Most claims managers were promoted for being the best adjuster in the room — clean files, strong cycle times, few reopens. Then they are handed a team and asked to do something completely different: coach, hold accountability, have hard conversations, and lead people through a surge. Nothing in the promotion supplies those skills. That gap has a name: the competence trap.
- Your job is no longer to do the best files. It is to make the team’s files better.
- Define what “good” looks like out loud, so the standard belongs to the team.
- Clarity is kinder than vagueness — especially in accountability.
- Plan for the surge before it arrives.
- Use your first 90 days to listen, set the standard, and build a rhythm.
The competence trap
The skills that earn the promotion are individual: speed, accuracy, judgment on your own files. The skills the new job requires are collective: developing other people, building consistency, and making decisions that hold across a whole team. When a new manager keeps relying on the old skills, the result is familiar — they rescue files, work late, become the bottleneck, and quietly burn out.
Four shifts that define the new job
1. From doing to developing
Every file you fix yourself is a lesson someone else did not learn. Review, coach, and return the file. It is slower this week and faster every week after.
2. From your standard to a team standard
You know what a good file looks like. Your team may not know that you know. Write the standard down: what complete documentation includes, how status is communicated, what gets escalated and when.
3. From being liked to being clear
Many new managers soften feedback until it disappears. Clear expectations are not harsh; vague ones are, because people find out they missed them only when it is too late to fix.
4. From reacting to planning
A team that only reacts is always one surge away from collapse. Capacity, coverage, escalation paths, and check-in rhythms are leadership work — and they have to be done before the volume arrives.
A first-90-days plan
- Days 1–30: Listen. Hold one-on-ones with everyone. Map the workload. Ask what slows people down and what they wish their last manager had done.
- Days 31–60: Set the standard. Agree on what a complete file looks like and how reviews will work. Make it visible and shared.
- Days 61–90: Build the rhythm. A weekly huddle, regular file reviews, a coaching cadence, and a written plan for surge conditions.
A simple structure for hard conversations
Accountability conversations go better when they follow the same shape every time:
- The specific observation — what happened, on which files, with no characterization.
- The impact — on the insured, the carrier relationship, or the team.
- The expectation — what good looks like, stated plainly.
- The support — what you will provide to help.
- The follow-up date — when you will look again together.
Used consistently, this structure makes accountability predictable rather than personal — which is exactly what lets people hear it.
Questions
Why do top adjusters struggle when promoted to claims manager?
Because the promotion rewards individual technical excellence and then requires a different skill set: developing people, building a shared standard, holding accountability, and planning for surge conditions. Without training in those skills, new managers often fall back on doing files themselves.
What should a new claims manager do in the first 90 days?
Spend the first month listening and mapping the workload, the second month agreeing on a written file standard and review process, and the third month building a steady rhythm of huddles, file reviews, coaching, and a surge plan.
How can a claims manager hold adjusters accountable without burning them out?
Make accountability predictable: describe the specific observation, its impact, the expectation, the support you will provide, and a follow-up date. Clear, consistent conversations are less stressful than vague ones that surprise people later.
Claim the Lead
Transformational leadership for adjusting managers — the move from high performer to credible leader, and how to hold accountability without burning people out.
