Like it or not, all teams are potentially dysfunctional. This is inevitable because they are made up of fallible, imperfect human beings. From the basketball court to the executive suite, politics and confusion are more the rule than the exception.
Almost everyone has come across ineffective or dysfunctional teams at one point or another. Sometimes this is down to a lack of clear direction, or poor ways of working. Sometimes the team is missing some key experience or skills. These things are fairly easy to address, and most teams suffering from them are really excited to do so.
Nearly all the truly dysfunctional teams I’ve worked with have been suffering from deeper problems, which Patrick Lencioni describes very neatly in his book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team…
The Five Dysfunctions
The fear of being vulnerable prevents team members from building trust with each other.
The desire to preserve artificial harmony stifles productive ideological conflict within the team.
The lack of clarity and/or buy-in prevents team members from making decisions they stick to.
The need to avoid interpersonal discomfort prevents team members from holding each other accountable for their behaviours and performance.
The pursuit of individual goals and personal status erodes the team's focus on collective success.
These dysfunctions can appear individually, but most of the time build on each other in a kind of pyramid. Without trust there is a fear of conflict, which causes a lack of commitment, which in turn leads to the avoidance of accountability and therefore inattention to results.
Because the most visible part of this pyramid is the top (results), many leaders start by trying to address that. But it makes much more sense to start with the root cause: lack of trust (see Team Forming Workshops).
Spotting These Dysfunctions
It’s usually pretty obvious when teams are suffering from these dysfunctions, but it can be helpful to ask yourself (or even better, the team) the following kinds of question:
- Do team members openly and readily disclose their opinions?
- Are team meetings compelling and productive?
- Does the team come to decisions quickly and avoid getting bogged down by consensus?
- Do team members confront one another about their shortcomings?
- Do team members sacrifice their own interests for the good of the team?
Further Reading
If you want to dive deeper into this, I’d recommend picking up the book. In the meantime, you can learn a bit more from Patrick’s resources below…
