Your First 90 Days as a Higher Executive Officer

Your First 90 Days as a Higher Executive Officer

A Practical Guide to Leading Teams and Delivery in the Irish Civil Service

You have the HEO role. This guide helps you handle what comes next.

Follow Niamh through her first three months in an Irish Civil Service team: meeting experienced colleagues, setting priorities, giving feedback, managing upwards and learning to make decisions without having every answer.

The rewritten edition includes finished emails, briefing notes and conversations, ten practical tools, a difficult-Monday practice scenario, a plain-English glossary and nine official sources.

Work through the moments that matter:

- Manage experienced staff and former peers.

- Make one-to-ones useful and give feedback clearly.

- Delegate well and push back on conflicting deadlines.

- Write briefings and make recommendations.

- Lead across teams, recover from mistakes and build confidence.

- Review progress at days 30, 60 and 90.

Includes a 56-page PDF and reflowable EPUB; approximately 12,690 words excluding font licences. Tools are text prompts, not interactive forms.

Independent Guides for Me publication. Departmental policies and appointment terms govern formal matters. The 90-day structure is a learning plan.