Making the Team: A Guide for Managers

Team Identity

Just as people develop reputations and make impressions on others in the organization within the first few months of their arrival, so do teams. Early on, teams are labeled, and on the basis of this initial impression, a negative or positive escalating cycle in terms of both team reputation and team performance begins. Initial reputations may remain intact for quite some time, despite efforts to change them. Teams that do not overcome a negative initial evaluation may be perceived as failures—even if they eventually achieve their goals. “The inability to influence top management early on can be devastating to a team since they control resources and rewards. In short, labeling creates self-fulfilling prophecies” (Ancona, 1993, p. ...