Source : Tips for Managing Your Ever-Changing Project Team
“Make Newcomers Welcome”
Some basic points we tend to forget, yet they are truly important!
- Assigning a peer as a mentor to each new team member to help them with acculturation
- Providing basic educational materials about how your project management process works
- Taking time to explain core concepts in meetings instead of assuming everyone is up to speed already
- Encouraging new members to ask clarifying questions either during or after each meeting if they don’t understand something
Address Conflicts Immediately
Sadly enough, seen this one “live” too many times before…
If a team member comes to you with a complaint about a coworker, take it seriously. Often, employees will wait until they are really fed up before they go to management to ask for help with resolving a conflict. When their concerns are dismissed instead of being addressed, they will transfer some of their anger and resentment at their coworker onto the manager who ignored their request for help. You don’t want to become the enemy.
As with everything, don’t let things wait, and get them addressed quickly. And hope you are in a position to manage the situation or to get the escalation right on!
Tucker!
Don’t forget the “Forming, storming, norming & performing“-phases! This cycle restarts every time a new team member joins a team.
Karim Vaes 