and where your time has to go. A written plan turns a vague first quarter into a set of decisions you can act on.
Have the conversations you have been avoiding
Use the scripts for delegating, feedback, accountability, and leading former peers. Edit the language so it sounds like you, then use it. The scripts turn a conversation you dread into one you can run without putting it off.
Run the week with the templates
Use the one-on-one agenda, the delegation brief, the goal worksheet, and the development plan every week. Consistency is what turns a good first month into a good first year, and it keeps you from reinventing the routine each time.
Document as you go
Keep a short, consistent record of decisions and conversations with the log, so your reasoning holds up if HR or legal ever reviews it. Good documentation protects you and your people, and it costs far less time than reconstructing events later.
A resource to build the role, not a rating of you
This kit helps you build the role of managing a team. It is general information to support your growth as a manager. It is not legal advice, and it is not a hiring, promotion, or selection tool. Employment rules vary by state and change over time, so adapt anything here to your company policy and applicable law.
When to get HR or legal help
Most of managing a team is yours to do with a clear plan. Some situations carry legal weight, and the kit marks them, so you pause and get qualified input before a decision creates a problem. Advice before you act is far cheaper than fixing a misstep after.
What the kit does and does not do
The kit gives you the plan and the words. Here is the split, stated plainly.
- It gives you the plan; you run it. The 30, 60, and 90 day plan organizes the start. Meeting your team, making the calls, and doing the work of leading are yours.
- It gives you the words; you make them yours. The scripts show one good way to run each conversation. Editing them to fit your people and your voice is what makes them work.
- It is a development resource, not a test. Nothing here rates you, hires, promotes, or selects anyone. It is built to help you grow into the role.
- It supports your judgment; it does not replace HR or legal counsel. For a specific situation involving an employee, the kit tells you to pause and get qualified help, and using it well includes knowing that line.
Who it is built for
Who this kit fits, and where to go if you need something else.
Built for
- A first-time manager or a lead in the first year of leading a team, who wants a clear plan and the words for the hard conversations.
- A manager who came up as the strongest individual contributor and now has to lead people, including some who used to be peers.
- A team or HR lead who wants one consistent starting plan to hand to every new manager, instead of leaving each one to figure it out alone.
If you are looking for
- Onboarding new hires onto your team, rather than building your own first 90 days. The New Hire Onboarding 30 60 90 Kit covers that.
- A performance problem that is heading toward discipline or an exit. The Discipline and Termination Decision Kit walks that decision.
- Running formal review cycles and calibration across a team. The Performance Review and Calibration Toolkit is built for that.
Before you buy
What format are the files and can I edit them?
Is this a hiring, promotion, or performance test?
How is this different from the free readiness check?
Do I need to take the free check first?
Who is this built for?
What is the refund policy?
What happens after I buy?
Can I expense this purchase to my business?
Most customers buy TrueStep HR tools for business use, and a tool you use for work often qualifies as a deductible business expense. Whether it does for you depends on your situation, so confirm with your accountant or tax professional. Your receipt arrives by email at checkout and works as documentation.
The new manager first-week checklist
A short checklist for your first week leading a team: the conversations to have, what to set up, and the mistakes to avoid early. Free PDF, sent to your inbox. Unsubscribe anytime.
What buyers say
Step into the role with a plan, not just a title
The plan for the first 90 days, the words for the conversations that matter, and the templates to run it, in files you keep.
Add your email and we will send you the free first-week checklist.
A development resource and general information for new managers and their teams.