1. The FIVE Dysfunctions of a Team
ED - Introductions
Sherry Crum
Ed Zuech

2. Leading Your Team
ED – Leading your team…

3. Got Dysfunction?
SHERRY - We have all seen or been a part of a bad of dysfunctional team. To get started, let’s spend some time to brainstorm what made those bad teams.

4. Absence of Trust
If members of a team do not trust each other they cannot be totally honest with each other
ED – Trust is the confidence among team members that their peers HAVE GOOD INTENTIONS and they don’t need to be protective. Building Trust allows teammates to get comfortable be vulnerable with one another.
Vulnerable includes weaknesses, skill deficiencies, interpersonal shortcomings, mistakes and requests for help.
TRUST – You won’t make fun of me. You won’t talk about me behind my back. You won’t lose respect for me.

5. #1 – Absence of Trust Teams members that lack trust…
Conceal weaknesses and mistakes
Don’t ask for feedback or help
Hesitate to offer help to others
Jump to conclusions about intentions
Fail to recognize and utilize others’ skills
Waste time managing behaviors
Hold grudges
Dread meetings/spending time together
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6. Absence of Trust
Fear of Conflict
Without trust people will not have healthy debates that are necessary to arrive at better thought through decisions
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7. #2 – Fear of Conflict Teams that fear conflict… Have boring meetings
Have environments where back channel politics and personal attacks thrive
Avoid controversial topics critical to success
Fail to tap into opinions and perspectives
Waste time with posturing and interpersonal risk management
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RESULT: the BEST ideas are not developed.
How many people sat in a meeting in the last month and chose NOT to speak up because fear of Conflict… or not being a popular

8. Absence of Trust
Fear of Conflict
Lack of Commitment
If the team has not aligned behind a decision, individual members who did not agree with the final decision will be less committed to it
SHERRY - When teams engage in productive conflict and genuinely share opinions and perspectives, they are more willing to buy-into decisions that are made and commit to them. In many cases, team members do not need to get their way, in order to be able to support a decision, rather, they just need to know that their opinions were heard and considered. Great teams make sure that everyone’s ideas are heard and considered, making it easy for people to rally around the decision and ultimately will make a better decision. Once everyone is bought into a decision, they will be committed to it.

9. #3 – Lack of Commitment Teams that fail to commit:
Do not have clear goals, directions and priorities
Spend excessive amounts of time analyzing situations
Frequently revisit the same conversation
SHERRY - Some telltale signs that a team is not commitment include:
A lack of clearly defined goals, directions and priorities. Or, they may be defined, but are not apparent because team members have disregarded the agreed upon goals and are working toward their individual goals. Again, this often occurs because team members were not totally on board with the decision.
Teams find themselves frequently revisiting the same conversations over and over or spend an exorbitant amount of time discussing and analyzing. Two of the greatest causes for lack of commitment are the desire for consensus and need for certainty.
Great teams find ways to get buy-in even when complete agreement is impossible. As I already mentioned, great teams understand that reasonable human beings don’t need to always get their way; they just want to know they were heard.
Great teams recognize that they cannot delay decisions until they have 100% certainty that it is the right decisions or without perfect information, rather, they realize that it is better to make a decision boldly and be wrong and then change directions, rather than waffle and miss opportunities.

10. Avoidance of Accountability
Absence of Trust
Fear of Conflict
Lack of Commitment
Avoidance of Accountability
If team members are not committed to the course of action, they are less likely to feel accountable (or hold others accountable)
SHERRY - When team members are not fully committed to a course of action, they are less likely to be accountable. AND, even more dangerous, they are unwilling to hold their team members accountable. This often ties back into the first two dysfunctions, the lack of trust and fear of conflict. Team members who are not fully committed will opt to avoid the discomfort that accompanies calling out a peer on his or her behavior.

11. #4 – Avoidance of Accountability
Teams that avoid accountability…
Create resentment between members
Encourage mediocrity
Miss deadlines and key deliverables
SHERRY - Teams that are not accountable often find that there is a great deal of resentment between the members. High performers or those who are fully committed and accountable are frequently frustrated by those who have lower standards of performance, that allow standards of quality to erode and who are satisfied with being mediocre.
More obviously, teams that are not committed and accountable inevitably miss deadlines and key deliverables that quickly devalue the team.

12. Avoidance of Accountability
Absence of Trust
Fear of Conflict
Lack of Commitment
Avoidance of Accountability
Inattention to
Results
People who are not held accountable are less likely to care about the group results
SHERRY - The 5th and ultimate dysfunction of a team is the tendency of members to care about something other than the collective goals of the team.

13. #5 – Inattention to Results
Teams that are not focused on results…
May be focused on team “status”
May be focused on individual careers/goals
SHERRY - Teams that are not focused on results are often caught up in focusing more on team and individual status.
For some members of a team, merely being a part of the group is enough to keep them satisfied and make them feel important. For them, achievement of specific results, while nice, is not important enough to be worth any extra sacrifice or effort.
Another common problem that detracts from a team’s focus on results is when people focus on enhancing their own positions or careers at the expense of the team or they are more committed to another team (Ed will talk more about that later).

14. Overcoming Dysfunction
How to become a functional team…
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15. #1 – Absence of Trust Personal Histories Exercise
Team Effectiveness Exercise
Personality and Behavioral Preference Profiles
360 –Degree Feedback
Experimental Team Exercises
ED – Vulnerability-based trust takes time to develop. It requires shared experiences over time, multiple instances of follow through and credibility, and in depth understanding of the “Unique” attributes of team members.
Personal Histories: Answer a handful of questions: Where were you born? How many siblings do you have? Best Job? Worst Job? Hobbies?
Team Effectiveness: Identify the single most important contribution to the team… Identify the one area that they must improve or eliminate for the good of the team.

16. #2 – Fear of Conflict Mining Real-Time Permission Other Tools
ED – TRUST builds the foundation for passionate and educational debate without the fear of being punished for saying something the could be interpreted as destructive or critical.
Healthy Conflict is good…
PRODUCTIVE CONFLICT…. Know he difference between productive and destructive conflict…. Solutions based (concepts and ideas) versus personality focused and mean-spirited attacks…
CHALLENGE: knowing when passion, emotion and frustration…
PRODUCTIVE CONFLICT… Provides the best possible solution

17. #3 – Lack of Commitment Cascading Messaging Deadlines
Contingency and Worst-Case Scenario Analysis
Low-Risk Exposure Therapy
ED – Remember, greatest challenge is “Clarity” and “buy-in”.
Consensus and Certainty
Cascading Messages: review key decisions and determine what needs to be communicated
Contingency and Worst-Case scenarios: Reduces fear by realizing the cost of a incorrect decision is survivable, less damaging than imagined and set common expectations if it fails.

18. #4 – Avoidance of Accountability
Publication of Goals and Standards
Simple and Regular Progress Reviews
Team Rewards
SHERRY - The use of some classic management tools can be a simple solution to overcome a team’s lack of accountability.
An excellent way to make it easier for team members to hold each other accountable is to eliminate ambiguity. Teams can publicly announce what the team is expected to achieve, who needs to deliver what and how everyone needs to behave in order to succeed.
Regular communication between team members about how they feel each other are doing with stated objectives and standards and giving people feedback on their behavior and performance can also be highly effective at achieving accountability.
And finally, by shifting rewards away from individual performance to team achievements can foster a culture of accountability.

19. #5 – Inattention to Results
Results-Based Rewards
Public Declaration of Results
Similar to combatting lack of accountability, the best way to go about ensuring attention is focused on results is by making results clear and, rewarding only those behaviors and actions that contribute to those results.
Another effective approach is to publicly share expected team goals. Teams that are willing to commit publicly to specific results are far more likely to work passionately and sometimes desperately to achieve them.

20. Overcoming Dysfunction
The Role of Leaders and Members
SHERRY

21. Trust - Leader Demonstrate genuine vulnerability first
Create environment that does not punish vulnerability
SHERRY - The most important actions that a leader must take to encourage team trust is…
1) At the risk of losing face in front of the team, be the first to demonstrate GENUINE vulnerability
2) Create an environment that never punishes vulnerability and never tolerates using a team members weakness against them.

22. Trust - Members Acknowledge someone is being vulnerable Empathize
Open up, meet them half way
Support an environment that does not punish vulnerability
Provide honest feedback when asked
Know your own weaknesses
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23. Conflict - Leader Avoid temptation to protect team members
Personally model appropriate conflict behavior
SHERRY - One of the more difficult parts of leading a team through healthy conflict is showing restraint in the urge to protect team members. When the leader jumps in to defend an individual, there can be a premature interruption to the discussion or disagreement that leaves team members waiting for a resolution that never comes. Additionally, it does not allow individuals to develop coping skills for dealing with conflict themselves.
Finally, as trite as it may sound, a leader needs to personally model appropriate conflict behavior and openly embrace it when necessary and productive.

24. Conflict - Members Participate, keep it in the meeting
Share your thoughts
Don’t make it personal
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25. Commitment - Leader
Be comfortable with prospect of making wrong decisions
Push group for closure around issues and adherence to schedules
SHERRY - More than any other member of the team, the leader must be comfortable with the prospect of making a decision that ultimately turns out to be wrong. If the leader does not exhibit confidence, he will breed fear within team members.
Additionally, the leader needs to constantly be pushing the team for closure around issues, as well as adherence to deadlines that team has set.

26. Commitment - Members Ask questions for more clarity
Participate in defining “realistic” timelines
Meet deadlines
Don’t suffer from “Analysis Paralysis”
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27. Accountability - Leader
Avoid creating an accountability vacuum
Encourage and allow team to serve as primary accountability mechanism
Serve as ultimate arbiter of discipline
SHERRY - The most important thing that a leader can do to help nurture accountability on a team is to avoid creating an accountability vacuum with them being the primary source of discipline. In that case, members assume that the leader will hold members accountable and they will hold back even when they see something that isn’t right. Leaders need to allow and encourage the team to serve as the primary accounting mechanism.
However, once the leader has created the culture of accountability on the team, they must be willing to serve as the ultimate disciplinarian if the team itself fails to in the job.

28. Accountability - Members
Self manage
Don’t look the other way
Keep team apprised of status
Share delays and missed deadlines in advance
Don’t make excuses
Ask for help with priorities
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29. Results - Leader Set the tone for a focus on results
Be selfless and objective
Reserve recognition and rewards
SHERRY - Perhaps more than with any of the other dysfunctions, the leader must set the tone for a focus on results. If the team senses that the leader values anything other than team results, they will take it as permission to do the same.
The team leader must be selfless and objective and reserve awards and recognition for those who make real contributions to the achievement of team goals.

30. Results - Members
Be selfless and objective
There is no “I” in team

31. Avoidance of Accountability
5 Dysfunctions of a Team
Absence of Trust
Fear of Conflict
Lack of Commitment
Avoidance of Accountability
Inattention to
Results

32. What team are you on? How do we manage our multitude of priorities…
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