Taking over a team, whether by promotion, acquisition or hiring into a business, is mostly a listening exercise before it is a leadership one. The instinct is to demonstrate value by changing things quickly, and the people who do it well spend the early period establishing what is actually happening and why it is done that way.
The sequence matters more than the speed.
Find out how things actually work
Speak to everyone individually and ask what works, what wastes their time, and what they would change. People tell a new person things they have stopped saying to an existing one.
Understand why things are done as they are before changing them. Practices that look irrational usually solved a problem that is no longer visible, and removing them recreates it.
Establish the numbers early
What the team produces, what it costs, what the quality and delivery position is, and which customers or projects are at risk. Vague impressions are not a basis for decisions you will be held to.
Where the previous position was unclear, say so and set out what you will measure going forward rather than inheriting someone else’s framing.
Make one visible early improvement
Fixing something the team has complained about for a long time buys more credibility than any announcement of strategy. It should be small, quick and obviously in their interest rather than yours.
Then be explicit about what is changing and what is not. Uncertainty consumes more energy than bad news, and people fill silence with the worst available explanation.
If people must leave, follow process
Restructuring for operational reasons carries consultation requirements that must be completed before any decision is final, and dismissal for any reason requires a fair process, as set out by the Department of Employment and Labour.
Employers most often lose these matters on procedure rather than substance. Move deliberately, document properly, and treat consistency as the protection it is.
Frequently asked questions
What should I do first when taking over a team?
Listen. Speak to everyone individually about what works, what wastes their time, and what they would change.
Why not change things immediately?
Because practices that look irrational usually solved a problem that is no longer visible, and removing them recreates it.
What should I establish early?
What the team produces, what it costs, the quality and delivery position, and which customers or projects are at risk.
What builds credibility fastest?
Fixing one thing the team has complained about for a long time, chosen because it is in their interest rather than yours.
What if restructuring is needed?
Consultation requirements must be completed before any decision is final, and dismissal requires a fair process. Most employers lose on procedure.
Further reading
Originally published in November 2018. Updated September 2026 into guidance on taking over a team.
