Earlier this year, I read 5 Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. The business fable highlights 5 dysfunctions of common teams and then shares how cohesive teams behave. I want to share these this week so you can recognize where the teams in your life stand and how you can push your teams to the next level. When I look back at good and bad teams I have been on, these dysfunctions and cohesive behaviors existed and contributed to our overall performance.
5 Dysfunctions of a Team:
- Absence of trust among team members. This typically comes from a lack of vulnerability.
- Fear of conflict. Lack of trust creates dysfunction.
- Lack of commitment. Team members won’t buy in to the bigger goals of the team.
- Avoidance of accountability. You must be willing to call each other out.
- Inattention to results. This happens when individual needs are put above goals of the team.
How Truly Cohesive Teams Behave:
- Trust one another.
- Engage in unfiltered conflict around ideas.
- Commit to decisions and plans of action.
- Hold one another accountable for delivering against those plans.
- Focus on the achievement of collective results.
One exercise highlighted in the book that can help team effectiveness: Have each person on a team share 1 big contribution that each person on their team makes and 1 thing they should stop to help.
I appreciate you.
-JP