New manager leadership in Cambodia requires more than supervising tasks. It involves setting clear expectations, adapting communication for different audiences and helping staff make sound decisions. This article gives managers in Cambodian businesses, hotels, schools and NGOs a practical system for their first 90 days.
Start by defining what success means in your Cambodian organisation
A new manager can become busy without becoming effective. Meetings, approvals and daily problem-solving may fill the calendar, while the team still lacks clarity about priorities. The first management task is therefore to define the results the team must deliver and the behaviours needed to deliver them.
Write a short manager brief covering:
- The team’s main responsibilities.
- The three most important outcomes for the next 90 days.
- The decisions staff can make without approval.
- The decisions that require escalation.
- The standard of evidence, reporting or service expected.
- The way progress will be reviewed.
For example, a hotel department might measure completed room checks, response time to guest issues and unresolved maintenance requests. An NGO programme team may need to track activity completion, beneficiary records, partner communication and donor reporting deadlines. A school manager may focus on lesson preparation, safeguarding procedures, parent communication and staff development.
Do not use the same definition of success for every role. A Cambodian customer service team serving local customers may need clear Khmer-language explanations and fast responses to practical questions. A team supporting foreign residents or tourists may need consistent English communication, payment information and directions. Staff working with international buyers, investors or donors may need formal documentation, agreed terminology and reliable reporting.
Use the first month to listen before changing systems
New managers are often promoted because they understand the work. That knowledge is useful, but it does not mean they understand every obstacle faced by the team. Before introducing new procedures, collect information from the people who perform the work and from the people who receive it.
Hold individual conversations with each direct report. Ask questions such as:
- Which part of your work creates the most delay?
- Which decision do you regularly wait for?
- What do customers, students, partners or beneficiaries ask most often?
- Which report or meeting takes time without helping you do the work?
- What support would help you perform better?
- Which communication language is clearest for this task?
Listening does not mean promising to accept every suggestion. Record each issue, check whether it is repeated by others and compare it with available evidence such as complaints, missed deadlines, rework, attendance records or sales enquiries.
In Cambodia, this step deserves particular care where teams include Khmer-speaking staff, English-speaking staff and colleagues from other countries. A manager should not assume that silence means agreement or that a staff member who speaks confidently has the strongest understanding. Use written follow-up, private questions and a clear opportunity to confirm what has been agreed.
Set communication rules for Khmer, English and mixed teams
Communication problems are often treated as attitude problems when the real issue is unclear information. A new manager can reduce this risk by setting simple rules that apply to routine work.
Agree the following with the team:
- Which channel is used for urgent operational issues.
- Which channel is used for formal decisions and records.
- How quickly a message should receive an acknowledgement.
- When Khmer should be used, when English is required and when both versions are appropriate.
- Who translates or checks important client, donor or partner information.
- How staff confirm that instructions have been understood.
For Khmer-language audiences, managers should check that technical terms, prices, dates and responsibilities are clear in Khmer rather than relying on a direct translation from English. For English-language audiences, avoid assuming that polished English means complete understanding. Summarise decisions in writing and invite questions.
A useful practice is the decision recap. After a meeting, send five lines:
- What was decided.
- Why it was decided.
- Who is responsible.
- When the action is due.
- What evidence will show completion.
This creates a business-controlled record of information. It is more useful than relying on informal memory, especially when work crosses departments, languages or organisations.
Move from personal expertise to team capability
A newly promoted manager may continue doing the work because it feels faster. That can create a hidden bottleneck. Staff wait for the manager, the manager becomes overloaded and no one else develops the judgement needed for the next level of responsibility.
Delegate outcomes, not only instructions. When assigning work, explain:
- The purpose of the task.
- The result required.
- The limits on budget, quality, timing or risk.
- The decisions the staff member may make independently.
- The point at which the manager must be consulted.
- The date and format for review.
For example, a retail manager might ask a supervisor to reduce stock discrepancies during a defined period. The supervisor can review deliveries, update the stock process and report exceptions, while the manager retains approval for supplier changes. This develops problem-solving rather than simple task repetition.
Delegation should also reflect the person’s current capability. Some staff need a written procedure and frequent check-ins. Others need the goal, constraints and authority to decide. The manager’s responsibility is to adjust support without removing ownership.
Build a management rhythm that fits the sector
Good intentions do not replace a repeatable management rhythm. The right rhythm will differ between a hotel, school, retailer, professional services firm and NGO, but every team needs a predictable way to plan, review and resolve issues.
| Management activity | Purpose | Useful measure |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly team planning | Confirm priorities, dependencies and risks | Actions completed by the agreed date |
| One-to-one meeting | Discuss workload, support and development | Open actions resolved or progressed |
| Work quality review | Identify errors, rework and training needs | Repeat errors or rejected work |
| Customer or stakeholder review | Connect team activity to service needs | Response time, resolution rate or satisfaction feedback |
| Monthly manager review | Check progress against organisational goals | Key outcomes achieved and risks escalated |
Keep the system proportionate. A small Cambodian business may need one weekly planning meeting, a short staff check-in and a simple action list. A donor-funded programme may require more formal records because reporting, compliance and partner accountability are part of delivery.
Measure actions that the manager can influence. Staff turnover, revenue or programme outcomes may matter, but they can be affected by many factors. Combine outcome measures with leading measures such as completed training, response times, quality checks, follow-up rates and unresolved issues.
Adapt leadership to different people without becoming inconsistent
Fair management does not mean giving every person identical support. It means applying the same standards while considering experience, role, language, confidence and the complexity of the work.
Use this simple decision framework before giving direction:
- New task, low experience: explain the process, demonstrate the standard and review early work.
- Familiar task, developing judgement: explain the outcome and constraints, then ask the staff member to propose an approach.
- Experienced task owner: agree the result and review point, while allowing the person to choose the method.
- High-risk or sensitive task: define approval points and keep a written record, regardless of experience.
This approach can be used with local Cambodian employees, foreign residents and international team members. It is also relevant when one team serves several audiences. A front-office employee speaking with a local customer may need one type of support, while a colleague preparing a proposal for an overseas buyer or donor may need another. The standard of accuracy and respect remains consistent, but the communication and evidence required may differ.
Use feedback to improve behaviour and performance
Feedback should not arrive only when something has gone wrong. A new manager should make feedback specific, timely and connected to the work.
A practical feedback structure is:
- Describe the observable situation.
- Explain the effect on the customer, colleague, project or result.
- Ask for the staff member’s view.
- Agree the next behaviour or action.
- Set a date to review whether it changed.
Instead of saying, “Your communication is poor,” say, “The supplier received two different delivery dates. This delayed the stock update. What happened, and how will we confirm one date before sending the next message?” This invites explanation while keeping the conversation focused on an observable issue.
Feedback must also work upwards. Ask your team whether instructions are clear, whether decisions are delayed and whether meetings help them complete their work. Keep the questions short and act on a small number of issues. If feedback produces no visible response, staff may stop sharing useful information.
Test your management approach over 90 days
The principles above are relevant to many organisations, but no general leadership article can establish what will work for every Cambodian workplace. Test the approach against your own staff feedback, customer enquiries, sales records, project data and operational results.
Use three review points:
- Day 30: Can staff explain their priorities, decision rights and reporting expectations?
- Day 60: Are fewer issues waiting for manager approval? Are recurring errors or delays being recorded?
- Day 90: Has the team improved one chosen operational measure, such as response time, completed actions, quality checks or report timeliness?
Choose one primary measure rather than claiming that leadership has improved everything. Record the starting position, introduce one clear management change and compare results after an agreed period. Also collect a small amount of qualitative feedback from staff and customers or stakeholders.
The source article published by HubSpot similarly highlights the shift from individual contribution towards developing team performance. For Cambodian organisations, the practical extension is to make that shift visible through clear decision rights, language-aware communication, sector-specific measures and regular review.
First actions for a new manager in Cambodia
Within the next five working days:
- Write the team’s three most important 90-day outcomes.
- Meet each direct report individually and record repeated obstacles.
- Publish the rules for urgent messages, formal decisions and language use.
- Delegate one outcome with clear authority and review points.
- Select one measurable operational result to review at day 30, day 60 and day 90.
This gives a new manager a practical starting point without copying a leadership model designed for another organisation. The aim is not to appear authoritative. It is to make work clearer, decisions faster to resolve and team capability easier to measure.