How to Introduce Yourself to a New Manager in Writing

Reorganisations, promotions and departures mean that, sooner or later, you get a new manager. The first few weeks set the tone. Your new manager is trying to understand a team, a backlog and a set of expectations all at once, and most people wait to be asked about their work.

A short introduction email, sent in the first week, helps both of you. It gives your manager a clear picture of what you do and how you work, and it shows you are organised and proactive without being pushy.

What To Include

Keep it to five short sections or fewer:

1. A friendly welcome (if they are new) or a hello (if you are new to them).
2. What you work on: your main responsibilities and current projects, with status.
3. What is going well and what needs attention.
4. How you like to work: communication preferences, focus time, anything useful.
5. An offer: to meet, to share documents, to help them get up to speed.

A Before And After

Before:

Hi! Welcome to the team, looking forward to working with you. Let me know if you need anything!

After:

Hi Amira, welcome to the team. I wanted to give you a quick overview of my work before our first one-to-one. I look after vendor onboarding and the supplier contracts database. Current priorities:

• Migrating supplier contracts to the new system: 70% done, due 30 November.
• Renegotiating the logistics contract, which renews in January. I would value your input on our position. Going well: onboarding time is down from 15 days to 8 since we simplified the forms. Needs attention: we have no backup for contract renewals when I am on leave. I work best with written context before meetings and I tend to do focused work in the mornings. I am happy to walk you through anything, and I have shared the project tracker with you.

The second version gives the manager more useful information in a minute than they would get in a week of meetings.

Keep It Short And Factual

This is not a performance review. Do not oversell, list every task, or raise every grievance. Pick what a new manager most needs to know. See how to write a status update executives read for the same principle.

Raise Concerns Carefully

If there are problems they should know about, mention them factually, with a suggested fix where possible. Avoid criticising the previous manager or colleagues in writing; save nuance for a conversation.

Follow Up In Your First One-To-One

Bring the email as your agenda. Ask what they want to achieve, how they prefer to communicate, and what good looks like in your role from their perspective. See how to prepare talking points for a one-on-one with your manager.

If You Are The New Person

If you have just joined a team, the same email works in reverse: introduce your background, what you will be working on, and what you need to get started. Keep the tone curious rather than prescriptive; you do not know the context yet.

A Context For Introductions

A Wrivio Context for this email could say:

Rewrite this as a short introduction email to my new manager. Friendly, organised and confident, not boastful. Use a short bulleted list for current priorities with status and dates. Keep every project name, number, date and fact exactly as written. Do not add achievements, concerns or requests that are not in the original.

Press Ctrl+Shift+Space, paste your notes, and check the priorities are in the order you want your manager to see them.

SHRM’s new employee onboarding guide stresses how much the first weeks shape a working relationship, and the same applies when the new person is the manager.

Common Questions

When should I send an introduction email to a new manager?

In their first week, ideally before your first one-to-one. Early enough to help them, late enough that they have their logins working.

Should I mention problems in the team?

Mention issues that affect your work, factually and briefly. Leave sensitive interpersonal topics for a private conversation.

What if my new manager was my peer?

Acknowledge the change warmly and keep the email practical. “Congratulations on the new role; here is a quick overview to make the handover easier” sets a good tone.

How long should it be?

Readable in under two minutes. If it needs more, link to a document.

Download Wrivio for Windows to turn your notes into a clear, confident introduction to your new manager.