A new district, a new launch team, or a team that just lost half its reps. The first months rarely look the way the manager hoped.
Bruce Tuckman's model of team development is from 1965 and still one of the most useful things I know for a new manager. Four stages:
Forming. Everyone is polite and careful, waiting to see how you work. This is the time to set clear roles, routines and standards. Reps are watching for them.
Storming. Friction over territories, targets, shared accounts and how things are done. This is the stage most managers try to suppress. In my experience that only pushes it underground. Bring it into the open and agree the rules together.
Norming. The team settles on how it works. Reps start helping each other without being asked. Step back a little and let them own the ways of working.
Performing. Reps solve problems without waiting for you. Delegate more, and keep coaching each rep individually, because a performing team still has people who want to grow.
The mistake I see most is reading the storming stage as a hiring failure. It is usually a sign the team has started to care.
“Every new team argues before it performs. Your job is to make the argument useful.”
Lesson 14 of 19 in Step 5: Motivating and building the team, with the full guide and a checklist for this week.