Going from team member to team leader: Sage advice on clearing hurdles

You’ve seen it happen: A standout line worker gets promoted to supervise his/her former peers. And the struggles begin.  

Liane Davey, a VP at Knightsbridge Human Capital, writing on the Harvard Business Review website, says she “can almost guarantee there will be awkward moments as [the newly minted supervisor] transition[s] from team member to team leader.”

But the hurdles aren’t insurmountable. A quick rundown of her advice for new supervisors:

First, meet one-on-one with each member of the team. The first benefit of this one-on-one, obviously, is that the new manager can take the opportunity to show they haven’t turned into some kind of maniacal manager overnight. Davey suggests the supervisor ask specific questions about where he/she can help the employee succeed, and what the worker’s hoping to achieve over the long term.

Davey acknowledges that the new boss needs “to balance the friendly and inclusive approach with some signs of strength. … You don’t need to provide much detail, but do share your early vision for the team and any priorities that you will tackle first.”

Finally, the manager should ask for the team member for support in a statement similar to this: â€œJuan, you’ve always been the software expert. I need your help to get up to speed and to make sure I’m keeping the software issues top of mind.”

Try to make the first team meeting a special event. Davey suggests a conference center outside of town or a room in your office with couches instead of tables. “If you can spend an afternoon and then go out socially after, it works even better,” she says.

The manager can start by discussing the purpose of teams – he/she’s been a member of this group, so it won’t be hard to discuss specifics about workplace dynamics. Then it’s time for the new boss “to to evolve the mandate in accordance with changing times,” Davey says.

The objective is to engage in a discussion about where the team needs to continue on the same path and where it should change the trajectory.

Finally, the team leader can describe the way she wants the group to operate day-to-day. Davey’s example: “If you know that the team tends to be somewhat passive-aggressive, be explicit about your expectation that concerns be addressed directly: ‘I want to be very clear that all issues need to be shared openly so they can be resolved. Please don’t come to me with an issue you haven’t addressed directly with one another first.’”

And now, the hard part

Davey also warns that there are likely some bumps in the road ahead. Her take on some common new-manager problems, and ways to deal with them:

A decision is made without your knowledge. If you learn that a decision has been made that you should have been privy to, talk with the person and make your displeasure clear. “I just learned that you authorized a reduced price for Acme. That’s a decision I should have been involved in. Let’s go over the types of decisions you can make autonomously and the ones I need to be part of.”

An issue that has been closed is reopened. Resistant team members will often attempt to reopen a decision as a way to test your authority. You can discourage that behavior with this approach: â€œWe made a decision on that issue last week. What is leading you to raise it again now? Let me reinforce that we need to move efficiently and my expectation is that once a decision is made, everyone is on board and executing it. Dissent is welcome, but only before the decision is made.”

A team member resists your leadership passive-aggressively. Often, resistant team members show irreverence with subtle and not-so-subtle body language such as turning away from you in meetings, rolling eyes, or disengaging from the conversation. When that happens, start with a subtle response such as sitting directly beside or across from the person in the next meeting or walking around behind the person while you’re talking. If resistance persists, provide direct feedback in a one-on-one. “In the last couple of meetings, you have been sitting at the back of the room and only providing one word answers to my questions. I’m concerned that you’re not making the transition to me being the leader of the team. What are you willing to do differently to show you’re on board?”

A group of people gang up on you. It’s distressing enough to deal with one passive-aggressive team member, but that stress is amplified if multiple people are questioning your leadership or badmouthing you to one another. If you face this challenge, repeat the process of meeting with everyone individually and then addressing the issues in a team meeting. Be direct in your feedback and don’t be afraid to make people a little uncomfortable: “I am concerned that you are challenging my decisions and that your pushback is encouraging others to do the same. What’s going on for you? How do we get things back on track?” Make it clear you expect people to address these types of issues with you directly in the future.