HBR Guide to Leading Teams (HBR Guide Series)

Chapter 12

Welcome New Members

When your team gains or loses even one member, its composition changes. It becomes a new team, with a different mix of skills and temperaments, so you’ll need to review (and possibly redefine) goals, roles, and rules. If you don’t, here’s the kind of problem you might encounter:

As VP of market development at a fairly young health care start-up, Steve had built a tight team of eight account reps, each in charge of a different region of the New England area. After three years, the team lost one of its reps and brought in Carol as a replacement. Carol quickly learned the business, but she had trouble integrating with her new team. Other members complained about her to Steve: They said she was taking over client relationships ...