Can you believe we’re in Q4 already? 2023 has flown by and judging by the piles of Quality Street tins in my local branch of Tesco, it’ll soon be the holiday season.

I’ve noticed over the years that Autumn and January have something in common – they seem to be the months when LinkedIn tells me that more people than usual are starting new roles. Exciting times that present many opportunities, but let’s face it – it can also be a bit unsettling for the teams that have a new member joining.

As a team coach, I love the work of Patrick Lencioni. He maintains that the most successful teams have five qualities: They trust each other; are committed to a common purpose; foster an atmosphere of psychological safety; are accountable to one another and pay attention to results.  

Sounds great eh? But what happens when you’ve worked hard to cultivate all of this and then there’s a change in team membership which risks sending you back to where you started?

The good news is that, provided you’ve approached recruitment in the right way, chances are that your new team member will already be aligned to the team’s purpose; perhaps even joining with a new energy about how you’re going to achieve it together.

Trust and psychological safety are a little trickier. You’ll hear some people say that these things come with time, but in my view, with some thought and considered action, it’s possible to accelerate both.

5 ways you can make the most of a new team member

So, if you’ve got a new team member, or perhaps have joined a new team yourself, why not try some of these:

1. Share the team’s collective strengths but also share its weaknesses – get the whole team to be open with the new team member about what’s not going so well or where things have gone wrong;

2. Get to know each other at a personal level; having an insight into the ‘real’ person, not just who they are as your colleague, can help to build trust and set a tone of authenticity. Ask questions and actively listen to the responses;

3. Beware of side conversations. It’s only natural that you’ll want to talk to those you know best about what’s on your mind, but try to ensure that information is being shared openly across all of your team, especially with any new members;

4. Celebrate failure! Remember that a team with psychological safety is one which accepts some failures in order to foster innovation. So, encourage your new colleague to try things out and celebrate them for doing so, even if it goes wrong; and

5. Re-visit your Team Charter. You do have a Team Charter, right? It’s a tool I often use with Team Coaching clients and a great way for everyone to have a say in establishing ‘how you do things round here’. Always revisit it when someone new joins.

As Lencioni says in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable – “Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare.” 

As a Team Coach, I love to help create a safe space where everybody has a voice and the team can commit to each other with clarity of purpose. I also see the ongoing need for teams to be challenged. Otherwise, they get bored and demotivated. When teams are stretched, they are more likely to be committed.   A new member can be a fantastic catalyst for this, so try to put the anxiety aside and embrace the change.

Sarah