By: Bruce Tulgan
A lot of times managers tell me, when they are brand new to a team, they walk in the door and they inherit a team. They try to hold people accountable and one or more members of the team will take them aside and say "Hey, listen, you're new around here. We'd like to tell you, 'this is the way we do things and you need to fit in with our way of doing things.'"

And I say to managers that's when you need to say, "Oh no, I may be new to the team, but I'm the manager and THIS is the way I operate. This is the way I do things. This is the way things are going to be from now on. I'm going to hold everybody accountable. I'm going to meet with you one on one on a regular basis. I'm going to spell out expectations every step of the way and I'm going to ask you for a regular account of your performance. I'm going to keep track in writing. That's the way I do things and that's the way things are going to be on this team from now on."

BONUS MANAGEMENT BEST PRACTICE
Do you currently have any direct-reports who are really struggling with one particular task or responsibility right now? Name them. Next to each name, make a note of the particular task or responsibility in question. Plan to set aside some time with each person so you can watch the individual perform the task or responsibility in question. Take notes of course. You'll learn so much from watching him/her actually do the task. Is he/she doing it right? Is it taking too long? What's going wrong? Now you'll be able to help.