We have a team of people – 7 or 8 – who support the business applications for the company. The support team has grown out of a project and members have either been drawn from other areas of the company (Finance, Purchasing, etc.) or been recruited directly into their positions. I’ve been offered the promotion to manage this team which will be my first direct supervisory position. I have attended a five day course on Technical Team Leading which involved role playing situations and am reading and researching. Based on the above what would you recommend as an initial strategy for me going in as a new manager of this team?
The Team Doc Says…
You have a big job ahead of you. It sounds like there may be some underlying unresolved conflict in this team. It may take you a little time to figure out what that is.
I recommend that you “recharter” your team. Have a team meeting — schedule at least four hours — and identify the following:
- Team purpose
- Team scope and boundaries
- Team interaction ground rules
- Team decision making and problem solving processes
- Team roles and responsibilities
- Team meetings (frequency and process)
Work through the charter process with your team. If at all possible, get an independent facilitator to conduct the meeting. That way each team member, including you, will be able to focus on meeting content without worrying about meeting process.
Best regards,
Denise O’Berry
aka ‘Team Doc’
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