Eliminate the 5 Dysfunctions of Any Team

After 19 years in the teaching profession, I feel like a novice again.

I love change and growth, so every 4-5 years I apply for a different position. This September marked the start of another new role.

Like those early years, I’m working long into the night, learning new computer software, creating new course content, and completing endless paperwork. As soon as I cross one thing off my to-do list, five more seem to be added.

What is saving me from feeling completely overwhelmed (aside from my supportive husband who is graciously picking up the slack at home) is my school team.

I am lucky to have colleagues who generously donate their time to help me navigate my role. They’ve been honest, openly sharing stories of stress from their early days. They’ve also been receptive to any suggestions and concerns that I have.

I truly feel part of a team, the kind of team that Patrick Lencioni advocates for in his book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.

In this book, Lencioni (2002) explains five reasons or dysfunctions of a team and suggestions of how to avoid them. After working with dysfunctional teams and amazing teams, I believe he is 100% correct.

All successful teams must have these five components, and they are all interconnected.

Unsurprisingly, the first component is trust.

To build a foundation of trust, team members must be genuinely open with one another. Vulnerability often takes time, built by shared, positive, experiences, repeated over time.

Trust can occur more quickly if the boss, experienced colleagues, or anyone holding an official or unofficial leadership role shares their concerns, weaknesses, or asks for feedback.

If these leaders feel safe to be vulnerable, others will feel safe to do the same.

This has been my experience in the past few weeks. With my team’s willingness to voice their difficulties, it has made it much easier for me to be vulnerable too.

The second component of a successful team is the ability to take part in healthy conflict.

All relationships need productive, ideological conflict to grow. This type of conflict can be passionate but must be limited to ideas and concepts only. No mean-spirited, personality-focused attacks are allowed.

Teams who lack trust are incapable of engaging in unfiltered discussion. Instead, artificial harmony occurs through veiled discussions and guarded comments. This is very unhelpful and often harmful, especially as back-channel personal attacks are common outcomes of unaddressed conflict.

I have been on teams who do not like to participate in healthy conflict because debate and discussion were perceived as a waste of time. Yet, without debate the same issues continually arise. This is an even bigger time waster.

Thus, it is essential to work through conflict.

And after it is finished, acknowledging the benefits of the process is important too. Hopefully this encourages people to participate more readily in the future.

Quick tip: I have found that learning about each team member’s personality type is helpful too. It brings more awareness to individuals and teams alike. It may help those who are naturally assertive to refrain from taking over the conversation. It also allows those who are more introverted to have the support and space to join the conversations.

To learn more about personalities, check out https://www.16personalities.com. This is a great, free resource.

After trust and healthy conflict are established, commitment is possible.

To have buy-in or a commitment to a decision, teams must come to an agreement. This means that people must have the opportunity to voice their concerns and feel they’ve been listened to. It doesn’t mean that people need to get their way. They just need to feel heard and that their opinion matters.

I have found that carving out time during meetings to hear all voices is paramount, especially while reviewing key decisions or crafting uniform messaging. Healthy debate often ensues, but the team is stronger because of it.

If trust and healthy conflict hasn’t been established, feigned agreement and weak commitment are often the result. As are poor outcomes.

Authentic conversations and commitment are essential for any team to be successful.

Then comes accountability.

Accountability simply means that each person is held responsible for the agreed upon action items, deadlines, and their role and responsibilities.

But this isn’t done alone.

The most successful teams also hold their team members accountable too, which is much harder to do.

Most people dislike holding their peers accountable because it creates discomfort. No one likes having hard conversations. Yet, without the ability to have these conversations, a team will not successfully move forward.

Research and practical experience have found that accountability is easier to achieve when there is regular and repeated messaging. This keeps a goal or focus on the front of mind.

Addressing an issue once and hoping for change is naive. Repeated messaging, especially messaging that is organization wide, is more likely to inspire action.

Similarly, making deliverables and deadlines clear and transparent reduces ambiguity and creates positive, public pressure to achieve results.

I’ve also learned that shifting individual performance to team performance usually creates a positive culture of accountability. When success and failure is a collective effort, people are more willing to help each other meet deadlines and complete tasks. Success is more likely.

Finally, all great teams must pay attention to results.

According to Lencioni (2002), teams that don’t focus on results fail to grow, rarely defeat their competitor, and lose achievement-oriented employees.

Without accountability and attention to results, team members are also more likely to favour their own ego, careers, recognition, or needs above the collective goals of a team.

So, while setting goals is important and necessary for any team to thrive, paying attention to the results is even more important.

This may seem obvious, but it is surprising how many teams do not track their outcomes. Time quickly passes and follow-up meetings aren’t scheduled.

However, research and experience have shown that openly communicating within a team and comparing objectives to outcomes at monthly or bi-monthly meetings, are necessary. Essentially, these meetings teams determine whether they should stay the course or pivot.

This factor alone is what separates good teams from great ones.

 Final Thoughts

As the school year unfolds, it will be interesting to see if my new work team will create and maintain trust, healthy conflict, commitment, accountability and attention to results.

It seems simple, in theory. But if you’ve been part of a team, you know it can be very difficult.

Teamwork deteriorates if even one component is missing.

In fact, teamwork deteriorates if even one person is unwilling to be a willing participant.

There is no magic solution. Hard conversations may be needed. A team member may need to be let go.

Time will tell.

But as a challenge this year (and one I invite you to try yourself), I will follow this recipe for success. I’ll be honest, take part in healthy conflicts, commit to any group decision, hold myself and others accountable and pay attention to results.

I’m not sure what the outcome will be, but I do know that the results will be far better than if I don’t try. I’ve got nothing to lose. I hope you feel the same.

Best wishes, Lauren

P.s. If you’d like any help strengthening your team, feel free to reach out. Free 30-minute consultations are available.