The Current State of Teams
Teams are the building blocks of any organization, and our working lives are becoming more team-oriented.
Over the past several decades, employees have devoted much more time to collaboration—in meetings, phone calls, or via email and chat platforms. Engaging with their team(s) accounts for over 60% of employees' time.
This proliferation of teams, however, has complicated employees' working lives. As teams become more complex, more fluid, and more remote, team members must navigate an environment in constant flux. That's no easy task, and employees must be flexible, socially adept, and relationship savvy to navigate interpersonal challenges and achieve collective gains within and across their teams.
Wiley Workplace Learning Solutions surveyed in February and early March 2020 to investigate the dynamic nature of teams in the workplace—and how employees and employers respond. Based on the responses of over 20,0003 employees across various industries and organizational positions, from individual contributors to C-suite executives, teams suffer from a critical interpersonal skills gap that impedes their potential to achieve.
Teams in today's workplace are more complex, fluid, and dispersed than ever.
Over the past several decades, the workplace has undergone considerable change, partly driven by new technologies, innovation, global competition, and labor outsourcing.
As the need for constant innovation continues, organizations find themselves in constant flux. In response to these external forces, organizations are reshaping their workplaces and placing new expectations on how and where employees work.
Our research shows that today's teams are more complex: Employees work on more teams and with more people daily compared to just five years ago. 76% of employees are part of at least two teams within their organization, often working on two to three teams.
Not only do people work on more teams, but they work on more types of teams, as well. 73% of respondents are part of at least two types of teams, project-based, departmental, or matrix. Some types of teams are more fluid than others. A matrix team, for example, requires employees to swiftly learn and adapt to the working approaches and mindsets of their counterparts in other departments. Other types, like project-based teams, often last just a few months. Employees quickly come together, form bonds, produce work, and disassemble in that time. This is especially salient for the 41% of respondents who have worked on teams with consultants and temporary contractors. Stability in teams can be challenging to find!
Moreover, their teammates are increasingly physically distant, exacerbating the challenges of becoming successful teams. In the past year, 28% of respondents have worked with at least one member based in another country, and 51% have worked on teams with at least one member who collaborated virtually. As remote work proliferates in the era of COVID-19, however, we expect this number to have increased considerably.
The changing workplace poses real challenges for employees of all roles and responsibilities. These dramatic shifts—in the number, type, and geographical distribution of teams—require that employees possess a specific interpersonal
skillset for effective teamwork that they can bring to any team they're a part of. The problem is that the behaviors within this skill set can be challenging to recognize, let alone adopt.
Individuals are suffering from a critical teamwork skill gap in the workforce.
Despite the pressing need for highly effective and productive teams, many individuals need to be made aware or able to consistently practice the behaviors that will ensure team success. This is primarily because employees see teamwork as something that comes naturally and is learned only through personal team experiences. In other words, they don't view teamwork as something they need to learn, especially when 99% of respondents consider themselves "good" and "effective" team members.
Yet this optimism is belied by our historical The Five Behaviors? assessment data—compiled over 2019 from more than 13,000 participants in The Five Behaviors program—which paint a much bleaker picture. Looking at team performance through the lens of Patrick Lencioni's The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, we see considerable room for improvement across several crucial behaviors.
The Reality of Teamwork
The consequences of this skill gap are astounding for individuals, teams, and employers.
The inability of many individuals to meet the changing demands of their workplaces costs their employees—and themselves!—dearly. Not only do inefficient teams and poor teammates hinder organizations' competitiveness, but they also affect productivity and workplace culture. Moreover, inefficient teams create more significant employee turnover due to lower job satisfaction.
Productivity nosedives: Respondents report being on teams where a lack of cohesion (88%), an inability to hold each other accountable (80%), and a lack of trust (61%) all hurt their team's productivity. That means the majority of teams need to perform at their full potential.
Time and money are wasted dealing with ineffective teamwork: On average, employees spend about 7 hours per week—almost an entire workday—dealing with the effects of poor teamwork, whether covering for someone else not pulling their weight, discussing problematic team members with others, or redoing work because of unclear objectives.
Work culture is more toxic: 71% of respondents have been on teams where a lack of trust created a toxic work environment.
High stress means high turnover: 63% of respondents feel their job satisfaction would improve if their coworkers were better teammates. Half the respondents say working with difficult team members causes them the most stress. Bad team experiences led 4 in 10 people to leave their jobs.
These results show—with crystal clarity— what happens when the building blocks of organizations do not work. And it means that effective teamwork matters more now than ever. Organizations must address this glaring gap in interpersonal skills to attract and maintain top talent and a competitive edge.
Despite how much the quality of teamwork matters, most people need to figure out how to be a more effective team members, and organizations are focusing on the wrong tools to address the skill gap.
Employees know teamwork matters; respondents consider a "good team member" an effective communicator, a willing collaborator, and a reliable and accountable worker. But knowing what effective teamwork should be is different from knowing how to be an influential team member. To this end, our research finds significant disparities in what respondents think is essential when working on a team. There is disagreement about whether to keep your head down and focus on your work, as opposed to questioning others' approaches and methods, as well as whether it's important to achieve group consensus on decisions instead of committing to decisions you disagree with.
This uncertainty shows how little most employees know about what good teamwork requires. Based on our research and Wiley's The Five Behaviors? products, we have found that successful team members trust and can be vulnerable with one another, engage in healthy conflict around issues while ultimately committing to decisions, and hold each other accountable to achieve their best results.
As we all know, addressing interpersonal issues that prevent effective teamwork is challenging. It's often quicker and easier to embrace technological tools to address the problem. Many organizations have done that by embracing the global proliferation of team collaboration tools—an industry valued between $2.7 and 8.2 billion5. These technologies—from project management platforms to clouds and video conferencing—aim to centralize projects, streamline communications, and increase efficiency.
These tools can be especially beneficial to help teams collaborate. But they also exacerbate the hallmarks of ineffective teamwork—limited trust and accountability, unproductive conflict, and other interpersonal issues—thanks to the speed with which they now occur.
Ultimately, the problem is that such technological tools impose a technical solution onto what is fundamentally a human issue. Doing little more than mask the core issues grounded in unlearned interpersonal teamwork skills, these tools cannot address the cost of team dysfunction.
Successful teamwork is not about mastering subtle, sophisticated theories, but rather about combining common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence. Ironically, teams succed because they are exceedingly human. By acknowledging the imperfections of their humanity, members of functional teams overcome the natural tendencies that make teamwork so elusive.
– Pat Lencioni
The good news is that nearly everyone agrees that teamwork skills can be developed and improved.
Employees strike a cheerful tone in agreeing that, in general, teamwork skills can be developed. Of course, they may not feel their skills need improvement since our survey results suggest an exaggerated confidence level. Even so, virtually everyone in our study agrees that developing practical teamwork skills is worthwhile. And 98% of managers, directors, and executives believe skill development is worth their team's time.
Developing those teamwork skills is also critical to the organization's success. 86% of respondents stated that effective teamwork—specifically, working with others to achieve results—is more critical to their collective success now than just five years ago!
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Fortunately, this means organizations can address the interpersonal skill gaps among employees and overcome—or, better yet, avoid—the staggering cost of ineffective teamwork by training and developing their workforce. Organizations reap the benefits of efficient and effective teamwork only by creating a working environment that values and promotes the building blocks of collective teamwork—from trust and commitment to accountability—and rewards high-performing teams.
The state of teams after COVID-19.
The repercussions of COVID-19 have been vast and consequential, touching each of us and the organizations we work for. Many employees transitioned—almost overnight—from onsite employees to members of teams that work exclusively from home. With government and business officials alike mandating remote work for the foreseeable future, the state of teams has changed, likely irrevocably, in the blink of an eye.
New research from Wiley Workplace Learning Solutions conducted in March 2020 surveyed learners about their adjustment to virtual collaboration. The results showed that, of the organizations that recommended or mandated remote work, 22% of employees needed more confidence that their teams could maintain the same production and performance while working and collaborating virtually. And nearly a third (29%) indicated they need more confidence that their team members will feel personally connected virtually.
As many more teams have become physically separated, the need for a strong foundation of teamwork and communication among colleagues is more critical than ever.
Fortunately, there is a model for effective teamwork.
In his best-selling book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni introduces a powerful and approachable model for effective teamwork and collaboration. According to Lencioni, there are five key behaviors that a team must practice to work effectively with one another: Trust, Conflict, Commitment, Accountability, and a focus on Results. Each behavior is necessary independently, but also in laying the foundation for the following behavior. Conversely, the absence of these five critical behaviors can cripple teams and organizations. Thankfully, with persistence and hard work, people have been using Lencioni's model to improve their teams for nearly two decades.
The Five Behaviors? Personal Development
It's time for a new approach, teamwork at a Personal Level.
You may ask how a person can work on teamwork, but alone. In the modern workplace, team members must navigate an environment in constant flux. That's no easy task, and employees must be flexible, socially adept, and relationship-savvy to navigate interpersonal challenges and achieve collective gains within and across their teams.
But solid teamwork only happens sometimes and is not necessarily an innate skill. Teamwork must be developed and practiced, requiring the proper framework to thrive. The Five Behaviors? Personal Development can be your solution for building a culture of teamwork.
What Is The Five Behaviors? Personal Development?
The Five Behaviors? Personal Development results from a partnership between Wiley and best-selling author Patrick Lencioni. This solution teaches individuals to become better teammates by integrating the model from Lencioni's book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, at the organizational level.?
This powerful virtual or in-person experience assesses an individual's approach to teamwork, provides personalized insights on how to work more effectively with others, and teaches participants the critical behaviors and interpersonal skills needed to work together effectively.
The result is a unique and impactful team development solution that empowers individuals to rethink their approach to teamwork, shape new, more productive behaviors to increase productivity and create a common language that completely redefines what it means to work together to build a culture of teamwork.
How Does The Five Behaviors? Personal Development Work?
The Model
The Five Behaviors Model forms a pyramid, with each behavior as a foundation for the next. Simple, sound, and straightforward—you can't have one behavior without the others supporting it first.?
The Assessment
The Five Behaviors offers adaptive, research-validated testing through a personality assessment.?
The Profile (Sample Report)
?After taking the assessment, participants receive a detailed, The Five Behaviors Personalized Profile Report help to deepen their understanding of self, work style, and others in their organization.?
The Facilitation (Optional Add-On)
The experience can be enhanced through a half-day training session led by our team of Five Behaviors experts. This session includes a walkthrough of the Personal Development profile, breakout activities, and group discussion.
Is The Five Behaviors? Personal Development Right for Your Organization??
For more information, contact John Beck and The Assessment Company Team at 1-800-434-2630 or visit?www.theassessmentcompany.com
Study Notes and References
1 Diaz-Granados, Deborah, Marissa L. Shuffler, Jesse A. Wingate, and Eduardo Salas. 2017. "Team Development Interventions" in The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology of Team Working and Collaborative Processes. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2 Respondents were asked a range of questions to understand their involvement on teams and engagements with team members. This included questions about the characteristics of the teams they're on, ineffective teamwork and its consequences, and the frequency and importance of various team behaviors. 3 Based primarily in the United States. 4 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 118.3 million full-time workers in the U.S. in 2019. Their median weekly earnings were $936, yielding an hourly wage of $23.40. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/wkyeng.pdf 5 According to IDC's Worldwide Team Collaborative Applications Market Shares, 2018 and Grand View Research's Team Collaboration Software Market Analysis Report, 2018.
State Of Teams White Paper is a production of Wiley's The Five Behaviors? Brand. The Assessment Company is an authorized partner.
For more information, contact John Beck and The Assessment Company Team at 1-800-434-2630 or visit?www.theassessmentcompany.com
Copyright ? 2023 John P. Beck, Jr
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ISBN: 00860005724369
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