Have you ever been on a team that was so dysfunctional that your stomach was in knots just thinking about working with the group? Did you get the “Sunday Night Blues,” knowing that the next day, you would be in a situation where you felt stress and anxiety? Perhaps you have been on a team where you experienced the following:
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Ideas were dismissed without discussion or debate.
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Team members were reluctant to express their ideas for fear of retribution.
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The "after meeting" had more significant discussion than the actual meeting.
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The vocal members of the team dominate the discussion.
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The team leader cannot make an important decision after group discussion.
Unfortunately, at one time or another, most of us have been part of such a team. It’s not fun. It makes work a drudgery. Decisions take longer to make. Office politics often rule the day as those with power push their agendas forward, even though they may not be making the best decisions for the team.
The good news is that building a strong, cohesive team is possible by embracing the right behaviors.
Why Is Teamwork Important?
It sounds obvious, right? Intellectually, teamwork makes sense. The San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA) won four championships between 1999 and 2007. However, there were teams that were more talented, that jumped higher and ran faster, than the Spurs. So how did they win those championships? Teamwork. To see them pass the ball on offense and help each other on defense, it was clear that teamwork made them great.
In his book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, New York Times bestselling author Patrick Lencioni said this about teamwork: “Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it’s so powerful and so rare.”
So why is great teamwork so rare? In our current environment, is effective teamwork even possible?
What Are the Essential Behaviors of a Cohesive Team?
Building a cohesive team is not easy. As we learned from a young age, anything worthwhile is not easy, but that’s why it’s worth it. In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Lencioni explains why teams struggle and offers five behaviors to build an effective team. In the following, I summarize those behaviors:
Trust: The kind of trust I’m referring to is “vulnerability-based trust” and not “predictive trust.” If you say that you trust Joe in accounting because he always turns his reports in on time and without errors, that’s predictive trust. Vulnerability-based trust is feeling safe enough that you can be open and honest with other members of the team without fear of retribution.
Conflict: When vulnerability-based trust exists on a team, they are then able to engage in conflict around ideas. I’m not talking about conflict or arguing for the sake of arguing. Trusting teams can debate, discuss, and argue about ideas without making the discussion personal. They are comfortable engaging in this kind of conflict because it leads to better decisions.
Commitment: When team members can offer opinions and debate ideas, they are more likely to commit to decisions. People don’t have to have their idea chosen, but they do need to be heard. Once they are heard and a final decision is made and their idea hasn’t been selected, they are more likely to commit to the decision.
Accountability: When a team has committed to a decision, it’s much easier to hold each other accountable. This is often the most difficult step. Holding a peer accountable is difficult for most people. It’s easier for the team leader to hold a subordinate accountable because of their position. However, you can argue that peer-to-peer accountability is much more powerful.
Results: Once a team has built trust, conflict, commitment, and accountability, they are able to focus on the ultimate outcome: results. Teams are designed to deliver results, whatever they may be. A team that adopts these five behaviors is much more likely to achieve their desired results.
In addition to more effectively producing results, being part of a cohesive team has an additional benefit: It’s more enjoyable!
At Employers Council, our goal is to help our members build exceptional workplaces. One way we can help organizations achieve this lofty goal is to help them create effective and cohesive teams. Our Leading Teams virtual training course can help you analyze the factors that lead a team to success. If you are interested in reading The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, it is available for checkout from the Employers Council Lending Library. For more information, please contact the Member Experience Team at info@employerscouncil.org.
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