The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: Unlocking Team Potential

Several months ago I wrote a series of articles based on the work of Dr Richard Hackman and his research into Real Teams and two aspects of Real Teams concerning Why Teams Need A Compelling Purpose and The Power of Team Norms.? While writing these articles it became apparent how Hackman’s work dovetailed nicely into the work of Patrick Lencioni and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. I’m a big fan of Lencioni’s work on The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, or to be more precise how to avoid these dysfunctions, so I decided to write about them in more detail and briefly describe how I start with new teams to set the groundwork for high performance to build the foundations that avoid Lencioni’s dysfunctions.

Overview

In any organisation, the effectiveness of a team can make or break success. Patrick Lencioni's book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, identifies key hurdles that teams commonly face, providing insights on overcoming them. Understanding these dysfunctions can pave the way for healthier dynamics and better outcomes.

Before we delve into the details let’s look at what these dysfunctions are.

Absence of Trust

At the core of any high-performing team lies trust. When team members don't feel safe to be vulnerable or share their weaknesses, collaboration suffers. This absence of trust can lead to an environment where individuals hide mistakes, avoid asking for help, avoid saying what they think, and instead compete with one another.

To combat this dysfunction, teams must foster an environment of open communication. Encouraging regular team-building activities. Promoting a culture of openness, transparency, and honesty can help members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and fears. When team members can rely on one another, they are more likely to work together effectively.

Fear of Conflict

While trust is essential for vulnerability, it often leads to a paradox: team members may avoid conflict altogether. Due to a fear of conflict team members will not challenge or say what they think as they don’t have the trust to allow themselves to be vulnerable with one another. In a healthy team, conflict is a natural and necessary process; differing opinions can lead to innovation and better decision-making. However, in teams where members fear conflict, important issues remain unaddressed.

To avoid this dysfunction, leaders should frame conflict as a positive force. Encouraging open dialogue and establishing norms around healthy debate can facilitate productive discussions. When team members learn to engage in constructive conflict, they not only enhance their decision-making but also strengthen their relationships.

Lack of Commitment

When teams avoid conflict, they encounter another issue which is a lack of commitment. If team members don’t fully engage in discussions, they may feel uncertain about the team’s direction or decisions, leading to passive disengagement; they may nod their heads in apparent agreement when in reality they haven’t committed because they never said what they felt due to a fear of conflict. This lack of commitment can be toxic, resulting in a half-hearted effort towards goals.

To ensure members are committed, it is crucial for teams to establish clarity around decisions made, align everyone’s focus on common objectives, and ensure that everyone’s voice is heard. Encouraging individual accountability and inviting everyone to express their opinions will foster ownership and unity.

Avoidance of Accountability

In an environment lacking commitment, accountability suffers. Team members might hesitate to hold each other or themselves accountable because they never really committed in the first place, leading to a culture of complacency. This dysfunction can create a downward spiral where poor performance is tolerated, impacting the team’s overall effectiveness.

Creating a culture of accountability involves clear expectations of one another and of the team as a whole. Regular check-ins and reviewing progress towards goals can help. Leaders should model accountability themselves, demonstrating that it is not only acceptable but expected for team members to hold one another accountable for their contributions.

Inattention to Results

The final dysfunction is when individuals prioritise personal success over team results. When personal goals take precedence, the collective performance of the team suffers. This focus on individual accolades can lead to inefficiencies and a breakdown of team dynamics and where lack of accountability exists team results will no longer matter.

To address this issue, teams must define success in terms of collective achievement. Establishing shared goals can help refocus individual efforts towards a common outcome. Recognising and celebrating team successes can further reinforce the importance of working together.

Summary

I like to summarise The Five Dysfunctions of a Team as follows.

1. An?absence of trust?leads to:
2. A?fear of conflict. As there is no trust a team member will not allow themselves to be vulnerable and as such will not challenge or say what they really want to say as they will avoid conflict. This leads to:
3. A?lack of commitment. Team members will not really commit to decisions because they never said what they really thought; because they had a fear of conflict, which existed as they had an absence of trust. This leads to:
4. Avoidance of accountability. Because team members never really committed, they will not hold themselves or other team members accountable because they never committed due to an avoidance of conflict because trust did not exist. This leads to:
5. Inattention to results. Because team members don’t hold themselves or each other accountable then the results of the team no longer matter so they pay little or no attention to the results of the team.

Recognising and addressing these five dysfunctions is essential for any team aiming for high performance. By fostering trust, encouraging healthy conflict, ensuring commitment, promoting accountability, and focusing on collective results, teams can unlock their full potential. Building a cohesive team takes time and effort, but the positive impact on productivity, morale, and job satisfaction is well worth it and as any type of?Agile Leader?your focus should be on creating an environment for high performance to flourish.

Working Together

When I start working with teams one of the first things that I do is to set the conditions and expectations for high performance and by doing so we begin to build the solid foundation of trust that enables the team to avoid Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team. The model that I have developed is built around three core themes.

Start the right way - Team start-ups

• Create working agreements/team norms.
• Create a shared vision/goal and compelling purpose.
• Share personal stories and experiences using techniques such as Journey Lines.
• Set expectations for?high performance.

Shared working experiences - Create experiences

• Mentoring and pairing – Have people work jointly together to support one another.
• Build skills as a team – Have team members develop each other’s skills.
• As a leader, coach or Scrum Master empower the team and create a self-organising culture.
• Deliver real work as a team – Early success.

Shared social experiences - Create social capital

• Team lunches.
• Evening events.
• Have fun.
• Get to know each other on a personal level.

Develop Your Skills

To develop your skills in the area of team development consider our Scrum Master learning path, from our foundational?Scrum Master training?as your starting point, progressing to?Advanced Scrum Master?and finally?Scrum Professional.? As a leader in an organisation develop your Agile Leadership skills with our over-arching?Agile Leadership training.

If you would like support in building high-performing teams consider our?Consulting Services, we can put together a programme for team development designed specifically for your teams and organisation. Reach out?today to discuss any support that you need.

This post originally published on the Beliminal website on the 16th October 2024