Introducing a New Member of Your Pack
If you have ever had more than one dog in your household, you know the importance of having a slow and positive introduction. It is critical to a peaceful environment. Well, it is no different in the business world when new teammates are brought into a project.
In today’s world of Privacy Laws, certain industries are mandated to keep information private. If you do not, the consequences can be severe, including potential jail time. Even if you are a solopreneur, likely you are dealing with sensitive information of some kind. That could include a bank account number for payment, personal information on clients, etc. Make sure your operating systems are as secure as they can be. Having a paid email address, one that is not free, should add additional levels of protection for this sensitive information. How you then share information to other teammates, such as vendors or additional consultants, is very important to protecting all of this private information.
Recently, we were told of a situation where a consultant supposedly acting on behalf of a Client/Project Owner reached out to other consultants regarding a new process to submit their invoices through them. The Client was not copied on the email and the consultants were unaware of this additional consultant. The Client should have sent out a proper introduction to all the project members introducing the new financial consultant. Their oversight here resulted in much confusion and concern among existing project members. Who was this interloper, why would I send sensitive information to them? This could have all been avoided with the proper introduction by the Project Owner.
When new dogs are introduced to one another, you should not just put one in a group and walk away and hope for the best. The effort needs to be done properly and with oversight. The same rules apply with introducing new teammates on projects. Existing project members need to understand why the new party is being introduced and how they are to interact with them on an approved basis. That approved basis is set by the Client or Project Owner. They are the ones the team consultants have a legal contract with and the only entity that should be introducing additional members. There should not be a self-introduction. Often, those can be received more defensively than anything else. That is not a good way for the newest team member to begin a relationship with other members of the project.
If you add a new member to a project working on your behalf, you need to be the one to introduce them to the working group. Explain who they are, what they do, and how the process will be changed by their involvement. Do not just let them go it alone and hope for the best. Your outcome will be less than expected if you take that approach. We are all busy in today’s world, do not hide behind that and try to take a short cut. Take a few moments, introduce the newest member of the team, via email, so everyone has it in writing from you. You are the leader, take control of that “leash” and point everyone in the right new direction.
Be well.
