Do your employees have trouble getting on the same page? Do they spend more time arguing than working together? Do you know how much it’s costing you?
Without good teamwork, the work takes longer, there are more mistakes, and it costs you more money. Companies often fail because of it. In this post, I’ll review the 5 traits of dysfunctional teams and help you identify whether your has any of them.
In his book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni identified 5 traits of a dysfunctional team:
- Absence of Trust
- Fear of Conflict
- Lack of Commitment
- Avoiding Accountability
- Inattention to Results
Lencioni said that these traits, more often than not, characterize a failed or failing organization.
Think about it. You can assemble a sports team of All Stars, but if they don’t trust one another, are afraid to confront issues, lack commitment, refuse to accept responsibilities and don’t care about results, they aren’t going to the World Series, the Super Bowl, or the World Cup.
But consider the difference when teammates don’t exhibit these traits.
- When they trust one another, teammates spend less time arguing and more time supporting each other.
- When they openly confront and work through conflict, they solve problems and resolve issues.
- When employees are clear on the directions, they buy in, follow-through, and keep their agreements
- Accountable team members accept responsibility for their own actions and help others to become more accountable to the team by giving constructive feedback that helps individuals and the overall team.
- When team members collectively commit to goals, focus on winning, the difference is very clear in workplace morale, camaraderie, goal attainment and the ultimate success of the business.
Many business owners don’t focus on building high-performing teams so—if you do, you’ll have a competitive advantage. And the truth is that it doesn’t require a lot of time to develop and foster good teamwork. In upcoming blogs, I’ll describe some simple measures you can implement to build trust, healthy conflict resolution, commitment, accountability and attention to results.
In the meantime, plan to attend my webinar “The CEO’s Guide to a Happy Team That Works Faster, Better, and at Less Cost” on Thur., Aug. 21. Register now and you’ll get:
- A team of people that work as hard in your business as you do
- Customers that come back again and again because of the unbelievable service they get at your company
- Top talent flocking to work for you because of the great camaraderie and high morale in your workplace
- A team that trusts each other, spends less time arguing, and more time supporting each other.
- Work that gets done faster, better, and at less cost… so you pocket more profit
