When Coming from the Outside to Take Over Leadership of a New Team – Part 2

For the first part, click here. 

As a manager taking over a team that is new to you, the first step is to do all that you can on your own to learn about your role, the company culture, and where you fit into the organization. Your next step is to try to identify individuals who might be able to help you further accelerate your learning – internal experts, other managers, colleagues, and of course your own boss – who can provide a human voice to help you understand all you have been researching until now.

The most important factor in your onboarding and up-to-speed process is not 100 percent in your control.

Whether or not anybody has gone to the trouble to fill your schedule in your first several weeks with one-on-one sessions, you should pursue scheduled one-on-ones with every key player you can identify.

Go to every one-on-one with a clear learning agenda. Start with this open-ended question: “If you were in my shoes right now, what are the things you would want to know?”…