Navigating a New Team Dynamic
“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success”
Over the years, specifically the last 15 years - I have been part of lots of teams. I have worked at 3 different hospital systems and held a total of 4 different full time jobs. I have been parts of team in the workplace between different units and staff members as well as within volunteer organizations. I am not saying that I have all the answers, but I definitely has had LOTS of experiences working with different team dynamics and various leaders in those settings.
All that being said, a shift in team dynamics is hard. It is tough for the team when a new person joins the team and it is hard for the new person to join a team. I have been here reflecting on that shift in dynamic and better understand what I like a good team dynamic. I needed to take a moment write down these thoughts. I feel like good leaders and good teammates I have worked with have demonstrated these attributes. I also know these are things that I appreciate as being part of a team and I think respects the group.
Joining an existing team
Stop, listen and learn the current dynamics - This sounds simple, but I think gets overlooked. It is SO incredibly important to just observe. I know it can be hard, but listening and understanding the current dynamics will be helpful as you advocate for new ideas and change. Without this step you will end up alienating people, hurting feelings and fail to them accomplish #3 with deals with trust.
Understand the strength and weaknesses of the current team - Don’t assume you can “fix” something or that it even needs to be changed. Each group has things that they do well and things that maybe they struggle with. By doing #1 and observing you are able to identify these things. You can call out the strengths and build up the team by acknowledging those things. You can then ask questions and work with the team to identify the weaknesses. Every group or team knows they have them and I bet they can even identify those weaknesses to you. Just talk through these things together.
Build trust with teammates - This is THE MOST IMPORTANT step! Without establishing trust, you won’t have a cohesive team. This isn’t just one step, but part of the overall goal and take time, patience and endurance to accomplish. If trust is not established you might as well understand that your team dynamic will not succeed. I think that good leaders and good teammates can build this trust in a variety of ways (like #1 and #2) and also through sharing parts of yourself with the team. When you are able to be relateable and approachable and appear human, this helps soften the edges and helps build a great environment to work within. No one is perfect and no one has all the answers. That is a key things to express and build trust with the team you are working within.
Having a new teammate join your team
Be open to new ideas - This can be hard at times to be open to new ideas, especially if they are different than your view. Sometimes there will be great ideas and sometimes there will be bad ones. I think that creating a safe space to express those thoughts and ideas are key. Understanding that this isn’t a personal attack if someone doesn’t like your idea. Being able to state a plan and then discuss what might work well and what might be obstacles to accomplishing that goal. Being able to give and take ideas in a safe space is very important.
Be patient with that new teammate learning - Understand that someone coming into a new situtation, takes time for them to learn and understand. You are going to have to repeat yourself multiple times and you will have to give clarification on lots of points. When you take the time to help teach that new teammate and they are willing to ask questions that matters! That interest shows they care and hopefully after explaining something once or twice they will work to understand it and be empowered to look for the answers themselves.
Understand that change can help the team grow - Often working through these challenges, learning from others and making changes can lead to an even better outcome. Our differences can lead to being some of biggest strengths. The fact we don’t think the same is a benefit to providing different points of views and help meet goals. It can be hard to navigate these differences, but hopefully in the end we are all better for the time we took to make listen and learn.
I share these thoughts, because this is hard. It can be challenging to navigate team dynamic changes and honestly, sometimes you don’t want to have to work through this change. Youl liked the way things were and that new dynamic isn’t what you asked for, but here you sit. That is ok to have those feelings and work through that frustation. You are not alone and when you look back on this in the future, you will excited about what you were able to learn and accomplish.
