A Topic of Discussion for your next Leadership Meeting

Building and leading a successful team is a big job. It’s like conducting an orchestra: every person needs to play their part well for the team to work.

Whether you’re running a team or simply a part of one, you’ll find Patrick Lencioni’s insightful teamwork concept, “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” useful.
Lencioni has used a classic pyramid (as shown above) to explain the five main problems teams face: absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results.

I have written a detailed article on the dysfunctions & suggested ways to improve them, you can read it here.

In this article we will learn about identifying if at all your team is dysfunctional.
To summarize you can simply ask following questions -

• Do we trust each other?
• Is it safe to disagree?
• Are we all on the same page?
• Are our keeping our standards high?
• Do we put team results come before our personal status?

If the answer of any of these is no, there’s work to do!

Now, let’s diagnose Lencioni’s 5 team dysfunctions in more detail.

Diagnosing an absence of trust:

1. Do my team members feel comfortable admitting mistakes, weaknesses, and fears to each other?
2. Is there a prevailing sense of guardedness among team members, or do they openly share their thoughts and ideas?
3. Have team members had the opportunity to really get to know another, and understand how each other tick?

Diagnosing a fear of conflict:

1. Are team discussions and meetings generally passive and uneventful, or dynamic and passionate?
2. Do team members avoid disagreements and debates, or do they actively engage in them, understanding them as a tool for decision-making?
3. Are decisions usually made without contest, or do team members challenge and question decisions to ensure the best outcomes?
4. When problems come to the surface, do they do so at a fairly early opportunity, or have they been going on for a long time?

Diagnosing a lack of commitment:

1. Can team members readily describe the team’s goals and strategy, or is there ambiguity and hesitation?
2. Do team members clearly understand how their work contributes to the bigger picture?
3. Do team members follow through on their tasks and responsibilities consistently?

Diagnosing an avoidance of accountability:

1. Do team members expect good work from each other, or do they overlook low standards and errors?
2. Does the team identify as ‘high performing’? Would a new team member pursuing excellence ‘stand out’ or ‘fit in’?
3. Are team members able to ‘ask for better’ from one another, or are they reluctant?
4. Have I, as a manager, defined clear standards for performance and behaviors, and are they consistently applied and upheld?

Diagnosing inattention to results:

1. Is the team more focused on personal success and recognition, or on achieving collective results?
2. Could I imagine people on this team making a reasonable personal sacrifice if it helped the larger team?
3. Do decisions feel driven by the desire to achieve team goals, or are they just compromises between individual members’ interests?
4. Does the team evaluate their progress towards achieving their collective goals and adjust their plans accordingly, or is progress primarily measured in terms of personal performance or workload?

I hope this helped you better understand the dysfunctions. following article has ways listed to overcome the dysfunctions-
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (and how to overcome them)

That’s all from me, I would love to hear your views on the same, feel free to connect with me.

-Karishma

Reference — Bitesize learning