Do Business Well

Your new assignment may sound like a “mission impossible”:

• You’ve been chosen to direct an important new company project, which involves putting together a group comprised of both new and experienced employees.
• You’re the manager who has been brought in after a takeover and asked to shape up a department.
• You’ve survived a merger or reorganization, but your new job— streamlining the department you’ve been managing—may prove to be an even bigger challenge.

Naturally, you’ll feel anxious about building a new staff or department. To proceed with fewer problems, keep your mission in mind and follow these three steps:

Decide Whom You Need AI

Start by making a list of the various types of specialists needed to get the work done. It’s helpful to attach responsibilities to each job so that you can evaluate which staff members have the right experience and skills necessary for the work to be done.

Even more important than credentials is each potential team member’s personality, which ultimately has more to do with how well an individual will perform. If, for example, you’re trying to build an entrepreneurial environment to make your department more competitive, you’ll want to look for employees who aren’t afraid to take risks or experiment with different ways of doing things.

When you begin interviewing new candidates or talking with current employees, present scenarios that may come up and ask how they would handle them. Also, decide in advance what the structure of your team will be so that you can explain to each potential staff member how his or her job will relate to other jobs.

Meet With Team Members

Once you’ve made your selections, talk to people about their goals and find out what resources they need (corporate support, money, equipment) to accomplish them. If their goals are closely related to the team’s goals and your staff members feel they have what they need to accomplish them, they’ll be more committed to you.

Ask, too, for your staff’s ideas on what the potential personnel problems are. If you’ve brought in outsiders, for example, you may find that seasoned employees are suspicious or fearful about working with them. Tuning into people’s feelings in advance can help you defuse anxiety.

You can shorten your team’s start-up time by making sure each person is familiar with company procedures and personnel. One way to do that is to assign each person three or four people (on or outside the team) to interview for information vital to their new role. If inexperienced people are part of your team, you can accelerate their learning process by having them work one-on-one with senior staff members.

Establish Communication Procedures

When you first meet with your group, discuss how often and in what manner you’ll be talking with one another. If your team members are experienced professionals, ask for their suggestions. Frequent meetings and written reports are a good idea for at least the first three months until team members get to know one another and feel comfortable dealing with each other informally.

Be sure to circulate written information about important things that have been discussed informally—short- and long-term objectives, team member’s responsibilities, who reports to whom and deadlines.

Recommendation: Make it your business to stay on top of the inevitable work-related and interpersonal problems that will surface. Whatever time you spend solving problems now will pay off in greater productivity and a more satisfied team later.

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