{"id":808,"date":"2018-11-14T05:39:47","date_gmt":"2018-11-14T05:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qfactor.com.au\/?p=808"},"modified":"2018-11-14T05:39:47","modified_gmt":"2018-11-14T05:39:47","slug":"what-great-new-leaders-do-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/murrayslatter.me\/?p=808","title":{"rendered":"What great new leaders do first!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Getting people to work together isn\u2019t easy, and unfortunately many leaders skip over the basics of team building in a rush to start achieving goals. But your actions in the first few weeks and months can have a major impact on whether your team ultimately delivers results.
\nWhat the to do???<\/strong>
\nWhat steps should you take to set your team up for success?
\nHow do you form group norms, establish clear goals, and create an environment where everyone feels comfortable and motivated to contribute?
\nWhat the Experts Say
\n<\/strong>Either as taking over an existing team or starting a new one, it\u2019s critical to devote time and energy to establishing\u00a0how<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>you want your team to work, not just what you want them to achieve.
\nThe first few weeks are critical. \u201cPeople form opinions pretty quickly, and these opinions tend to be sticky,\u201d says Michael Watkins, the co-founder of Genesis Advisers and author of the updated The First 90 Days. \u201cIf you don\u2019t take time upfront to figure out how to get the team working well, problems are always going to come up,\u201d says Mary Shapiro, who teaches organisational behaviour at Simmons College. \u201cYou either pay upfront or you pay later.\u201d Here\u2019s how to start your team off on the right foot.
\nGet to know each other
\n<\/strong>\u201cOne of your first priorities should be to get to know your team members and to encourage them to get to better know one another,\u201d says Shapiro. To that end, \u201cresist the urge to immediately start talking about the work and the task outcome,\u201d and focus instead on fostering camaraderie. In practice, this may mean holding a retreat or beginning meetings with team-building exercises.
\nFor virtual teams, it might mean starting calls by getting updates on how each person is doing or hosting virtual happy hours or coffee breaks. One particularly effective exercise is to have people share their best and worst team experiences, says Shapiro. Discussing those good and bad dynamics will help everyone get on the same page about what behaviour they want to encourage \u2014 and avoid \u2014 going forward.
\nShow what you stand for
\n<\/strong>Use your initial interactions with team members as an opportunity to showcase your values and how these align to the businesses values. Explain what\u2019s behind each of your decisions, what your priorities are, and how you will\u00a0evaluate the team\u2019s performance, individually and collectively.
\nWalk them through what metrics you might use to gauge progress, so that they understand how they\u2019ll be evaluated and what\u2019s expected of them. \u201cTeam members will want to know how you define success,\u201d says Shapiro. By communicating your vision and values, you will show your team that you\u2019re committed to a healthy degree of transparency, says Watkins, and \u201ccreate positive momentum around yourself in the new role.\u201d
\nExplain how you want the team to work
\n<\/strong>You also need to highlight how you want the team to work.
\nWhat the expectations are of behaviour, how the mechanics of the team will achieve your desired outcomes.
\nWhen you have newer team members coming on board, don\u2019t assume that veteran team members will explain to the new recruits how meetings are supposed to be run or the best ways to ask for help; it\u2019s your job as a leader to set expectations and explain processes.
\nIf you don\u2019t make those norms clear for everyone, you risk creating an environment where\u00a0people feel excluded, uncertain, or unwilling to contribute.
\nSet or clarify goals
\n<\/strong>One of your most important tasks as a team leader is to set ambitious but achievable goals with your team\u2019s input.
\nBring the team in on strategies such as SMART Actions (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant and Time bound Actions as a culture set within your team.
\nBy setting these goals early on, the group\u2019s decision making will be clearer and more efficient, and you\u2019ll lay the framework of holding team members accountable. Many managers inherit their teams, which often means they aren\u2019t creating new goals, but clarifying existing ones. \u201cIt\u2019s actually rare that someone gets to come in and redefine the goals for the group in a profound way,\u201d says Watkins. In those instances, your challenge as a manager is to reorganize roles or rethink strategies to best achieve the goals at hand.
\nKeep your door open
\n<\/strong>If there\u2019s one thing that new managers need to remember, it\u2019s that over-communicating in the early days is preferable to the alternative. \u201cIt\u2019s always better to start with more structure, more touch points, more check-ins at the beginning,\u201d says Shapiro. How you do that \u2014 via big meetings, one-on-ones, email, or shared progress reports \u2014 will vary from team to team and manager to manager, but whatever the communication method, \u201cdo as much as you can,\u201d says Shapiro. Watkins agrees: \u201cI\u2019ve never encountered a situation where a team member says, \u2018Gosh, I wish the boss would stop communicating with me. I\u2019m so sick of hearing from her.\u2019 You just never hear that.\u201d
\nScore an \u201cearly win\u201d
\n<\/strong>Identifying and solving a business problem that has a quick and dramatic impact early on shows that you can listen and get things done, says Watkins. Perhaps there is a longstanding employee frustration or an outdated work process. Maybe there is a project that you can easily fund or prioritize. Taking swift action demonstrates that \u201cyou are connecting and learning.\u201d But most importantly,\u00a0achieving an \u201cearly win\u201d builds team momentum. \u201cIt motivates people,\u201d says Shapiro, \u201cand can win you goodwill you might need later if the going gets tough.\u201d
\nPrinciples to Remember<\/strong>
\nDo:<\/strong><\/p>\n