Teamwork remains the one sustainable competitive advantage largely untapped, because teamwork is hard to achieve. It can’t be bought, and it can’t be attained by hiring an intellectual giant from the world’s best schools or organizations. It requires levels of courage and discipline – and emotional energy – that even the most driven leaders and staff don’t always possess. But the power of teamwork can’t be denied. When people come together and set aside their individual needs for the good of the whole, they can accomplish what might have looked impossible on paper. They do this by eliminating the politics and confusion that plague most organizations. As a result, they get more done in less time with less cost. Effective teamwork helps people find fulfillment in their work and gives people a sense of connection and belonging, which ultimately makes them better colleagues, friends, and
community members.
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team explains the root causes of politics and dysfunction on teams, and the keys to overcoming them.
Mutual Respect and Teamwork
Mutual Respect is the feeling and expression by words and behaviors that someone is good, valuable, or important, shared between two or more people. Teamwork and Value for Team Members’ Work are two of the five elements of Mutual Respect — without them, creating a culture of Mutual Respect is impossible. The fundamentals of effective teamwork — trust, healthy conflict, commitment, accountability and a focus on results — can bring to life CES’s vision for Mutual Respect.
DYSFUNCTION 1
Absence of Trust
Absence of Trust occurs when team members lack a certain level of comfort and are reluctant to be vulnerable with one another. They may be unwilling to admit their mistakes or weaknesses, hesitate to ask for or offer help, and fail to tap into one another’s unique skills and insights.
DYSFUNCTION 2
Fear of Conflict
When team members are unafraid to put critical topics on the table, challenge one another, and raise concerns without fear of reprisal, it helps ensure the best ideas advance. Yet teams with an absence of trust are incapable of healthy, productive conflict — and they often opt to preserve artificial harmony rather than engage in any debate. This can create an environment where back-channel politics, personal attacks and cliques are the norm.
DYSFUNCTION 3
Lack of Commitment
Without conflict, it’s difficult for team members to buy into and commit to decisions, creating an environment of ambiguity where team members are unclear about their direction and priorities. They may constantly second-guess decisions and pass by opportunities due to excessive analysis, hobbling their productivity. Effective teams make joint and transparent decisions, and team members buy into an idea or course of action because their opinions and insights are included in the decision-making process. Commitment isn’t about reaching consensus — but about making sure each team member feels heard.
DYSFUNCTION 4
Avoidance of Accountability
Once a team achieves clarity and buy-in from members, members then must hold one another accountable for meeting the high standards of performance and behavior they have committed to. But when teams don’t commit to a clear course of action, even the most focused and ambitious team members fail to hold their coworkers accountable for actions and behaviors that may be counterproductive to the overall good of the team. Avoidance of accountability may create resentment among team members and inhibit the team’s productivity.
DYSFUNCTION 5
Inattention to Results
Without accountability, people pursue their own individual goals and personal status at the expense of the collective goals of the team. Teams can overcome this dysfunction by clarifying the desired team results and rewarding the behaviors that contribute to those results.
Notes on the Five Dysfunctions
How are you, as a leader, doing on each of the five fundamentals?