Team Leaders: Do You Do This?

Where Have You Experienced This?

When one person leaves or enters a group, the dynamics--and group effectiveness--change.

Why?

Groups--no matter how large or small--are about equilibrium. That equilibrium comes from a balance of power. Over time, we all learn where we "fit" in a group given the topic, our role, and how things operate. When someone comes or goes, our sense of influence changes. That's because new relationships and alliances begin form in order to establish a new balance of power.

 Note: When someone new joins a group, most of us at least recognize the importance of acknowledging the person and talking about the new role. However, a single person leaving a group will create the same disequilibrium and requires the same kind of acknowledgment and discussion. (That phenomenon is the rule rather than the exception right now). So. . .

What To Do?

1. Stop action.

2. Read the paragraph above to the group.

3. Re-visit why the group exists, make any necessary modifications, and ask for agreement from each person on

4. Clarify each person's role in light of the new situation. Whether someone leaves or someone new arrives, there has to be a change in responsibilities and how things will get done. If you talk about it now, you won't have to resolve the conflict about it later.

Groups and organizations are systems. Systems work the same way as our bodies (systems). If you pinch one place, you'll get a referent "ouch" someplace else.

The next time something is about to change in your group, go through the four steps above. You'll minimize the ouches and get back to equilibrium and productivity because you've taken good care of your system.

What About You?

You no doubt have made plenty of changes in your own life. 

What stories or insights do you have about organizational/personal change that could help another reader?

Comments

[Mary Jo Asmus]

Hi Steve,

I love your list! And so true - on more than one occasion, I've seen the group dynamics change when someone leaves and someone enters.

One addition to #3 that I would add, is if there is a charter for the team, then that should be revisited with the entry of the new individual. If not, it might be a great time to create one!

Also, relationships on a team can get off to a good beginning with the entry of someone new when the team takes a breath and spend the time to get to know each other again. We forget that relationships are formed and solidified through understanding others - and good relationships on a team are essential to getting stuff done. If it is possible to do so, revisiting MBTI results (or taking it and facilitating discussion around the results as a team), or some other team activity that can foster conversation can be a great opening for forging relationships with the new person on the team.

[Gagan]

Hi Steve,
I happened to join a new group (in a new Company) about a year ago. To make the transition into the group smooth, I gave some time to the group ... stayed low profile trying to understand how the group functions, how they interacted and so on. It was easier for me to some extent since they were already informed that I would be joining as a new manager. We did have short discussions around points 3 and 4 mentioned above.

[Steve Roesler]

Mary Jo,

I'd certainly ditto both of those.

There was a time when managers viewed the "full blown" version as a valuable way to build teams and improve performance. Don't know what your experience is but I'm finding that there is more desire for "the Reader's Digest" version due to the pace of business and intentional team development being lower on the list of priorities.

[Steve Roesler]

Gagan,

It's helpful to hear from as many practicing managers as possible on these issues, so I appreciate your affirmation of the process. Hope things continue to go well for you. . .

[MIke Rogers]

Steve, thank you for your post. I am going to post this article to my teamwork and leadership LinkedIn group that I manage and trackback to it on my blog as well. This is wonderful insight to something we overlook many times on teams, and I like how you have outlined steps we should take as leaders to deal with the change. I agree with Gagan as well, relationships are absolutely key to successful teams. The more understanding that is created, the greater the trust among team members. When a new team member is introduced, there must be time for them to build relationships so they come up to speed quickly on the norms of the group and become a full functioning team member.

- Mike

[Steve Roesler]

Mike, that's terrific. I hope it is used to the benefit of all in the group.

[Wally Bock]

Congratulations! This post was selected as one of the five best independent business blog posts of the week in my Three Star Leadership Midweek Review of the Business Blogs.

http://blog.threestarleadership.com/2009/10/28/102809-midweek-look-at-the-independent-business-blogs.aspx

Wally Bock