How to best integrate new directs into an existing team

Hi Michael and Mark,

first let me thank you for your great work and great podcast!

I have a topic that concerns me quite a bit, and that ist how go about introducing and integrating a new direct into an existing team.

Let's put it that way: in the past I seem to have not put enough attention and preparation to that issue and got some negative feedback from a third, uninvolved person I highly respect. On the other hand I got some reassuring feedback from a third person I also highly respect, that I should not worry too much and everything was okay.

Some say you should not influence group dynamics too much and let the team figure out the storming, norming and performing phases all by themselves, others say quite the opposite and that I should intervene at the first signs of conflict in order to keep the team together and productivity up.

An other question is how to balance the process of introducing the new direct into the job, not overwhelming the person with too much information and giving her small tasks (balls) for starters that she can quickly fulfill successfully, while giving her a clear outlook on where you want her to be in 3 to 6 months.

If you could maybe do a podcast episode on that topic, that would be totally awesome.

Thanks again and have a great weekend!
-Detmar