Sometimes you join a team that is already in trouble. Morale is low, velocity is poor, the prior manager left under bad circumstances, or the team is missing critical commitments. The interview question “how do you turn around a struggling team?” is a senior+ EM staple.
The first step: diagnose, don’t prescribe
The instinct is to act fast. The right move is to listen for 30 days first.
1:1s with every team member. Ask:
- What is going well?
- What is broken?
- What was the prior manager good and bad at?
- What would you change if you could change anything?
- What are you most worried about?
1:1s with adjacent stakeholders (your manager, peer EMs, key partners):
- How do you see this team?
- What are the known issues?
- What outcomes do you need from this team?
Common patterns of struggle
- Burnout: on-call, deadlines, or a deathmarch project
- Direction confusion: team does not know what to work on or why
- Tech debt drag: any new work slows because the codebase is brittle
- Toxic dynamics: 1–2 individuals making collaboration painful
- Missing skills: hiring gaps, no senior leadership on the team
- Misalignment with stakeholders: team builds X, business needs Y
Identify which problem(s) you have. Different problems require different responses.
The 30-day report to your manager
After 30 days, write a 2-page memo:
- What you found (be specific)
- What you propose to change
- What you need (resources, air cover, time)
- Risks and assumptions
Send to your manager. Get explicit alignment on the plan before executing.
Stabilization first, transformation later
The first move is rarely a re-org or layoff. It is:
- Restore predictability (regular standups, weekly all-hands)
- Cut commitments to manageable scope
- Address immediate burnout (rotate on-call, take vacations seriously)
- Communicate clearly and frequently
Stabilization typically takes 60–90 days. Only after that should you tackle harder structural changes.
Hard cases: the toxic individual
If 1–2 people are making the team miserable:
- Direct, specific feedback in 1:1
- Set explicit behavioral expectations
- Document conversations
- If the behavior continues, escalate to PIP or termination
Don’t expect the team to thrive while toxicity is unaddressed. The cost of inaction is high.
Hard cases: tech debt is the actual problem
If every feature takes 5x as long as it should because the codebase is fragile:
- Make tech debt a first-class deliverable
- Get explicit air cover from your manager — “we will deliver less new feature work this quarter while we stabilize”
- Allocate 30–50% of capacity to debt for 1–2 quarters
The reorg question
Reorganizing a struggling team rarely fixes the underlying issue. Usually it adds more disruption.
Reorganize only when:
- Team boundaries are genuinely wrong (e.g., team works on X but reports through a chain that does not care about X)
- Roles are confused and clarity is essential
- The change has support from leadership and is part of a larger strategy
Communicating with the team
Be honest. Acknowledge the situation. Share your plan.
Avoid:
- Pretending things are fine when they are not
- Vague reassurance (“we are going to figure this out”)
- Blame for the prior manager (even if it is fair, it does not help)
Measuring recovery
- Engagement / morale (regular pulse surveys or 1:1 sentiment)
- Velocity (consistent delivery week-over-week)
- Retention (are people leaving voluntarily?)
- Stakeholder satisfaction (are partners getting what they need?)
Recovery typically takes 6–12 months. Be patient.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if the prior manager was beloved and now resents being moved?
Acknowledge their contributions explicitly. Don’t denigrate. Build your own credibility through actions, not by contrast.
What if the team blames my predecessor for everything?
Listen, but redirect to forward-looking solutions. Avoid feeding the narrative — productive teams move past blame.
How long until I should expect to be performing well in the role?
6–9 months for the team to be in a healthy state. 12+ months for full transformation. Expect to be “in turnaround mode” longer than feels comfortable.