Technology. Finance. Strategy. Marketing. Which of these elements do you need to have a competitive edge which can bring you success? Ask any experienced leader within any organization and they will tell you none of these elements are more important than teamwork. In my earlier post on workplace trends, I had mentioned that one of the important elements of personal branding is teamwork.
Getting everyone to pull together in the same direction can be a game changer in any industry in any market. Even at an individual level, the ability to effectively work within a team is the single most important factor in your career success.
The question then becomes – why do most people seem to struggle with teamwork despite knowing its importance? I can speak from my own experience. During interviews, one of the most common questions I ask from candidates is to provide an example of effective teamwork. The answer often provided is “I am excellent at listening to others and working together”. Do a quick internet search on how to be an effective team player. You will find countless numbers of tips and hacks. Listen actively, collaborate with others, appreciate different work styles, etc. All good ideas – but if it is that simple, then why does it remain a mystery to most people?
The answer to the question lies in the crude fact that everyone operates at different levels within a team. Some actively develop positive working relationships. Some are near retirement and are simply cruising along and some simply want to profit at the expense of others. These differences lead to dysfunctions when people work together. If you truly want to work effectively within a team, then you need to be aware of what these dysfunctions are and how you can adapt to them.
The Five Dysfunctions in Teamwork
Patrick Lencioni originally coined the concept of the dysfunctions in his book “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team”. In my opinion, understanding the model of the five dysfunctions is invaluable in truly understanding what teamwork is all about. (Please note that this is entirely my personal opinion. I do not stand in any way to benefit financially or otherwise).
The pyramid below shows the five dysfunctions. Note that the deeper down in the pyramid you go, the higher the level of dysfunction is. This aspect is critical to understand.
In summary, the five dysfunctions are:
1. Absence of trust – people are unwilling to admit their mistakes, weaknesses or need for help. Most often, this dysfunction exists when management treats mistakes as performance issues and scape-goats lower-level staff for disasters and screw-ups. In extreme cases, even coming forward with a genuine, well-reasoned opposing point of view can become career limiting.
2. Fear of conflict – When trust degrades to low levels, it then breeds a fear of conflict. People are not willing to put critical ideas on the table for discussion. Meetings become channels to simply provide marching orders and determine compliance. Decision making is made behind closed doors and is often inferior because cross-pollination of ideas is not encouraged. People who are shut out of the decision-making process feel that personal agendas are being pursued, although that is not true all the time.
3. Lack of commitment – what happens to people who are told to do something without being heard? Morale of the team goes down. The plan of action becomes a check-the-box exercise, even though people may nod their heads in meetings in agreement. While a fear of conflict leads to poor decision making, a lack of commitment leads to poor execution as people focus on getting the work done with little or no regard for quality.
4. Avoidance of accountability – a lack of commitment leads to the next dysfunction which spills over into avoidance of accountability. It is not the formal type where the boss is driving discipline through his or her formal authority. It is the informal one where team members correct and help one another. After all, will you call out a co-worker if the decision making process completely left you out and you are simply following rote instructions?
5. Inattention to results – All the four dysfunctions eventually lead to an impact on the bottom line – results. People will put their individual needs ahead of the team goals. A simple example is a maintenance crew repairing broken equipment in an operating plant. Job delays will lead to reduced production time and higher costs but the crew will make generous overtime. In more serious situations, selective manipulation of key business performance metrics takes place.
How NOT to use the Five Dysfunctions
Now that you are aware of what the five dysfunctions are and how each one of them builds upon one another, the real challenge becomes on how to use this information in your efforts to become a team player. This is where the meat and potatoes are. After all, it is easy to gain the knowledge but it is far more difficult to apply that knowledge to get the results that you want. Unfortunately, this is where most of the online content and fancy workshops with high-paid consultants fall short. The advice addresses only the surface-level symptoms at best.
For example, if there is an absence of trust, the most common solution prescribed is to put up your hand when you make a mistake and identify your shortcomings. This kind of advice, while well-intentioned, is misguided. If you take the risk of displaying vulnerability in a team whose culture demands absolute perfection and has a zero tolerance for errors, then your shortcomings will be seen as below-par performance on your part. In other words, you will get roasted!
So what comes next?
As I alluded to earlier in the post, teamwork is not just about “working together”. The first aspect of unlocking the mystery of teamwork is identifying what sort of dysfunctions exist within a team and why they exist. Once you internalize that, the next challenge is how to use the tools effectively. I will talk more about that in the next post.