Searchers: Your team will suck…

For a while post close.

The dip is part of team building.

It may sound corny and like B-school, but it helps set expectations.

I shared the image below several times in the first month...

Week 1: We began the forming stage. Everybody was polite and asked a lot (and I mean a lot) of questions.

Week 2 & 3: We are storming. A low performer quit. People are busy. Trust is being built. We start having inside jokes. This was a rather fast move into storming and norming. Anonymous surveys showed people were “more excited than ever about the company.”

Week 4: I want to make things more electronic. Now we’re storming with the IT Vendor. The drag from issues from years ago is becoming obvious. It feels like walking in quicksand.

Week 6: IT issues are taking away hours a day from several people.

The forming, storming, norming, and performing phases aren't just between you and your team. They are also between you, your vendors, and suppliers.

It's really hard to diligence vendors.

You want to have ideas in place as much as possible to deal with issues like tech debt, back-up suppliers for inventory, other banking options, and the many other supplier issues that can arise.