The Incoming Leader: Today’s Procedures Tomorrow

As an incoming leader, one of the most painful things to do is to change the team’s existing procedures. Not only does it cause confusion and discomfort, it silently tells the team that you know better than them. However, your team members have been giving their time and talent longer than you. Even if you have more overall experience than them, they won’t see that. What they’ll see is someone trying to change everything. Change hurts.

Here are some ideas on how to introduce change as a new leader in an existing team:

1. Understand first – before you makes changes, spend the time to understand why procedures and policies exist today. Ask questions to understand, not to challenge. Don’t tell team members what they should be doing better. Ask. Understand. Listen
2. Involve the team – explain your suggested changes to the team. Allow the team to help you understand things you may not have realized that could cause more harm if they are changed
3. Makes changes slowly – as you identify areas to change, note them privately. Identify one thing at a time and explain the changes to the team

Understand. Involve. Make change slowly. These three steps will help others realize that you both respect their experience and want to help their team grow and be successful.

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