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A promotion or a new job can mean taking on a team with already-defined roles and expectations. Leading an existing team can present an exciting career opportunity or it can be a nightmare. Did you inherit a dream team, or did you walk into a train wreck?

Before implementing any sweeping changes, take time to follow these six steps, and you will be well on the way to building a cohesive, productive team.

1. Get to know your team immediately. Start by building trust. Provide an opportunity to meet as a team to have an honest dialogue. Set the stage for handling difficult conversations you and your team may need to have. What have they heard about you? What do they know about your background? What are their greatest concerns about their work and you as their leader?

Asking such questions in a team setting creates a chance for honest, open discussion, while also posing the risk of hearing things you may not enjoy hearing. Be prepared to address concerns and questions with as much honesty as is practical, given confidentiality requirements.

2. Get clarity on team goals and objectives. What are the most important initiatives for this team? Who are your internal and external customers? Who else is affected by your decisions and performance?

3. Conduct a “SWOT” analysis. What are your team’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats? Are you understaffed or missing key talent which makes it impossible to reach your goals? If so, build a solid business case to show how performance metrics may suffer due to the gap, and show the return on investment to be gained by addressing the gap.

4. Identify your budget and resources. Clarify your budget, authority level and expenses. What resources can you tap to fill talent gaps? What planning and decisions do you need to make?

5. Understand the culture. Every company has a culture, whether that is developed consciously or unconsciously. Every department and team has its own culture, too. Hopefully, youll find your team’s culture is well aligned with company values, mission, and objectives. Set your intention to cultivate a positive, inclusive, and productive team culture.

6. Devote resources and time to “high potentials.” Many leaders spend the majority of their time trying to “fix” the weaknesses of under-performers. The best leaders quickly identify the team members with potential and the self-motivation to grow. Your best investment of resources and time is spent on cultivating these future leaders.

Proactively address the issues of team members whose behaviors and performance fall short. Set clear expectations, timelines and standards. Tap into your human resources team for support on best practices for a fair process. Sometimes people surprise themselves when they are asked to stretch. This could ignite a welcome change; one that you should praise and reward.

Taking these steps will go a long way toward re-aligning your team and ensuring you retain the key talent to drive success. And, you can use successes to attract like-minded new employees.

– Kathleen Winsor-Games is the principal of The Winsor Group, a Denver-based boutique firm offering high performance career and business coaching. See their blog at www.thewinsorgroup.com/blog.