Strategies When Taking Over a New Team

It’s very easy when you get an opportunity to assemble a new team. You get your pick of who you want to be in your team. And you get to set the culture you want from the get go.  It’s an entirely different story when you have to take over an existing team.  When taking over a new team, there are obvious challenges which needs to be addressed.  Then there are unknown pitfalls that new leaders can easily get trapped in if not careful.  But there are strategies that you can deploy when taking over a new team which can help you gracefully integrate into your new team.

Unlike building a new team, you don’t get to choose exactly who you work with.  You don’t get to choose the specific technical skills you want to have on your team.  You don’t get to choose the types of personalities your team members should have.  You must accept the existing team.  You also must accept the existing team culture.  What the team likes and dislikes as well as what it acceptable or not. 

Believe it or not, some leaders have tried the tactic of coming into a new team strong and trying to make immediate imprints.  Leaders have tried to make immediate changes to the new team they’ve inherited without understanding the existing makeup of the team.  This is a mistake that can ruin the team before things can get started.  Here are a few things that should be avoided when taking over an existing team.

• Show them who’s boss. I have witness leaders joining a team, and at the first team meeting, he introduced himself and said to the team “forget everything you’ve done in the past.  From here on out, we’re doing things my way.”  This is a bad strategy not because the new way he wanted things to be done are not good.  It could be a great change and may make things much better and more efficient.  It’s bad because he hasn’t taken the time to show that he understood what’s been the work process.  Making such a bold announcement alienate the existing team, making them feel like they’ve been doing things wrong all this time.
• Referencing former teams. I’ve also seen new leaders joining a team and constantly telling his new team how great his former team was.  He would regularly tell them how his former team would do certain things and how it’s better.  Sharing experience is good, but referencing former team makes the new team feel inadequate.
• Inferiority complex to the predecessor. Some leaders taking over the new team feels like he needs to show that he’s better than the previous leader.  Therefore, he may make attempts to speak poorly of the former leader to prop himself up.  This should be avoided because the members may have good relationships with the former leader.  Speaking badly of the previous leader may put off the team members and they may view you as shallow consequently.

There are certainly plenty of other things to avoid when taking on a new team.  However, those are the most common mistake which has the most negative impact to their success.  And they should be avoided if you want to have any chance of success with your new team.

As there are things to avoid, there are also strategies you can take to successfully take over a team.  Below are a list of strategies for you to consider implementing when taking on an existing team.   

• Take time to get to know the team. Before making any judgments, and before making any decisions, spend the time to get to know the team. Learn what the team is like and what it takes to motivate them.  Understand what demotivates them and avoid it.
• Know the individuals. It is vital you spend one on one time with each member of the team to get to know them.  Get to know their skillsets and how they can best contribute to the team.  Learn how you can help them become better.  And learn how they interact with other team members.  It’s important to know the dynamics of how each member feels about one another.  That will allow you to navigate any personal issues team members have with each other.
• Learn the working process and styles. Before making and changes to the working process of the team, truly understand what that process is.  Understand why it’s been that way in the past.  Once you truly understand it and you feel like you have a better change that would truly be an upgrade for the team, then you can make the change.  When you understand the process and can articulate why your change is better.
• Set clear and reasonable expectations. After understanding the making of the team and the individuals, communicate what you expect from your team.  Make it simple and easy for them to understand.  The expectations should be reasonable and attainable.
• Provide vision. Aside from setting clear expectations, a leader needs to have a good vision on where the team needs to go.  Providing the team with a long term goal with short term milestones keeps the team motivated and focused.

Taking on a new team can be daunting.  Every team and every individual are different.  You don’t really know what to expect and you do get to choose what the team you receive is like.  But you can use some of these strategies to help you take on your new team on the right foot.  The think that you must realize is that it will take time.  Take the time to get to know the environment and the team.  Changes will come in due time so there’s no need to rush.  Spend the time to do it right and you’ll achieve greater success as a team.  And you’ll thank yourself for taking the time to insert yourself to the team properly. 

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