- Get off to a good start and make a good first impression?
Say hello, be friendly. And keep your powder dry.
- Find out their credentials and their approach to management and the role?
Your new manager will introduce themselves, so you'll find about their credentials sooner or later.
In the meantime, you could collect some info from those on your team who actually interviewed that manager. You should know at least the manager's name and the last place they worked at. You can use that info to look up their Linkedin and Facebook profiles.
You'll find out about your manager's approach within a week, as they listen to what the team has done and start distributing assignments. Pay attention as to how the management convey their expectations - Do they talk straight, or do they talk elliptically? Do they speak their minds, or do they expect you to read their minds? You could google for any report involving the manager's activities at previous firms.
Let your manager do the talking until you're confident that you can read your manager.
- Find out their sense of humour?
Let the manager (or somebody else) crack a joke first. My sense of humor has gotten me into hot water more than once, so I am quite alert to the possibility of having my sense of humor being misinterpreted, as in badly misinterpreted.