07Nov

The same can be said of teams. While there are some common sense rules for being a good team member, the nuances of how that is applied and regarded is different from workplace to workplace.

I believe that this rule is forgotten when people have worked in a team for a while. People wrongly assume that the behaviours that worked in their old team will automatically work in their new team. As soon as there is a change of workplace, culture, leader or personnel in the team, chances are the dynamics of the team are going to change.

Even in an established team with defined rules of acceptable / non-acceptable behaviour, the team dynamic can change either positively or negatively with the addition of just one person.

Every time a new person is added or removed from your team, it is an opportune time to ask a simple question: ‘What team behaviour does everyone believe will make a successful team?’

So what are the accepted behaviours for your team? Did they change with the addition of a new team member? Does everyone in your team know what you regard as good / poor behaviour?