Scheduling a Transition Meeting with Your Team

Even if you know some of the team members, it is important to establish the new relationship with you as their supervisor. Focus on fostering camaraderie within the team; don’t start off the meeting immediately with talk of work or goals. Try opening the meeting by sharing work experience or work history. It can be as simple as having people share their best and worst team experiences.

By communicating your vision and values, you are showing your team that you are committed to being transparent and open with information. This creates a positive work environment.

You can do so by:

• Explaining what your priorities are and how you will evaluate the team
• Documenting your expectations and providing them in the meeting
• Sharing with the team how success will be measured

Clarify details, such as how meetings are to be run or the best way to ask for assistance. This can help alleviate the stress and anxiety that comes from having a new boss with a new style and a new set of work preferences. Share with the team your preferred method for communication. By sharing this information with the team you are helping to create an environment where people feel confident, included, and willing to contribute.

One of your most important tasks as a team leader is to set ambitious, but achievable goals (with your team’s input). Make clear what the team is working toward and how you expect them to get there. By setting goals early on, the group’s decision making will be clearer and more efficient, and you’ll lay the framework of holding team members accountable. Tell your team you will also be setting up one-on-one meetings with them over the next several weeks to talk more specifically about individual goals.

Remember: Over-communicating is preferable to under-communicating. Provide your team with more structure and more check-in’s via meetings, email, or shared reports. It is important for your team to see you as having an open-door policy so they feel comfortable coming to you with any questions or concerns, especially during the early transition period.