New Team Manager Wants to Be Human Too

I’m a new team manager at this software development company. I would like to get off on the ‘right foot’ and also show the team I am human and have a sense of humor. Do you have a list of ‘humorous’ ground rules that I could use to ‘break the ice’ with the team?

The Team Doc Says…

For starters, take your current ground rules and turn them on their side.

For example, a ground rule of “One person talks at a time” might become “All team members must talk at the same time.”

You can get creative and really have a good time with this one. You might even want to do this during a session with your team. It will crack the ice and allow everyone to have a good time too.

Another thing you might want to consider is sending your team a funny “personalized” message from the big cheese. Head on over to Big Cheese Memo and see if that might work for you.