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In This
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 Quality At Lightning
Speed
My Hero!
Two Heads Are Better Than
One
Leader
Of The Pack
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Peter Block
Column
Views for a
Change
Pageturners
Heard on the Street
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 Leader Of The Pack
Integrating a New Leader Through
Teambuilding and Communication
Summary
For those newly appointed to a managerial position, one
thing is for sure: There’s no time to waste. After
receiving the promotion, you realize there is much to
accomplish,
and you have a limited amount of time in which it
can
be done. Not only do you have to familiarize
yourself
with your new job description, you also have to
step
into the role quickly and efficiently.
Learn how Diane Jerman of Chalfont, Pa., has
used her years of experience to
help others through this exciting, but difficult time.
From assessing the possible challenges you will face in
the future to conducting your first meeting, this is
a
time of first-impressions and setting the pace.
With these steps, you may be able to calm
your “new leader worries” and become
the effective leader you always knew you
could.
Great news: The old manager in logistics
just gave her two weeks. Even better news: You are being
promoted to fill her position! Along with the new
leadership position
comes a pay raise, more vacation and increased respect in
the company.
But wait a second; are you sure this is good
news? After all, two weeks is not a
lot of time to assume a leadership role that is new to
you. What will team members
think of you as their new leader? This will finally give
you the chance to try out those ideas you’ve been
mulling over, but what if the team doesn’t agree
with you? You don’t want to be like former bosses
you’ve had. How can you talk to the team without
intimidating or alienating them? How do you motivate the
team to work well under
new leadership without losing momentum?
Diane Jerman, an organization development
consultant based in Chalfont, Pa.,
has an easy solution to calm your “new leader
worries.” Since 1996, Jerman has
helped organizations address these challenges by applying
OD theory integrated
with relationship training. To help make the transition
from team member to team
leader, Jerman employs three simple steps: learn, analyze
and meet.
“Just landing a new job doesn’t
mean you’re on board,” states Jerman.
“The quicker
you create meaningful connections with core team members,
the sooner you can
prove your value.”
Teambuilding and Communication
Jerman’s process is based on two
principles: teambuilding and communication. According to
Jerman, “It makes sense to use a teambuilding
theory because one
of the reasons for integrating a new leader is to create
a great team.”
Filomena Warihay, Ph.D., president of Take
Charge Consultants in Downington, Pa., and creator of
Jerman’s process, offers some insight into
leadership, “New leaders
don’t have the luxury of waiting until all the
players eventually warm up to them.”
Warihay, a successful leadership coach with
over 25 years experience continues, “Leaders need
to collapse the time it takes to be effective in their
new role because nearly every aspect of business has been
streamlined with the exception of
"integrating new leaders.”
Jerman uses the Dannemiller Tyson Associates
MCG Model for Team Development from Whole-Scale Change
because it is, “simple, compact and easy for non-OD
users
to understand.” The model has three components:
membership concerns (Do I belong? Who else is here?),
control concerns (Who’s in charge? What is his/her
style? Will I have/want any control?) and goal concerns
(What do we need to accomplish? What do
I want to see happen?).
“We use this model to develop the
questions needed for step one of the process
(learn and make a meaningful connection) and making sense
of the answers for step
two of the process (analyze your findings),” states
Jerman.
Jerman uses the Johari Window Communication
Process from Edgar Schein to
analyze and motivate team members (see diagram on page
7). According to Jerman, “This communication model
is great for facilitating the meeting and I use it hoping
to
find elements of the conversation in all four quadrants
of the Johari window.”
Another key component of the model is the
role of facilitator. “It may be helpful
(and savvy) to involve HR or an external consultant since
a neutral, third party
usually makes it easier for folks to participate more
fully and safely in a team
meeting such as this,” explains Jerman.
Quick turnaround time is the final concept to
implement. Jerman has done the
process with a turnaround time of one day, but two to
three days is typical. Taking it
Step by Step
Learn, analyze and meet. It sounds so simple,
now learn what it all means.
To begin, it’s a good idea to send out a note or
memo to the team describing the integration process and
rationale for scheduling the team meeting (step
three).
The first step incorporates learning what
members think of the immediate business environment by
meeting with them one on one. The purpose behind this
step is to get
to know team members and gather information
simultaneously through individual interviews. The
facilitator can ask questions such as:
What do you think are the greatest challenges
facing the team, department and organization?
• What do
you think I need to do to be an effective new
leader?
• What do
you like best about being on this team?
• What are
your hopes and concerns during this leadership
transition?
It is important to pay attention to the
environment of the one-on-one meetings and
what elements impact engagement. For example, lighting,
tables acting as barriers, proximity to one another and
sources of distraction can all influence a
situation.
Jerman recommends not taking notes since note-taking can
break contact with the interviewee. If you must,
occasionally ask the person to stop talking while you
jot
down your notes. Jerman offers this advice, “Your
best tool for learning is your frame
of mind: suspend judgement, be curious and
LISTEN.”
Once you have met with everyone, you are
ready to move on to the second step; figuring out what
the group is saying from the information you’ve
gathered.
Step two analyzes and sorts your findings.
Use peoples’ own words as much as possible to
determine the emerging themes, concerns, strengths and
challenges to present findings. Jerman points out that,
“The reason why this process is so
successful is because the findings are based on collected
data. This is not an
abstract process.”
Jerman urges facilitators to prepare the
report just like they would for a project
meeting where they want to share data. A word of warning:
Opinions are a powerful source of data. Be careful not to
draw conclusions...yet. Hypotheses and more
questions are encouraged. Your curiosity will generate a
more interesting meeting
than presenting your answers.
In the final step of the process, gather your
team and meet to present the findings. Jerman strongly
suggests having a facilitator at the meeting because a
neutral third
party will be able to observe what is going on during the
meeting, give you further
insights about the workings of the team and feedback on
your leadership style to keep the momentum going.
Keep in mind the goals and desired outcomes
of the meeting. These could be determining the
team’s two or three most significant challenges,
how to address
these challenges and how to work with each other. Other
outcomes of the meeting
stage are to document agreements and share these findings
beyond the team environment if necessary.
Three additional pointers that Jerman offers
to remember are: “Speed is important. Initiate this
quickly and minimize time between the first interview and
the group
meeting; being promoted from within vs. being new to the
organization will make a difference; and there will
always be huge burning issues you think you should tackle
before this process—it’s an
illusion.”
If You Learn One Thing, Learn to Listen
Jerman has found that truly successful
leaders really listen and make a
connection with their team members.
“Motivational listening is listening to
motivate partnership,” explains Jerman.
“People need to know they won’t get hurt by
talking with you. Listen with the intention
of truly wanting to see the world through their
eyes.”
Jerman implements the following listening
exercise; “Working in pairs, one person
will listen without asking questions or making any verbal
comments while the other person speaks. When the speaker
is done, the listener will then repeat back in
his/her own words what he/she heard. The speaker will
then let the listener know
how accurately he/she reported what was
said.”
During the exchange, both parties should also
pay attention to the body language
of the other person. Once the listener has reported back,
both parties should talk
about the other person’s body language and the
messages it conveyed to them.
Then switch roles and do it again.
Jerman offers one final point,
“Sometimes leaders get confused about
organizational position and intelligence. Let me tell
you, there is no relationship
between wisdom and level. Remember, you don’t live
in the same world that the
folks you are talking to live in. That means they
have access to valuable information
that you might need to create the great organization that
you’ve been hired to do, so listen as if they are
very, very wise. You will be amazed at how insightful and
helpful
your teammates are.”
February 2001
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