Client Question: “I recently took over a new team, but we don’t seem to be connecting with each other very well. What can I do to make that happen?”
Building the connections with a new team as soon as possible is very important. They want to know who you are, what your expectations are and that they can trust you. In my experience, having a “get to know each other” meeting early on sets up a good foundation. Sharing information about yourself, your background, your family and your expectations helps to set the tone and helps them get to know you better. Here is a link to a free resource that I put together to help you with this first meeting: New Leader Success
You need to learn about them as well. There are a lot of questions that you may have for them, but here are a few examples: What are they motivated by? What do they think is working well or not working well on the team? Do they enjoy what they are doing? What are their career aspirations? What do they like to do for fun? All of these kinds of questions help you to build a stronger connection with them.
Connections will not happen overnight. They take time and energy on your part to make them successful. You will need to find ways to consistently demonstrate that you are interested in them. Here are some approaches that you can take: Walk by and say hello in the morning, ask them about their weekend and what they did, spend your one on one meetings not only discussing their current work, but also their development. You may also want to do a group lunch, happy hour or some other group activity to bring the team together. The goal is to increase your connection, your communication and your relationship with your team.
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