We know becoming a new manager is hard, but so is getting a new manager. Forging that new relationship of trust and respect takes time, and time can be in short supply when you are hard at work.
The tensions that come from a new manager-report relationship are common and understandable. For some insight on how they might be overcome, let’s look at the Bruce Tuckman’s Group Development model.
Models are useful in Leadership theory, because they provide us categories and structures to talk about intangible things (like how you bond with a new co-worker or boss.) Tuckman’s model is mostly directed at the formation of entirely new groups, but it can deal with this idea of a new manager (and their potentially different leadership style) in much the same way.
Here’s an overview of the four phases the model outlines:
- Forming: The birth of the new group. People get to know each other. They hold back and are trying to establish some comfort or rapport.
- Storming: Focus starts to move outward. People begin to speak up and establish themselves and their positions in the group. Managers don’t need to provide as much direct guidance.
- Norming: The team begins to address the problems with a cohesive identity as a group. They understand the principles and culture of the group; everyone contributes in a more dynamic way. There is more room for self-direction
- Performing: Not all groups reach this apex level of performance. Here, everyone benefits from the knowledge of the others and the chemistry of high-performance. Everyone’s talents are leveraged.
When a new manager is added to the mix, the organization retreats to the Forming stage (at least partially.) Tension arises, and existing chemistry is disrupted.
Most of the team can be comfortably in the Norming or Performing phase, but the arrival of a new manager forces them back to Forming. The comfort does not immediately exist to build strong bonds and rapport.
Additionally, the team, if based in project work, might not have much time ramp up and adjust so they don’t fully run through the forming phase comfortably. That leaves them with challenges and insufficient emotional foundation to address them smoothly.
With these concerns in mind, you may want to take some time to intentionally run through a crash course of the forming method with the group
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