From the Ask Tom mailbag:
Question:
How do you integrate your team’s newest member when she brings a personality that is more intense than everyone else? Let’s say that she strikes you as being, at times, slightly passive aggressive while the other five teammates are typically a very easy going bunch. There is no doubt that she is productive, but so is everyone else.
Might they have trouble working through in a crisis, if she will not buy into their laid back attitude? What obstacles would you watch out for in this situation?
Response:
Bringing a new person into a team is always the beginning of change for that team. The fastest way to change the culture of any team is to bring in a new team member. For better or worse, things will change, and everything that happens will create a precedent for future events, future relationships within the team.
Before we start looking out for things to go wrong, let’s start with how to productively bring in a new team member, especially one that brings energy, enthusiasm, a fast pace and other great attributes.
Let’s open this up for comments. If you have an experience, observation or recommendation, please post your comment. More tomorrow. -TF
In today’s car industry, a new (different from other models) model is always announced in little bits to (t)ease the acceptance by the public. First as a design concept or prototype to check for the first reactions, then as a pre-production type at some show. At the moment of release, the public is ready for it!
Point here is to prepare the team for a new member in a realistic way, so they are ready and comfortable with the “change” introduced by the new member and the search for a new balance (search for a new equilibrium) becomes a bit easier.