Submitted by diem on
in
Forums
I've just acquired a small team to go with my additional (also small) team as part of a restructure. The current manager of the team is moving on to a new role (not far, still within my boss's organisation), and together we recruited for her replacement.
My question is how do I balance the need to get up to speed with what the team does, without over-stepping and duplicating what the new direct will be doing (irritating both her and the team and generally slowing down everything and getting in the way).
Any suggestions appreciated.
It depends
Is the new manager experienced or a novice? Is the work exceedingly complex, or more conventional? Is the team self-directed, or do they need a lot of guidance?
There's no "one size fits all" advice. The devil, as they say, is in the details....
John Hack
Details
Thanks John, I obviously erred too far on the 'less is more' front!
The new manager is experienced (more experienced than I am at management). The work is a small 'technical' team (but only 'technical' as far as operations groups go, not properly technical in the project / IT space). So it's not pure widget-processing, more investigative to ensure controls are being adhered to, challenging explanations offered, that sort of thing.
The consensus is that the team could offer more proactive investigation and reviews (although this wasn't done in 2009 partly due to long-term absence issues, the team has two new members starting this week which will relieve that).
I think my main concern is that I'm now responsible (accountable? always get those two confused) for the output and results, and am likely to be asked questions by my own boss - I could just pass everything on to the direct, but then worry a little about my own life-expectancy!
Dan