New Supervisor Checklist: Your First 30, 60 and 90 Days

BEFORE YOUR FIRST WEEK

What should a new supervisor do first?

Clarify what you own, learn how the team’s work gets done, meet each person, and establish where to take questions you are not authorized to decide. Build a steady routine for assigning work, removing blockers, giving feedback, and checking completion.

This 30/60/90-day checklist is an adaptable operating plan. It does not grant authority to change pay, policies, staffing, or schedules. Confirm those boundaries with your manager and HR before making commitments.

Download the editable new supervisor checklist (Excel). Adapt the tasks, assign owners and due dates, and review progress with your manager. Replace the fictional examples before using the workbook for your team.

• Ask your manager for the team’s priorities and how your own success will be evaluated.
• Confirm direct reports, reporting lines, locations, and any shared supervision arrangements.
• List decisions you can make, decisions requiring approval, and emergency escalation contacts.
• Get the approved policies, job expectations, and the team’s current work schedule.
• Confirm which employee records you may access and where manager notes belong.
• Schedule introductions and a short check-in with each team member.

DAYS 1–30

Understand the work before changing the system

Map a normal week. Ask who begins each task, who receives the output, what a good result looks like, and where delays arise. Observe the work with the people who do it instead of relying only on written procedures.

Use a consistent first-conversation agenda

1. Work: “What are your main responsibilities this month?”
2. Support: “What regularly makes those responsibilities harder?”
3. Context: “Which handoffs or deadlines should I understand?”
4. Communication: “How do you currently flag a blocker or ask for a decision?”
5. Follow-up: “What should we check together next time?”

Take factual work notes and record commitments. Avoid promising a fix until you know the decision owner and constraints. If someone raises a complaint or sensitive personal matter, use the designated process rather than putting details in a team task list.

EEOC manager guidance emphasizes consistent treatment. Ask HR how the organization applies standards, handles exceptions, and reviews decisions so your team does not receive different rules by accident.

DAYS 31–60

Practice clear delegation and regular feedback

Start with a small number of improvements you can complete. Write an assignment so the person knows the result, deadline, available resources, decision boundary, and when to ask for help. Agree on a check-in that fits the task’s risk and complexity.

Give feedback close enough to the work that the example is clear. Recognize specific effective work as well as gaps. Use the performance documentation method to connect observations, employee context, support, and follow-up.

Confirm your training responsibilities with the relevant owner. OSHA’s education and training guidance describes training for managers and workers on their roles in a safety program. A generic manager checklist does not replace job-specific safety instruction.

Use the employee training matrix and Excel template to connect assigned learning with its owner, due date, completion evidence, and follow-up.

DAYS 61–90

Review what changed and agree on the next priorities

Meet with your manager to compare the first 90 days with the original expectations. Bring concrete examples of completed work, unresolved dependencies, support needed, and what you learned from the team.

• Check whether each person can describe current priorities and how to raise a blocker.
• Review assignments that repeatedly miss a handoff; determine whether the issue is workload, clarity, access, or another constraint.
• Confirm that promised training, tools, and manager support actually arrived.
• Review upcoming hires, role changes, and planned absences with the appropriate owners.
• Choose a small next set of improvements with owners and due dates.
• Ask the team what is helping and what still feels unclear.

Use a formal performance evaluation when your organization’s process calls for one. Do not surprise someone with a new standard at the end of the period.

A ROUTINE TO KEEP

Your weekly supervisor checklist

Keep this short enough to use. A supervisor’s routine should make priorities and decisions clearer, not create a second reporting job for the team.

1. 01

   Set priorities: confirm the few outcomes that matter this week and any changes from the previous plan.

2. 02

   Check capacity: review assignments and raise conflicts before the due date.

3. 03

   Remove blockers: make an authorized decision or escalate to the correct owner.

4. 04

   Hold conversations: follow through on check-ins, questions, recognition, and feedback.

5. 05

   Close the loop: verify completed work and record the next step for anything still open.

When a new employee joins, use the onboarding checklist to make your responsibilities explicit. When records or review notes need updating, follow your team’s file-organization and access rules.

FICTIONAL EXAMPLE

Replace “take care of supplies” with an owned handoff

Jordan, a fictional first-time supervisor, asks Casey to prepare the location’s weekly supply request. The first attempt contains incomplete quantities because Jordan assumed Casey knew where the count sheet lived.

They agree on a clearer assignment: Casey will complete the approved count sheet by Wednesday at 2 p.m., identify items below the agreed stock level, and send the draft to Jordan. Jordan will provide access to the prior count, answer questions at Tuesday’s check-in, and approve the purchase request. Casey will flag a missing count rather than estimate it.

At the next check-in, Jordan reviews whether the handoff worked and records any change needed. The useful lesson is visible ownership and support, not a claim that a checklist guarantees a particular performance result.

OdyHR connects employee records, evaluations, and follow-up. Explore the performance workflow or discuss how your managers track commitments today.