The first dysfunction described by Patrick Lencioni of the Table Group is the fear team members have of being willing to be vulnerable with others in the workplace. This shows a lack of vulnerability based trust. Vulnerability trust is present when a team member is willing to say “I was wrong” or “I made a mistake”, or “I need your help.” It is only when team members are willing to come from this place that trust can be built within the team.
It is important to recognize that it can take just one person to destroy a team’s trust. For example, the team member who consistently defends their position on an issue and who is not open to anyone challenging his or her point of view. As a result, and after a while other team members just shut down.
Trust is the very foundation of teamwork and it is something that takes time to achieve. The second dysfunction of a team is the fear of conflict. It is through healthy constructive conflict that ideas can be examined and sound decisions made. However, when people are afraid to challenge others, it is often because those staying quiet want to preserve a false sense of harmony so as to avoid any discomfort.
In your team, do you get the sense that people are holding back and choosing to “pick their battles” so to speak? For a good debate to happen in a meeting there needs to be a level of trust sufficient that team members are not afraid to speak up. It is a good idea for the team to jointly set some guidelines around how conflict should be handled between them. A team should also be willing to accommodate occasional personal conflict since we are only human and there may be occasions when egos can get inadvertently bruised.
This brings us to the third possible dysfunction of a team, that of a lack of commitment. It is only when team members are willing to “put all their cards on the table” that they will feel heard sufficient to commit even if their particular input is not agreed with. It requires the healthy debate that goes with conflict then that will lead to people being willing to commit. When there is no joint commitment in the final decision that is made by the team, a lack of clarity and a fear of being wrong will cause team members to fear speaking up in case their idea does not work out. It needs to be a group commitment to the decision therefore. Without joint commitment team members will not be willing to hold each other accountable. There does not need to be full consensus though because an effective team can disagree with each other and still commit to the final decision of the team, and that decision needs to be clear to avoid ambiguity and misunderstanding.
The fourth dysfunctional level of a team is that of a lack of accountability. Peer to Peer accountability can be very powerful since team members can be the ones holding each other accountable for their behavior. However, this can be impeded by the level of discomfort team members may feel in disagreeing with others. It is by the creation of peer pressure that team members will be more responsive than the fear of punishment or rebuke that might come from above. This is because they do not want to be the one to let down their team members. This dynamic of creating peer pressure can work at senior levels too and not only that of the team. For peer pressure to work most effectively it should take place during team meetings to avoid gossiping or ensuing negativity.
This brings us to the fifth level of dysfunction in a team, that of an inattention to results. The team is after all attempting to achieve more than any one member’s personal interest and any desire for personal credit will erode the focus on collective success. The team holding that person accountable to what the team has jointly agreed to is what is necessary here.
Because we are human, we tend to get distracted especially these days when we are bombarded by so much information at any one time. It is because of this that there needs to be accountability within the team. For example, if a team member is more interested in their own interests and needing acknowledgement from management for mainly their own work then this can compromise the team’s results. It helps to have visuals to keep team members reminded of what is important, such as a white board with the team goals laid out there.
The true measure of a great team is that it accomplishes the results it sets out to achieve.
For a team to be successful then it requires healthy team functionality including in this order:
1. Building trust
2. Mastering conflict
3. Achieving commitment
4. Embracing accountability
5. Focusing on results.
Building trust can be achieved by recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of each team member and keeping face to face team meetings consistent and well attended by all. There could be other opportunities for team members to build trust among each other too such as informal get-togethers where there can be group exercises for building trust. For example, a team could share where they each grew up, how many siblings they have and where they fall in that order. To the degree they feel comfortable as well they could share what might have been the most difficult and significant times in their childhood. Of course this would have to be facilitated with a great deal of sensitivity to avoid opening up old emotional wounds.
It might also be useful to conduct various assessments such as the Myers Briggs, DISC or Personality Dimensions. A summary of each could be shared at the beginning of the session. This could be good conversation as to how each team members’ strengths can best contribute and their weaknesses mitigated by the strengths of others.
When it comes to mastering conflict, strategies that could be employed include:
1. Reminding everyone that conflict is required if there is going to be productive meeting.
2. Establishing common ground rules for engaging in conflict.
3. A common understanding of individual conflict styles.
4. Strategies for achieving commitment including the review od any commitments at the end of each meeting to make sure that all members are in agreement with these.
It can be useful to pause the meeting as well when conflict arises to remind everyone that this is good for the success of the team. Team members can even explore areas for discussion that might have been avoided previously for fear of discomfort. Also, it can be beneficial to remind each other about being able to disagree with a decision and yet still commit to what the whole team needs to decide upon.
In order to embrace accountability, there needs to be real clarity around what goals and behaviors are expected and to be willing to compare actual performance with the goals and standards that have been set previously.
As trust grows stronger, the team can even invite each other to share what they feel is the most important behavioral quality they each have that contributes to the strength of the team as well as the one that might detract from the strength of that team also. Of course, it is important that each team member lead with their strength to keep things on a positive note. Each team member could then share what they feel might be a take away for them to work on for their own personal development for which they can report their progress on at future forums.
Finally, strategies for focusing on results would include keeping the team focused on concrete group goals as well as rewarding individuals based on team goals and collective success.
Having a team scoreboard can also be useful to break down team goals into supporting objectives that must be accomplished for the overall goal to be achieved. It can facilitate connection to have non-work related activities occur occasionally too.
Team members should not be holding back, but neither should any one team member dominate the meetings. Although it is desirable to have each and every team member perform well, care needs to be taken to not let any one team member overshadow the team with their own performance.
In closing, it is most important that the Leader or Manager be truly committed to seeing a quality team be built. A leader then needs to:
1. Be vulnerable
2. Encourage debate
3. Ensure clarity & closure
4. Confront difficult situations
5. Focus on collective outcomes.
Resources:
Based upon the material by Patrick Lencioni-President of The Table Goup. www.tablegroup.com
And with credit to Eric Brown Slideshare: https://www.slideshare.net/EricBrownTopLinked/the-5-dysfunctions-of-a-team-32077265
