In your previous article we discussed the first three dysfunctions from Patrick Lencioni’s book “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.”
The first three dysfunctions were:
- Absence of Trust
- Fear of Conflict
- Lack of Commitment
Without gaining others commitment, you have an…
4) Avoidance of Accountability – Have you ever gone to someone for something they promised you and it’s not done? What usually happens? You get a lot of excuses. And when you try to pin them down to when it will be done, it’s like nailing Jello to the wall. This is a sign of someone that wasn’t truly committed to the outcome. It’s impossible to hold people accountable if they haven’t really committed.
And if you can’t hold people accountable, you will have…
5) Inattention to Results – You either get excuses or you get results. You never get both. So if you’re getting excuses when you’re trying to hold team members accountable – you guessed it. They aren’t producing results. Instead they become occupied with watching their back, managing their own careers, protecting their egos and all sorts of anti-team behavior.
So what is the solution? Start at the beginning. Trust is the foundation of any relationship and must be constantly tended to. So if there are issues of mistrust in your team they have to be addressed.
One way to start that process is with some type of team building exercise. I’m not talking about the kind where you fall into each other’s arms while singing “Kumbaya”. A simple self-evaluation that delivers each individual’s strengths and weaknesses can be a great way for a team to bond over similar and diverse personality types.
I know that every time I lead a Team Building using the DISC Behavioral assessment, even dysfunctional teams start to use the information to de-personalize conflict and understand each other better.
