Over the weekend it was announced that the Hollywood power couple, TomKat (that would be Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes to us normal folks) are calling it quits. They made it 5 years – an epic marriage in the land where 72 days only causes a stir until the ‘starlet’ is dating someone new. What about your team? Before you make a commitment to someone new, do you know how to create a smooth integration or are you just hoping you aren’t headed for a messy divorce down the road?
At the request of a basketball coach who is embarking on a hectic recruiting schedule, I will revisit the top tips for making sure you pick the best match for your team.
- Before the Interview – Do your homework; figure out what it means for someone to ‘fit’ on your team. To do that you need to understand your team’s culture. If you don’t know who you are, you certainly can’t choose someone who is going to be a good match for you (For questions you can ask yourself and your team see this Topic of the Week post). Use that knowledge to create questions that will give you the information you need. The data you get out will only be as good as you are prepared going in.
- During the Interview – Use behavioral interviewing (if you don’t know how, be sure to check out next week’s Topic of the Week) to learn who someone really is. An interview shouldn’t be you rapid firing questions at someone. Talk to them like you would anyone you just met. Don’t change your style just because it is an interview. It should be a comfortable conversation not the Spanish Inquisition. And for goodness sake, take notes! You aren’t going to remember who said what if you interview more than one person.
- After the Interview – Take a few moments to jot down your gut reaction. What do you think? Strong points? Challenges? Whatever comes to mind put it in your notes.
- Before You Make an Offer – No doubt you have interviewed several candidates. Compare them side-by-side. As we talked about last week, technical skills aren’t the only, or maybe even the most important, thing to consider. Weigh all the pros and cons honestly. Sometimes the person you “liked” the best isn’t the best fit for your team. If members of your team where involved in the interview process, get their opinions. Just make sure they can justify them with data. Ask them to provide specifics as to why they feel the way they do.
If you know the type of person you are looking for and do a good job of interviewing the available candidates you will have a better chance of a successful partnership with less drama than most of Hollywood. I think that is worth a little effort on the front end.
For tips and ideas for successfully on-boarding a new team member, check out this Champion Performance Topic of the Week.
Dr. Robyn Odegaard is the CEO/Owner of the speaking/consulting company Champion Performance Development, the founder of the Stop The Drama! Campaign and author of the book ‘Stop The Drama! The Ultimate Guide to Female Teams’. She specializes in showing individuals and teams how to be powerful and achieve the most from their potential. You can invite her to give one of her funny, influential, insightful presentations and inquire about her consulting services at www.ChampPerformance.com and order her book from www.StopTheDramaNow.com
