New team? How to accelerate growth in the first 90 days

If you’ve got a new team, or a big change to personnel in an existing team, you’ll no doubt want to get that team ‘humming’ as quickly as possible.  

Team changes are notorious sticking points for leaders. Relationships are yet to be established, team members might be wary of each other, and turf wars can play havoc with team coherence and effectiveness.  

Navigating these challenges can be tough, even for the most experienced leaders.  

Having worked with senior leadership teams for more than two decades, Dr Alan Watkins gave us his top recommendations for accelerating team coherence in just 90 days: 

1. Don’t guess, assess 
   It’s almost impossible to really know your whole team – their strengths, weaknesses and potential – without a good developmental assessment. It’s the quickest and most accurate way to flush out the factors that need your attention. This isn’t about putting people in a box; it’s about understanding where to put your focus so you can better enable everyone to deliver to their full potential. That’s why you need an assessment that is developmental rather than descriptive. It gives you that structure. 
    

2. Real team growth requires going deep – but not slow 
   To work really effectively together, you’ve got to trust each other! This is not about some kind of ‘will you catch me’ team-building exercise. This is a deep, facilitated discussion to create genuine intimacy and understanding. This is fundamental to psychological safety and ensuring your team is robust and resilient in the face of future challenges. The good news is that with the right facilitation, team intimacy can be built quickly and built to last. 
    

3. Start quality conversations early 
   Teams that can tackle bigger and deeper issues together will ultimately be more successful. The good news is that you don’t need to wait to get into those quality conversations. Once you’ve built out the connection and understanding between team members as mentioned in step 2, you can start those more challenging and bigger conversations that really get things done and moving. 
    
   Two key factors drive the quality of team conversations: the ability to healthily disagree balanced with the ability to align on a shared answer. These have a yin-yang like relationship, and both can be developed so that there is enough discipline to focus and space to explore.  

Complete has worked with dozens of senior leadership teams to accelerate performance, achieving several years’ worth of development in a matter of months. If you are facing the challenges of a new team or navigating personnel changes, getting the first 90 days right is critical. This window offers a unique and powerful opportunity to lay the foundation for long-term success. By focusing on building trust, fostering quality conversations, and truly understanding your team at a deeper level, you can set the stage for exceptional performance. 

Avoid the trap of simply addressing immediate hurdles and short-term challenges. Instead, take the time to intentionally craft a high-performing, cohesive team from the outset. 

At Complete, we have seen first-hand how these core principles, assessing your team’s developmental needs, accelerating trust and cohesion, and driving meaningful conversations, can transform a group of individuals into a truly effective team in just three months. 

The first 90 days should not just be about survival. They should set the trajectory for sustainable success. 

Explore our team development case studies on our website to discover how leaders like you have transformed their teams and achieved remarkable results.