5 Top Tips for a Leader in Blending into the New Team
Organizations thrive to see how impactful leaders are produced. Teams are core components of all sections and departments but leaders are the ones who give their best in order to enhance the productivity of the teams. As it is said, with great power comes great responsibility, leaders are the professionals who apply the best techniques to enhance the skills of their team members. These days, a new trend has emerged potentially and that is to transfer leaders from one team to the other, especially when because of the leader, the team is productive and gives results. But, the question is: is it easy to blend with new team members as a leader?
Here are a few tips to make your leadership effective for blending with a new team:
Introduce Well
The introduction is no less important than building rapport with clients in your organization. Suppose you join some new team and get back to the point with the very first sentence you speak.
What impression will you leave on the team members? Nothing!
It is good to start with some introduction instead; when you meet with them for the first time, provide a formal introduction with some additional details such as how you work, what kind of work you like, what are your hobbies, and so on. Then, ask your team members to repeat the same process one by one; ask them to tell you briefly about their personality. If you have time for the first meeting, ask them to tell you a little about their professional background. What consequences you will get? You will get an idea of the potential strengths and weaknesses of all your team members. At the same time, they will believe in the charismatic personality that you have because you will appear an amiable, loving, and caring leader to them.
In this section of the introduction, don’t forget to mention your work style and let your team members also tell you the same thing. This covers the gaps even before starting the work together because all of them get to know you well and vice versa. In a nutshell, your introduction is your key to achieving an initial advantage.
Be reformative, but only if needed
Leaders prefer reforming team values and work culture in their preferred way with regard to making their work easy. However, not always, reforms are necessary. If your team is productive, you need not introduce changes to it. Your chances of bringing reforms are limited if your team is efficient enough to give you the desired results. In such cases, if reforms are deliberately introduced, they lead to unwanted issues.
Such reforms pose the image of the leader as authoritative—this isn’t leadership but rather, some kind of dictatorship. The question here is: when should we introduce reforms? The answer is simple; introduce them when your team is perfect. It is like ensuring the outcomes of your evaluation of the work culture you are placed in. This might not be always necessary, as mentioned earlier. Your goals are to give your best—and ask your team to give its best too—and to do so, you need to keep your team members motivated. A good way to blend in is to understand their work culture from their perception and not from yours Initial bonds are built with proper communication and by making your team members believe that they are allowed to work as per their interests. The message should be conveyed well to them in your first few meetings. It should be that you are not looking for some dramatic change in their professional behavior but you are expecting gradual changes.
Neither be a Borrower nor a Lender be in Reputation
People sometimes figure out falsely how their position and reputation go hand in hand, especially in the context of team leadership. Being the leader of some team brings the status to your professional life that could be desirable to many but achievable to a few. This implies that your leadership works positively when you do work on building your reputation well. For example, you need not be bitter all the time in spite of knowing that your team is doing well. You need to take precautions here; draw the line between your ego and reputation and make it visible to all team members. You cannot take everyone in your team for granted.
Thus, you need to make this balance in terms of presenting your leadership skills. Inspire them because they need it and make them feel that you like their work and you are also available for them whenever they need you.
Trust in Old Horses and Bring in New Ones to Train
How races are won in Derby? An old saying goes “trust your old hoofs because they know where to hit the mud well”. Many leaders in the new workplace make the error of beginning to fire current employees and replace them with members of their former team. They, therefore, attempt to establish a familiar psychological comfort zone. But such behavior is improper. If your former coworkers hold important roles, you will initially notice the combined team's unique unhappiness. It can be followed by the dismissal of the existing staff and the hunt for a new one, which will make it much harder to put your suggestions into action. If you are inclined to hire someone from your prior position, though, resist the urge to do so straight away. First, assess the team's functioning to see if your colleague will fit in. You can come to realize that it is ideal to concentrate on improving your current team with time.
You Matter the most!
No one subordinates them to the team, no matter how transparent and democratic you are. You are expected to exercise standard control over the behavior and discipline of your team. Each person should be aware of and clearly carry out their specific responsibilities. The team's captain must instill in them a sense of respect and obedience while also emphasizing that they must never be terrified. The most effective leaders inspire, motivate, and inspire their people with passion.
Spend some time figuring out the needs, priorities, and strengths of the individuals you are in charge of. This will assist you in understanding how to motivate them the most effectively while also making them feel important. A working group is given direction and instruction by a team leader regarding a project or portfolio of projects. They are in charge of assigning tasks, monitoring goal-related progress, and providing team members with the necessary coaching. Even though they don't hold a manager title, team leads frequently act as the team's de facto mentors.
FAQs
How a new leader should behave when meeting with the team first time?
Be gentle, polite, and open to listening to all team members. Introduce yourself with potential energy.
How to address a team as a new leader?
In essence, "I am extremely happy to meet you. I can't wait to learn more about you. I'm ecstatic to collaborate with you. We can phrase it in a variety of ways, but it must begin with the words "I am excited, this is going to be excellent."