Following on from my last blog about building a team, I wanted to look at the things that contribute to a dysfunctioning team. One of my favourite authors of business/leadership books is Patrick Lencioni, and this material is based on his writings in the book “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team”.
The first dysfunction is the absence of trust among team members. We need to be vulnerable with our team members, and willing to be genuinely open with each other about our mistakes and our weaknesses. If we are not, then there is a lack of genuine trust within the team. This will result in blaming others in the team for our mistakes, taking on tasks that we are not good at rather than using someone who is strong in that area, and the team not performing at the level it can.
We’ve all seen teams where the absence of such trust is evident. I guess that the more obvious situation where we see this is with political parties. At the moment, in the UK, we have a coalition government. We are currently seeing some of the differences between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats as David Cameron, the Prime Minister, has made a few statements recently that has seen Nick Clegg, Lib Dem leaders and Deputy PM, make a statement the following day stating a completely opposite view. It seems that the two parties, and cabinet colleagues, do not trust each other in the way that they would like us to believe.
The absence of trust is damaging as it leads to the second dysfunction – fear of conflict. Where teams lack trust, they are incapable of engaging in unfiltered and passionate debate of ideas. If the trust is there, then the team members will feel able to share their views within the group, even if they differ to the views of others. Where there is trust, a healthy frank debate can take place, team members arguing with each other in a way that ensures that all points of view are shared and fully considered, ensuring that the best possible decision is made. At the end, all team members feel they have had the opportunity to have their views considered and the final decision is then fully supported by all outside that meeting room.
Where there is a fear of conflict – due to the absence of trust – it leads to veiled discussions and guarded comments. The members of the team will not feel free to share their views, and this will mean that a full discussion is not available, so a flawed decision is made. It leads to a polarisation of views and the possibility of two sides developing within the team. It leads to people saying one thing in private conversations – what they really feel – and either something different, or nothing at all in the important discussions.
We’ll look at the other dysfunctions in our next blog – but please seek to build trust within your team – it underpins so much. Where there are issues between team members – deal with them and resolve them to enable that trust to grow, and you will find yourself in a high functioning, high performing team.