How to build a Team when joining a new department or company

Put yourself in the shoes of Phil Jackson, former legendary coach of the Chicago Bulls, stepping up from assistant coach mid-season after Doug Collins’ departure.

Although not new to the organization, think of the pre-existing dynamics, individual personalities to manage, and challenges which he would have inherited. The team success hinged on assessing the team's strengths, building trust, and implementing a cohesive strategy.

Now think back to your own experience. Have you ever had to takeover an existing team and expected to lead it to success? What was your first course of action? What stages did your team building efforts go through?

I believe we can draw parallels between the principles applied by sports coaches (at any level) and those you would apply as a manager assuming leadership of a new team.

Since my current work experience has me going through something similar, allow me to share my experience with you in a bid create a dialogue.

First, if you’ve followed this newsletter, you would be familiar with creating a Transition Plan worthy of its name. If you haven’t, please revisit the following article to jog your memory: Managing Transitions

Understand what your team does and what it’s not supposed to

Part of managing effectively is to delegate according to each individual strength.

I found that it’s essential to first understand the current dynamics of the team. Research shows that managers who take the time to learn about their team’s strengths, weaknesses, and interpersonal dynamics are better equipped to lead effectively. Tuckman’s stages of team development—Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing—serve as a useful framework to navigate this process.

The Game Plan:

If you can, try getting a strength assessment report from your predecessor. But forming an own opinion is even more important, so conduct one-on-one meetings with your team members to understand their roles, motivations, and challenges.

Use tools like a team assessment matrix to document strengths and opportunities for improvement. To make one, first list down what activities your team does and needs to excel at. Next identify what skills are required for said activities. Then rate each of your team member according to each skill in a matrix which you can visualize however you like. I like Senegalese flag colours, so mine would look like this:

Building Trust Through Communication

A strong foundation of trust is critical for any team to succeed. Studies published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior emphasize that open communication is one of the fastest ways to build trust. Managers should create an environment where employees feel safe sharing ideas, concerns, and feedback.

In team sports, communication starts before the game during training but continues on game day, whether in the locker room or during mid-game huddles which are key for discussing strategies and adjustments. In boxing or MMA, it’s the moment the athlete returns to his corner for a quick 1 minute “pow-wow” with his team.

Similarly in business life, we have plenty of opportunities to communicate with our people during a workday. Whether the discussion is structured or informal, we should take the chance to build rapport through communication.

The Game Plan

I like to have weekly team check-ins and monthly feedback sessions. Use exercises like the Stop-Start-Continue framework to facilitate structured yet open communication.

Team Day

In most competitive sports, the process of forming a team isn’t just about assigning roles—it’s about creating strategy and synergy. Coaches understand that a group of star players doesn’t automatically make a star team. Similarly, in business, the focus should be on leveraging collective strengths rather than individual prowess.

This was true of the Chicago Bulls prior to Phil Jackson, where Jordan was winning a multitude of individual awards but never getting closer to winning a championship for his team.

It's only after getting the team to perform as a unit by setting a cohesive strategy leveraging each individual's strength or other team's perceptions of them that the Bulls started winning consecutively.

The Game Plan:

The same way knowing your team’s individual strength is key for your own role as a manager needing to delegate tasks, its equally important for your team to know how to work with one another. Create a team charter that outlines collective goals, roles, and norms. Use team-building exercises create understanding, to strengthen cohesion and trust.

In the past, I held periodic “team offsite workshops” to define our place within the overall department and company, as well as to define our North Star & strategy. The workshop was helpful in getting the team out of a rigid business environment while strengthening our bond, providing an opportunity to deepen our relationship and setting out clear goals for the business.

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