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Managing ‘Grandfathered-In’ Team Members
You inherit a team member who doesn’t align with your culture.
“What do you do when you inherit someone who doesn’t fit the team culture you’re building?”
That is a question I’ve recently received from a reader of the case study about building a team from scratch:
It happens a lot. You get to work with people you didn’t choose. What do you do with them? Especially when you need to keep them on the team due to internal politics and pressure.
Today, you will learn about your 4 options (yes, you can have more, but these are my top 4 that have worked in the past).
1. Give people time to adjust
Time can erase pain and solve many issues. It also plays an important role in team management.
While you don’t often have the luxury of choosing your team from scratch, be sure you have time on your side.
Time can help everyone to settle, get to know each other, and adjust to the new situation (your leadership style, for instance).
Trust is not built overnight. Likewise, team spirit and atmosphere are not the same. You need the single effort of every member. Even the one you inherited.
