5 questions to ask during a manager handoff

When you step into a new leadership role, especially midstream, your instinct might be to make a splash. Shift priorities. Move faster. Prove yourself.

But the best thing you can do in those first few weeks? Shut up and listen.

I joined Zapier almost two months ago. I inherited an existing team - one that had already been through change and was operating without a full-time manager for a little while.

It would've been easy to jump into fixing mode. Instead, I had a 1:1 with every direct report and my manager. Why? I had a lot to learn about them.

What I wanted to know:

• What's working?
• What's unclear?
• Where are the landmines?
• And most importantly: how do I earn this team's trust?

Knowing their history at the company only tells part of the story. I want to know more. I never have a formal script, but I always come back to these five questions.

5 questions I ask when I inherit a team (or new team member from another team):

1. "What are you most proud of delivering during your time here?"
   
   This helps me understand how someone defines success and gives them a chance to feel seen. I could ask their manager about their accomplishments, but I'd rather hear it directly from them.

2. "If I could wave a magic wand and change one thing about how we work, what would it be?"*
   
   There's always a bottleneck or a point of friction they've just accepted. This question brings it out. It sometimes takes some time for them to think through an answer, and if they don't have one, I'll say we can talk about it in our next 1:1.

3. "What do you feel is the next step in your career, and how can I help you get there?"
   
   I'm not here to manage tasks. I'm here to help people grow. I want them to know that from day one. They may not know how I can help them get there (some do, which is why I ask), but I would like to know if they're happy where they are, if they're aiming for a promotion, or if they recently got a promotion and they're just working on feeling more confident in their new role.

4. "What do you enjoy doing outside of work?"
   
   This isn't just small talk. It's where I listen for overwork, burnout, or whether they even have space to be a full human. I like knowing more about them, of course, and we'll definitely dive deeper in our 1:1s. But watching the tone of their response sometimes says more than the answer itself.

5. "What's something you'd like to learn, either at work or outside of it?"
   
   It's not just about their role today. I want to support their curiosity and long-term development too. I love the range of answers I get here. Sometimes it's a new programming language (or often a frontend engineer wanting to go full stack or vice-versa), and sometimes it's learning to fly a plane. You never know.

I'm not saying these five questions will give you every answer. But they'll give you the ones that matter most in the first 30 days: What's working, what's broken, and how to show your team you're here for them.