imapMyTeam Blog

Who is our new teammate?

Most ‘teams’ have a training camp or off season to give the new and existing members a chance to know each other and get ready to perform as a cohesive unit.

For example:

• Major league baseball is currently in the middle of its spring training.

· Any orchestra will practice and coach new musicians before their performance season starts.

· Broadway curtains don’t rise until the new actors and actresses get to rehearse their roles and understand who stands in for what role should someone be unable to perform.

• And in business we...well we don’t do any of that.

In business new teammates are showing up and the pressure for that team to perform in the midst of a teammate transition doesn’t go away. That change can impact everyone. But there is no practice, no rehearsal. Just dig-in, learn fast, and be productive. Wow!

One fundamental issue of new members joining an existing team is trust. Trust can and is built in a number of ways, most of which take time. Time is scarce and in our fast paced work environment people almost always react this way- “We/I don’t have time for that, I’m/we’re too busy”.

The “Trust” reports you’ll find at www.imapMyTeam.com will help. For the individual joining a new team, check out the “How You Encourage Trust In Others” report to gain focus on how you naturally encourage and build trust with others. If you have a new addition to your team, make it a point to visit the “Peers” section in the upper right hand corner of your imapMyTeam home page. There you can see several reports for your newest team member. The “How You Can Build Trust With Them” report will provide some quick insight to help you quickly gain their support and confidence.

Investing just a little bit of individual and team time to accelerate strong relationships thorough key imapMyTeam reports is a great way to welcome new team members and ensure team effectiveness. It will take some time to do that, but it will pay you back dividends later because you will really understand that new teammate better and faster if you do.