Management transitions present a unique set of challenges. Consider this situation. The former manager is gone and the successor has yet to be identified. Everyone is confronting the great unknown, and typically the people on the team are not in control of the outcome. It is a scary, stressful time for those people.

Communication is a very important factor in reducing the stress. During the search for the replacement, complete transparency is most often not achievable—partly because candidates do not want to jeopardize their current position. So you cannot announce who is under consideration. Also, the candidate pipeline is in continuous flux, with candidates in different stages of the selection process. The moment you update your team, the readings on the flux capacitor will have changed. Although they will understand this intellectually, it provides little or no emotional comfort. It is still scary. But give them as much information as you can, as frequently as you can.

Listening (the other half of communication) is also monumentally important. Ask people about their concerns. Ask them for their thoughts and suggestions. Ask them how you can best support them during this situation. And most importantly, find things you can do immediately based on what you have heard.

Appoint an acting leader so team members have someone who is carrying their flag, meeting their needs, setting direction, and dealing with outstanding issues. This acting leader should make firm decisions, which will reduce the general air of uncertainty. Also, make sure the former manager's boss invests some time with these individuals, to give them strong support and to demonstrate their significance to the organization.

Do everything you can to keep people focused on productive activities, and highlight successes and progress. But be understanding and tolerant. Different individuals will deal with this stressful situation differently. You might see some behaviors you would rather not see. Negative relationships and other forms of dysfunction could intensify. Teams that go into this situation with strong, positive relationships are better equipped to weather this storm.

One final note. Larry was in this situation once. Here is the story.

We know that most readers are not, at this time, in a position to deal with management transitions. But many of you will soon be in more senior positions. We hope you remember the lesson of this chapter at that time.