Navigating early days in a new team

You are about to enter a meeting to join your new team for the first time. Everyone is in the meeting, as they already know each other. You, however, are the newcomer. The challenge of integrating into a pre-established team can for some, feel daunting, like scaling a mountain, for others, it′s a breeze. I count myself as a member of the former.

Despite how we feel, integrating into a new team is an essential skill, especially for Project Managers and Business Professionals, as it ensures effective collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and peak team efficiency from as early on as possible. Conversely, inadequate preparation resulting in a poor team launch can start you off with a lack of appropriate trust and poor team socialisation, conflicting priorities, and a collective misunderstanding, hindering progress (Van Woerkom & Sanders, 2010).

Today, I would like to share some of my experiences and missteps when joining nascent teams, along with tips I have gathered on how to smoothly transition into new teams and lead them.

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I once joined a team that had a two-week head start, they had already formed bonds, held meetings, and even mapped out the project's scope, while I came in as the leader. In my past roles, I always had the comfort of either kickstarting a team from scratch or stepping into well-defined shoes as a leader. But this time, a dilemma arose in my mind: Should I approach the team with a friendly demeanor or maintain the formal business interaction to which I was accustomed in high-pressure situations?

I was unaware of the team’s abilities and initial or prior professional relationships. On the one hand, I wanted to ensure that the team that I was joining had sufficient expectations of success to allow me to effectively contribute to their direction. On the other hand, I wanted to ensure that I navigated the uncertainty of the team roles, leadership, and team bonding that comes with a new team’s formation (Tuckman, 1965) (If you're curious, a quick Google search on "team formation phases" offers more insights).

With these thoughts in mind, there was an initial desire to contribute to the team, problem solve and ensure effective communication. In an effort to achieve these goals, I lead with a professional email, followed by a more relaxed and congenial team meeting.

Don′t forget you are part of a team??

However, I was so engrossed in these thoughts that I made my first mistake, lack of personalisation; I was part of a team, and I was thinking too much about myself and my own success. I generally prefer one-on-one interactions, especially when introducing myself to team members, and in my rush I forgot this, instead I met the team collectively, which left me unfamiliar with individual team members.

Cherish the start; it's a magical time to teach and bond. Once the pressure mounts, you might not get another chance ??

Emphasising the "getting to know you" phase would have fostered a deeper understanding among team members, enhancing team performance (Avolio & Kahai, 2003). This could have been structured in a formal setting such as appropriately identifying who was participating in our team, clarifying their expectations, and how they wanted to work together. Initially posing honest questions to the team as a group, for example “What do you want to get out of this project?” and “What does success look like to each of you?”, would have set a transparent tone from the outset, and allowed a project manager to turn this into an artefact enabling for team resources to be allocated effectively.

How we can do better together!

Next we had our first stakeholder presentation. Due to the lack of initial planning, this came across like a patchwork quilt with mismatched pieces. Each of us spoke about our specialisations, but it was clear we hadn't synchronised our efforts. I’m sure this is a situation that you have all been through before, we talked about our own specialisations, but each specialisation was either overlapping or sometimes doubled-up as we were not talking to one another.?I didn′t plan that joining an already formed team would be so different to my previous experiences, or was it really?

With a well-thought-out plan and a checklist, the meeting would have instilled confidence and aided the impression that our team was working together cohesively.

Building affective trust from the outset is paramount in any online project ??

The virtual environment posed another challenge. We probably all know that online meetings can generally lack or degrade the communication of nonverbals (Thompsen, 2000) and personality cues, reducing the apparency of the social status and diversity of a sender (Bass, 2008). Hence building affective team trust is crucial, and methodologies like two-week trust-building exercises can significantly impact team members' perceptions. (Jarvenpaa et al., 1998).

However, intensive interpersonal surveys should be balanced to prevent information overload (Klaus, 2012) and disinterest in each other’s skills, differences, and unique experiences that are so vital to a team’s success. Nevertheless, a short online team building activity may have significantly increased the ability of our team to work together and build affective trust.

An example of how to build trust during the start of a teams lifecycle was demonstrated in an interpersonal closeness survey developed by Aron et al. (1997), to be conducted at the team formation. The survey involves a number of questions that team members should conduct in one-on-one interviews with each other. From my personal experience, conducting such a survey in a new team, allows the team members to trust each other and work more effectively, enhancing end results.(I have listed the interpersonal closeness survey questions at the end of this article, be sure to have a read of them.)

As a project manager, your role is to facilitate efficient knowledge transfer ??

Being a project manager is akin to being an orchestra conductor. It is not just about ensuring everyone plays their part, but making sure they harmonise, creating a symphony of knowledge and collaboration whilst simultaneously managing the creation of project artefacts. One form of knowledge transfer, the transfer of tacit knowledge through socialisation, requires a safe space for that knowledge transfer to occur that is built on coherence, open communication and affective trust within the team (Nonaka et al., 2000).

Starting with a strong team conceptualised goal (Bass, 2008) is key to building this strong team coherence to which the team can not only look forward thereto, but rather believe therein for a common purpose. Establish a methodology to enter or form and create a good working environment within a team. This is not a checklist of the hard project management factors, but rather the soft factors that you should pay specific attention to during the critical stages of team formation.

Use a checklist ?

Looking back, every challenge faced when joining a new team has been a learning opportunity. As professionals, whether online or working together in person, we are constantly evolving, adapting, and growing. The experiences I have shared today are a reminder that beyond the strategies, methodologies, and theories, it is the human connection and a form of passion towards a common goal that truly binds a team together. Because at the end of the day, it is not just about being a part of a team, but about being a part of a community that learns, supports, and grows together.

I invite you, my LinkedIn community, to share your stories, insights, and lessons learnt.

#projectmanagement #teamformation #virtualenvironment #knowledgetransfer

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Interpersonal closeness survey for new teams

(Google: The Experimental Generation of Interpersonal Closeness)

Question Set 1

1.??????Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?

2.??????Would you like to be famous? In what way?

3.??????Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say? Why?

4.??????What would constitute a "perfect" day for you?

5.??????When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?

6.??????If you were able to live to the age of90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year-old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you want?

7.??????Do you have a secret hunch about how you will die?

8.??????Name three things you and your partner appear to have in common.

9.??????For what in your life do you feel most grateful?

10.??If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?

11.??Take 4 minutes and tell your partner your life story in as much detail as possible.

12.??If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?

Question Set 2

13.??If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future, or anything else, what would you want to know?

14.??Is there something that you've dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven't you done it?

15.??What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?

16.??What do you value most in a friendship?

17.??What is your most treasured memory?

18.??What is your most terrible memory?

19.??If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living? Why?

20.??What does friendship mean to you?

21.??What roles do love and affection play in your life?

22.??Alternate sharing something you consider a positive characteristic of your partner. Share a total of 5 items.

23.??How close and warm is your family? Do you feel your childhood was happier than most other people's?

24.??How do you feel about your relationship with your mother?

Question Set 3

25.??Make three true "we" statements each. For instance 'We are both in this room feeling ... "

26.??Complete this sentence: '1 wish I had someone with whom I could share ... "

27.??If you were going to become a close friend with your partner, please share what would be important for him or her to know.

28.??Tell your partner what you like about them; be very honest this time saying things that you might not say to someone you've just met.

29.??Share with your partner an embarrassing moment in your life.

30.??When did you last cry in front of another person? By yourself?

31.??Tell your partner something that you like about them already.

32.??What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?

33.??If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone? Why haven't you told them yet?

34.??Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save any one item. What would it be? Why?

35.??Of all the people in your family, whose death would you find most disturbing? Why?

36.??Share a personal problem and ask your partner's advice on how he or she might handle it. Also, ask your partner to reflect back to you how you seem to be feeling about the problem you have chosen.

References

Aron, A., Melinat, E., Aron, E. N., Vallone, R. D., & Bator, R. J. (1997). The experimental generation of interpersonal closeness: A procedure and some preliminary findings. Personality and social psychology bulletin, 23(4), 363-377.

Avolio, B. J., & Kahai, S. S. (2003). Adding the “E” to E-leadership:: How it may impact your leadership. Organizational dynamics, 31(4), 325-338.

Bahler, K. (2015, 12/11/2014). How to introduce yourself [Presentation]. YouTube.

Bass, B. M. (2008). The Bass handbook of leadership theory, research, and managerial applications (Fourth edition. ed.). New York, NY : Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Jarvenpaa, S. L., Knoll, K., & Leidner, D. E. (1998). Is anybody out there? Antecedents of trust in global virtual teams. Journal of management information systems, 14(4), 29-64.

Klaus, P. (2012, 19/08/2012). Thank You for Sharing. But Why at the Office? The New York Times, 1.

Maccoby, M. (2004). Why People Follow the Leader: The Power of Transference. Harvard Business Review.

Microsoft. (2021). 5 ways to make a good virtual first impression.

Nonaka, I., Toyama, R., & Konno, N. (2000). SECI, Ba and leadership: a unified model of dynamic knowledge creation. Long range planning, 33(1), 5-34.

Sampietro, M. (2016). Project Team Members and Project Meetings. PM World Journal, V.

Thompsen, J. A. (2000, 15-15 Aug. 2000). Effective leadership of virtual project teams. Proceedings of the 2000 IEEE Engineering Management Society. EMS - 2000 (Cat. No.00CH37139),

Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological bulletin, 63(6), 384.

Van Woerkom, M., & Sanders, K. (2010). The Romance of Learning from Disagreement. The Effect of Cohesiveness and Disagreement on Knowledge Sharing Behavior and Individual Performance Within Teams. Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(1), 139-149.