go-to moves when you inherit a team
made w/ midjourney
It’s so convenient when an org chart remains a symmetrical, stable picture with each bubble representing a growing, happy, talented person ready for bigger challenges. Very often, that ain’t how it goes. People quit, get fired, go on parental leave. The organization scales really fast or seizes a new, weird opportunity. When any of these occur, it’s pretty common for a leader to inherit a team, temporarily or unexpectedly.
Here are a few go-to moves to consider if you find yourself with such an inheritance:
Hold short 1:1 conversations with as many individuals on your new team as you can. Record or take good notes in these conversations. Make explicit reference to them in team-wide communication.
Identify as quickly as you can the narrow set of claims you can make with confidence. If your situation is super chaotic, this might not be more than “we have a 15-min daily stand up at 1000a ET.” With more stability, you might be able to claim more.
Avoid apologies and over-promising.
Find your “no complaining” boundary and tell your team what it is. This is the thing that we’re not going to allow ourselves to complain about – we’re dedicated to ignoring it or solving it, instead. Sometimes, this “thing” can be an abstract condition, like “how quickly things change around here” or “unexpected new responsibilities.”
Run a goal or performance cycle in miniature. In other words, get reps with this team doing what this team does.
When I look at this full list, I see it as a sketch of trust-building. You carefully give your word on a small number of things. Then you keep your word on those things. When this goes well, you earn the chance to do it again, with higher stakes and a larger number of things.
-eric
