Joining an established team, building for the future

Joining an established team is very difficult. In most
cases, team building happens with little intervention - the
new team member is be welcomed and given time to bond,
however in some cases the new team member will join a team
with issues and where, regardless of the effort they make,
they are unwelcome. 

Consider the following when joining an established team.

Listen more than you talk - It is particularly important
when you join a new team. Entering as a know-it-all, set in
your ways will not endear you to existing team members. This
holds true no matter where you are from the US, Australia
or the UK. 

Team building will not be helped if you think you are
better than everyone else.

Listen & learn from other team members - what they do,
what sort of characters they are. Remember, people resist
change, don't tell them you know how to do things better
than they do. Listen, you may even learn a better way.

Avoid sentimentality - keep references to the team you have
just worked with to the factual. Your new team will not want
to listen to your recollections of what a great group of
people you worked with. Occasionally make positive
observations about this team, don't overdoing it.

Give respect to earn respect - even if you are joining the
team at a senior level you cannot expect to automatically
be given respect. The importance of earning respect rather
than demanding it has been well documented already, but if
you take time to listen, learn about other team members and
understand why they fill the role they do in the team you
will learn to respect them. 

Don't be patronising - under any circumstances. Take time
to understand how your new team work. You may be surprised
to find their way is better!. 

Keep your promises, be reliable. - Don't take
responsibility for anything beyond you in the hope it will
endear you to the team. Building rapport with other member
is hard enough without overloading them with stress as a
result.

Be a team player - if you feel insecure or unsure it can be
tempting to work alone. Avoid this at all costs. Make sure
you stay in the team by asking for help if necessary. 

Keep lines of communication open - It is okay to admit
you're new and need support. Often people feel asking for
help is a sign of weakness. Actually it can be one of the
best ways of team building. You should avoid always
approaching one person because they look friendly. Approach
the person you consider most difficult first, the experience
is often ground breaking.

Don't argue - just don't. Bite your lip; your time will
come. Arguing when you are the new team member is a no win
proposition. If you lose you undermine yourself and if you
win you will have destroyed a relationship, hard to
rebuild. 

In the majority of cases your new team will welcome you and
make every effort to help you. They will want it to work as
much as you. Listen, understand what you don't say will be
as important as what you do say, be sincere and be
yourself.

Team building takes time, team building takes patience,
team building will not happen overnight.