The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Introduction:

In today's competitive landscape, success is not solely determined by financial performance, strategic planning, or technological innovation. Rather, the strength of teamwork stands as the ultimate competitive advantage. Rooted in Agile , teamwork emerges as one of the paramount principles, recognising that the best outcomes arise from self-organising teams. In software development, the collaborative effort of individuals across roles — from engineering and quality assurance to project and product management — is essential for delivering value to customers.

If you can get all the people in an organisation rowing in the same direction at the same time you can dominate any market at any time.

However, despite the immense potential for success when all team members align their efforts, achieving this ideal is often challenging. Teams consist of individuals with diverse perspectives, personalities, and inherent contradictions, which can lead to dysfunction. Patrick Lencioni's work emphasises this reality, pointing out that genuine teamwork is elusive for many organisations due to these inherent human complexities.

Patrick highlights two key truths: genuine teamwork remains as elusive as ever for most organisations, and many fail to achieve it because they unknowingly fall prey to five natural but dangerous pitfalls.

The Five Dysfunctions Of A Team are illustrated in the diagram below and will be explored in depth in the following subsections.

1. Absence of Trust ??
2. Fear of Conflict ??
3. Lack of Commitment ??
4. Avoidance of Accountability ??
5. Inattention to Results ??

The book begins with a fictional story that illustrates the concepts and principles of building and maintaining effective teams. It follows the executive team at DecisionTech as they navigate and attempt to overcome the dysfunctions hindering their success. This storytelling approach is similar to that of "The Phoenix Project" making it highly relatable to many of our own experiences. After setting the scene and providing context, the author delves into the five dysfunctions, explaining their interconnections and why they must be addressed collectively.

This blog will follow a structured approach: summarising each challenge, reflecting on techniques to overcome them based on my own experiences, and concluding with a practical team assessment tool.

Absence of Trust ??

The word "trust" is often used and misused, diminishing its impact. In a team context, trust means having confidence in the good intentions of your peers and allowing team members to be open and unguarded with one another. Trust is the glue of life, the most essential ingredient in effective communication, and the foundational principle that holds all relationships.

Absence of Trust is demonstrated by:

• An unwillingness to be vulnerable within the group.
• Team members not being open about mistakes and weaknesses, making it impossible to build a foundation for trust.

To overcome the absence of trust, team members need to become comfortable being vulnerable with one another. This includes openly sharing weaknesses, acknowledging skill deficiencies, discussing opportunities for growth, admitting mistakes, and making simple requests for help. In a culture lacking trust, teams fear that their vulnerabilities will be weaponised and used against them. See the examples below contrasting teams with and without trust.

Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair." - Dhar Mann

When trust is established within a team, energy is directed towards the task at hand rather than being consumed by politics or insincerity aimed at shielding individual vulnerabilities. Overcoming this challenge can be difficult because we are often trained to prioritise competitiveness and individual achievement over teamwork throughout our careers and education.

To effectively hold each other accountable for their behaviours and actions, team members must have a clear understanding of expectations. Clarity in roles, responsibilities, and team goals makes it easier to establish and maintain accountability

Building Trust within a team facilitates constructive Conflict, allowing members to engage in passionate and emotionally charged debates.

Fear of Conflict ??

Teams lacking trust often avoid engaging in open, passionate debates about ideas, instead resorting to veiled discussions and guarded comments. However, productive conflict is crucial for the growth of great relationships.

Ideological conflict focuses on concepts and ideas, avoiding personal attacks or mean-spiritedness, but it still involves passion, emotion, and frustration. Patrick introduces this concept with the Conflict Continuum Scale, as illustrated below.

Teams engaging in productive conflict aim to efficiently reach the best solution. They recognise conflict as a valuable tool and avoid deferring important discussions or "taking issues offline," ensuring that crucial topics are promptly addressed rather than repeatedly surfacing in future meetings. See further comparisons between Teams Fearing Conflict and those Engaging in Conflict in the table below.

Engaging in Productive Conflict allows teams to tap into the perspectives and opinions of their members, enabling them to confidently Commit to and buy into decisions.

Lack of Commitment ??

When team members refrain from expressing their opinions in passionate debates, it's rare for them to fully buy into and commit to decisions. Commitment within teams is influenced by two key factors: clarity and buy-in. Exceptional teams prioritise making clear and timely decisions, and they move forward even when some members have dissented.

The two primary causes of the lack of commitment are the pursuit of Consensus and the craving for Certainty.

Consensus: reasonable human beings do not need to get their way to support a decision. They need to know their opinions have been heard and considered.

Certainty: unite behind decisions, "a decision is better than no decision." Better to make a decision and be boldly wrong and boldly change direction than not make a decision.

For team members to hold each other accountable for their behaviours and actions, they must have a clear understanding of expectations. Clear expectations make it easier to hold people Accountable.

Avoidance of Accountability ??

Lack of genuine buy-in and commitment often results in team members avoiding accountability. When there's no commitment to a clear plan of action, even the most focused and driven individuals may hesitate to address counterproductive actions and behaviours among their peers. At the core of this dysfunction lies the reluctance of team members to endure the discomfort of addressing their peers' behaviour, leading to avoiding difficult conversations.

Peer pressure serves as one of the most effective mechanisms for fostering accountability within a team, as individuals fear letting down their peers. It acts as a powerful motivator for improving performance.

If they are not held accountable for their contributions they will likely turn their attention to their own needs rather than Collective Results.

Inattention to Results ??

When team members fail to hold each other accountable, it often leads to inattention to results. Individuals prioritise their personal needs, such as ego, career advancement, and recognition, over the collective goals of the team. This dysfunction manifests in two main areas:

1. Team Status: Members may prioritise being associated with prestigious organisations like Apple or Tesla over achieving collective success.
2. Individual Results: Instead of prioritising the collective outcomes of the group, individuals focus on self-preservation and personal achievements.

To foster a healthy team dynamic, it's crucial for members to prioritise the team's overall success over individual goals and status.

Recap:

?? Absence of Trust:

• Trust is vital for effective communication and teamwork.
• Vulnerability and openness build trust within teams.

?? Fear of Conflict:

• Productive conflict is essential for growth.
• Ideological conflict is necessary for reaching optimal solutions.

?? Lack of Commitment:

• Clarity and buy-in are crucial for commitment.
• Consensus and certainty hinder commitment.

?? Avoidance of Accountability:

• Lack of commitment leads to avoiding accountability.
• Peer pressure fosters accountability within teams.

?? Inattention to Results:

• Focusing on individual needs over collective goals leads to inattention to results.
• Team assessment tools provide insights into team performance.

Team Assessment

The book and this blog conclude with a Team Assessment tool, which provides insights into a team's specific strengths and areas for improvement. This tool can generate useful retro ideas or quarterly insights on how teams are performing.

Several tools are available to run assessments at the squad or team level. One such tool is available for free and is simple to use. You can access it through this GitHub link: Team Dysfunctions Assessment.

Next up will either be Extreme Programming Explained: Embracing Change or the latest Scrum book by Jeff Sutherland looking at First Principles.

Thanks,