Team Transfers Explained by a Hiring Manager

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Hey folks, we're going to a submitted question. This one's from Epic Technav. Thank you for your question. Um, internal team. No, no, sorry. I guess it's internal team transfers. It's not internal within the team, it's internal within the company. But yeah, transferring teams within a company. How to approach that? What does that look like? Um, I think it's a great question. I think it's a common thing that uh people will experience like in their careers. So, uh, you know, depending on your level of experience and stuff, might not be something that's even crossed your mind because you maybe you're just getting started. Maybe you're in a spot where you have been and really enjoying it for a while.

Or maybe, you know, maybe this is great timing because you're someone that is like, "Okay, I'm kind of kind of done with what I'm doing, but I don't necessarily want to go out into the, you know, the job market um, and explore that way." So maybe you love the company you're at, but like the the work you're doing on your team, not a big interest. So lots of different reasons, but internal team transfers are uh definitely I think an important thing to to talk about. So I guess first thing to get out of the way is like depending on the size of your company, um how how feasible it is to do an internal team transfer changes dramatically, right?

So like if you're if you're at a startup and like you are the team then uh you know sorry this probably doesn't apply right now but um at companies that are larger or have multiple teams this is where there's at least some opportunity to do it and I suppose uh if I were to to guess here the primary focus is probably like how do I approach this this conversation right because if you're going to be switching teams um there's a couple people that have to buy into this you're one of them of Of course, like obviously you want this to be uh you know something that's in your best interest, but probably the two other people for sure that uh that need to be bought into this are uh the other manager whose team you're going to and your own manager. Okay.

So, this is something to think about and the sort of almost like the rest of this conversation is going to be about like what are your working relationships like because that will probably dictate how you approach this. Okay. So, before we start talking about that, I guess the the thing that I want to make sure we touch on is like I guess like exploring what the opportunities are. Um, I think sometimes this can be kind of tricky because you might be in a position where you're like interested in switching, but you're like, I don't really know what's available. I remember like one of the the first teams I was managing at Microsoft, like almost right away, I had an employee uh that asked about team changes. >> >> I remember in my head I was like, "Oh man, like already like this guy just started." Uh, and he he clarified with me.

He's like, "No, no, no. Like I'm not uh I'm not asking uh because I'm trying to change teams." He's like, I'm just wondering like, you know, in in Microsoft, especially like in in where we work, like is is this a thing that we have like or, you know, I think he's kind of thinking about his career in general. Um, and hasn't really had that opportunity to talk with someone about what that can look like. Um, so we talked about that and like just for reference, like he's been on that team for over five years. He stayed on that team longer than I did, right? So, um I think totally fair question to be asking for for what it's worth.

Um like I said, when I first got asked that question, my initial response is like, "Oh, this guy's trying to leave." So something to think about if you want to talk to your manager about that or other people is just like yes there's a like when you ask the question there's a perception of course but that's not necessarily um you know maybe what you're implying. I think I think it's actually good to understand what policies and stuff are like at your company. Uh, I suspect that most companies aren't like against it, so to speak, right? It's probably not like um something that they're encouraging you do like every day kind of thing. Buddy, you can go. Come on. Um, but with that said, like I've I think at the How did we do this?

The last place I was working, we we had something and other companies might do this even at Microsoft we were doing this for a little bit um where we do like almost like temporary changes so it's not a it's not a permanent team change and your company might have something like this where uh depending on the size of right where you can basically do it almost kind of feels like an internship on another team for lack of better word so it's not like a permanent switch over it might be part-time it might uh fulltime but for a shorter uh stint. So, uh you might have something like that and if it comes I mean if that is an option exploring what what's available they probably have something listed somewhere where you can go through or it might be a matter of like if you know

there's teams that you're interacting with or you've seen like maybe talking with some of the engineers on the team to be like hey like you know can I you know can I schedule like 30 minutes with you and talk about like what your team's like or can I you know just chat with them or something and see because I think it's important to understand like what you perceive the team is doing and then talking to someone who's doing that on a regular basis. Um and you know like you you can structure that first conversation out is like hey I'm trying like I got to I got to switch teams. I got to get out of here or whatever. It's just like you don't yet actually know what that team's doing until you probably talk to someone about it, right? So, I don't think there's anything wrong with reaching out to people to ask questions like that if they have time.

um you know and if you're comfortable like especially if your if your company has um you know more more transparency around like uh team changes and things like that if there's uh if there is something like that I would I would ask the hiring manager if you're comfortable now I realize that some people get nervous about that because they're like well if I talk to the hiring manager, they're going to tell my manager that I'm looking, then I'm going to be in trouble. And like to me, that's a bit of a warning sign in general. Um, like is is your workplace that toxic? Um, or is your working relationship that bad with your manager or do you actually think that this new manager that you'd be going to would be crappy enough to like to do that to you? Um because if the answer is yes to any of those, then you're potentially like not in a great spot and maybe an internal transfer is not really for you.

Maybe uh an external transfer is uh more appropriate, but I can understand the hesitation with uh reaching out to a hiring manager to ask. Um I'll, you know, share that personally. Uh I've I've always told employees that have reached out um cuz we you know I think over the past gosh I don't know how many months it's been now 6 months uh I've had uh internal roles open for transfer and um when I've had people reach out and we do have like a sort of an internal transfer program just for what it's worth. When I've had people reach out, I tell them like, "Hey, like, you know, if we're having this conversation and we want to move forward, just as a heads up, like like I will need to talk to your manager so that like cuz they'll need to approve it.

So, and and technically the approval process is above them as well." Uh, so I always tell them like, "Hey, I'm not going to talk to your manager at all until you and I have agreed on like when that's okay." like if we plan to move forward and the reason for that is like I want to give that employee the opportunity to talk with their manager because if they have a really good working relationship with their manager I'd love for them to preserve that right where they can say hey look like hey manager I've been you know on the team for a bit and uh I'm actually really interested in trying this out for whatever reasons and like not burning any bridges because you can imagine that if I show up out of nowhere and I'm like hey Bobby on your team, he wants out. Um, I wouldn't do it that way, but uh you can imagine that um like someone imagine you're the manager, right?

Even if you're not in a management position, it would feel kind of surprising and kind of crappy like, oh man, like why didn't why didn't Bobby come talk to me? Like that would have been nice uh to at least know. um you know and I've the I've talked to people about this and uh I was very glad to hear that I think almost maybe one person I think out of everyone I talked to everyone was enthusiastically like yeah no I have a good working relationship with my manager like I I'd like to talk with them and kind of uh you know go through this and I think only one person uh was still like good working relationship with their manager but I think they were one person was kind of nervous what that might look like. Um, but point is if you're nervous to talk to the hiring manager because they might tattle or something like that, like I don't know, man.

Like, uh, either that's like a like potentially like a self-confidence kind of issue. Uh, which, you know, that's something to work on and that's what I'm trying to share with you. This is how I as a manager would um kind of handle that. But, uh, otherwise, if you're concerned that the person that you're going to go work for is kind of crappy, then maybe you don't want to work for them, right? Okay. Next up though, uh, and probably the the bigger scarier one for most people is like, okay, so let's say that you have you go through these conversations, right? You're having talks with the hiring manager and like it's like, hey, well, maybe this is an opportunity to move forward on this. What then? Right? like now got to go talk to your manager about this or they have to talk to your manager or both or your manager is going to be be informed at some point.

Um and they might have veto power, they might not. Like I don't know, but um point is that uh your manager is going to be getting involved at some point here. I have said this in other videos and I'll repeat it here because I truly believe this. Um if your manager is aware that you are trying to look for other opportunities, right? And um could be for any reason. If if your manager is aware, so let's say you've told them like, "Hey, I'd like some opportunity to grow in doing X, Y, or Z." Um, my philosophy is that if your manager is not trying to support you, then um even and I I don't mean like necessarily like immediately like they drop everything to go make it happen, but if they're not interested in in helping you grow in the areas that you are interested in, uh I I think that they're missing the mark.

And uh I I think that that's a like generally a selfish strategy that's not going to uh survive longterm. This guy's got to speed up, man. Got a busted ass car going under the speed limit in the fast lane. It doesn't have a bumper. Um, and so what I mean by that though is like if someone came to me and they were like, "Hey, look, like my where I would like to grow is like doing this and I'm looking for opportunities like this. Like can you help?" Oh, buddy. Come on. I'm going to get boxed in here. Um if you if you're expressing how you'd like to grow and they're not interested in helping because they're like, "Oh, that could mean that um either okay, a couple things. Either they're like, "I'm not interested cuz I'm like too lazy to go help with that." or uh they're like, I don't want to go support this person in a transition to a different team because I need to keep them like me me.

Um my team can't shrink. That kind of thing. Um it's shortsighted and it's shortsighted because ultimately people are going to go in the direction that they're saying ultimately, right? And it's a reality because if you're like, I'm interested in doing this. Even if you're like maybe you're too nervous to change or whatever, like your engagement is going to drop over time. It's going to drop in the work you're doing because you don't want to be doing it. You want to be doing something else. And if you start feeling unsupported by your manager, it's going to drop even more. So, like to me it's a shortsighted thing for a manager to be like, "Oh, like Bobby wants to leave the team. Well, I'll show Bobby like he's trapped here working for me kind of thing." Like it's just it's not going to work. Um, but again, the expectation shouldn't be that like your manager can snap their fingers and everything just happens instantly.

Um, so you know, I' I've sh that's why I said I've shared this before that if I have team members that come to me and say like, "Hey, I'm interested in in whatever," like cool, like let me let me work with you to figure out how to make sure that's possible because if ultimately that means a team change, like how do I support you doing that? Like yeah, that might be a me problem later to go to try and get back fill or something else, but like in the grand scheme of things, if you're an awesome employee, if I can keep you in the company doing awesome things, that's what I want. And at the end of the day, if there isn't a good spot for you in the company to do awesome work, then I don't want to trap you in a spot. I would much rather that you find an opportunity to go be awesome somewhere.

And I say that with confidence because there are lots of awesome people. If I have to watch an awesome person go because we're holding them back either within the team or at the organization or within the company. It sucks, right? But like they're they're an awesome person. They're going to go on to do great things. I'm not going to be the one to hold them back and we will go look for more awesome people because they're out there. I feel personally that when people are supported this way um they will continue to do great things and if you can find those opportunities for them then they will uh very much trust and uh you know want want to work for you because they know that they're supported. So, how do you talk to your manager about this? I think you have to think about your working relationship with your manager.

If it's already like on ice or like uh it's not it's not a solid setup, then like it's going to be tricky, right? That might be one of the reasons that you're already trying to go. And uh if I would say that realistically if you have some working uh challenges with your manager and that's one of the primary reasons you're trying to get out um you might even turn to the the hiring manager whose team you're trying to go to and say hey can I get some support with this because you know uh I actually have some challenges with my manager. You don't have to like you know try and like badmouth them or something to this new manager. Uh, but say like, "Hey, like I I actually have some challenges in being able to talk to my manager about this. Um, I don't think they're going to take it well.

Could I get some support from you and and in your situation, you can kind of figure out what that looks like?" Again, if someone said this to me as a manager, uh, that was going to be, you know, taking this person on, then um, I would I would work with them. I would be happy to do that. Is it a hard conversation? Sure. But like as a third party to that relationship, um probably a lot easier for me than someone panicking about having uh you know challenges with their manager. So um I would be happy to go take that on. If you have a good working relationship with your manager, I would say like um bring it up as a as an opportunity for your growth.

Um, and this is a reminder to you like if you're if you're thinking about the things I'm saying and you're like this is something you want to do like have you already talk to your manager about like other opportunities or different ways to grow because like may maybe it's a little late right now but um you know I would encourage you like these are conversations that I recommend you have you know with your manager. These are types of things you can bring up in in one-on ones and stuff like that. All the parking spots and my wife just took the last one. Oh, I got to do a loop around the building. Um, yeah. So, I don't know. I hope that helps. But, uh, again, you'll hear me say in other videos that, you know, how comfortable you are with your manager and those working relationships, that makes a really big difference for a lot of things.

And this is yet another one where uh if that's a a comfortable working relationship, then that that kind of conversation. Man, this guy just took the last spot. No, there's one more and it's for me. Nice. That was close. I almost had to drive back home and not go to the gym. >> >> Cool. Um, hope that helps, Epic Technav. Thanks for your question. If uh that didn't do a good job answering, just uh ask again and I'll try a different way. Uh, hopefully that helps, folks. Thanks so much. I'll see you next time. Take care.