Five Team Dysfunctions

In Patrick Lencioni's book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, he describes the five main pitfalls for teams and how to overcome them. These include: absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results.

The dysfunctions are interrelated and can be visualized as a pyramid. If there are team problems, the bottom of the pyramid should be addressed first because addressing top level issues first will be a waste of time. The issues are built upon each other. For example, if the issue appears to be with commitment, then attempting to fix it without addressing trust and conflict could potentially be a waste of time since commitment cannot be established without trust and conflict.

The main dysfunction my team experienced was avoidance of accountability. We experienced resentment among team members who had different standards of performance, missed deadlines, and placed a burden on the leader to be the source of discipline. At first, we struggled with difficult conversations on each other's performance, which only created resentment when standards weren't enforced and expectations weren't met. We fixed these problems by addressing each other's perfomance and having the leader back down as the "enforcer." We also made objectives clearer.

Lencioni suggests publication of goals and standards, simple and regular progress reviews, team rewards, and relying on peer pressure to instill accountability. Others have suggested similar methods.

After our efforts, our team...

1. Ensures that poor performers feel pressure to improve


2. Identifies potential problems quickly by questioning one another's approaches without hesitation


3. Establishes respect among team members who are held to the same high standards


4. Avoids excessive bureaucracy around performance management and corrective action

It was important to identify and address our avoidance of accountability so that we could move up the pyramid to the next potential problem stage, inattention to results. We did not have much issue with this area due to the nature of our rewards (team-based, result rewards).

Virtual Teams

A virtual team is any team whose member interactions are mediated by time, distance, and technology. Although virtual teams do spend time face-to-face, the majority of communication is done via communication technology. The use of communication technology has both positive and negative effects.
(+) improved speed and dispersion of communication, increased access to information, easier connections to others, and improved planning and decision making
(-) information overload, inconsistent access, decreased face-to-face communication, disrupted organizational relations, and increased isolation

Communication technology requires new communication norms to prevent miscommunication or frustration. For instance: regulating email length, acknowledging a question asked/information requested within 24 hours, and labeling emotions are good examples of norms. Another aspect hurt by communication technology that needs to be addressed is building social relationships. The lack of face-to-face contact increases anonymity, which can decrease group cohesion and cooperation.

So what?
My team worked as a virtual team during the Maroon-Orange Card Game in which teams chose a color to trade with another team. The color of the card given and recieved determined the points given. We traded 4 times with another team and ended up with more points than them, but not enough to win overall. We used a forum on Scholar, school website, to discuss our choice and reasoning. Our first round went pretty well with discussion but then things fell through in the later rounds due to misunderstanding of decision deadlines. It also wasn't optimal on a Scholar forum because it doesn't give a notification whenever someone posts, so unless you clicked on the forum you didn't know that someone had posted. The forum discussion also didn't include praise or encouragement which is suggested to build social relationships, which can be attributed to the task at hand because it didn't require much encouragement and we already have relationships.

Now what?
When we use communication technology it is important that we use a method that sends notifications whenever someone posts, such as Facebook or emailing, and for the communication norms to be practiced at all times to decrease the occurrence of miscommunication and reduce frustration. It is also important to set a positive tone through praise and encouragement to facilitate the building of social relationships. Social relationships can also be benefited by creating a shared identity through collaborative technology, such as Google docs.

Conflict

Contrary to popular belief, conflict is normal and can even be healthy. A conflict is healthy, if it: focuses on task issues or is based on a legitimate difference in opinion, values, perspectives, or expectations about the impact of decisions. It will be unhealthy, if it involves: competition, poorly run meetings, bad communication, personal grudges, and conflict between individual and group goals. Finding the root of the conflict is important, because the team should not waste time dealing with only the symptoms. The best way to resolve conflicts is collaboratively, which involves both sides of a conflict searching for a solution that satisfies everyone. This resolution style requires cooperativeness and respect for others. When tensions are high it is hard to use this resolution style, but with practice it becomes easier.

So what?

My team has recently faced a major conflict. Our problem stems from two members that the team feels are not pulling their fair share of the weight. We did not avoid the problem, but we made the mistake of using emails which just increased tension because written word is often interpreted to be more negative than what is intended. During class, we addressed the problem face-to-face and things went a lot better, but the team was still not very happy with the two members' comments. We felt that they were blame-shifting and not taking responsibility for their actions, but since it is a difference in opinion we had to move forward.

Now what?

It is important for the team to treat these two members as if the past didn't happen, otherwise the grudges will interfere with future performance and harbor inappropriate criticism. The team will also improve communication, in order too eliminate the possibility of an excuse. If the problem continues then we will re-address the issue. Since this source of conflict is due to personality differences/poor social relations, we need to work on improving our social relations by doing team building exercises, especially since the two members addressed their feelings of being outcasted.

Facilitating Team Meetings

At the start of every meeting a few minutes should be spent talking to each other about about stuff unrelated to the project and maybe engage in a fun activity to enhance group cohesion.
After small talk then the meeting can be started up by going over the agenda. According to Levi, the facilitator of the meeting directs 5 main communication activities :
1) Maintain an open and collaborative climate

-focus on issues, ask clarifying questions, organized discussion

2) Manage disruptive behaviors

-firm but friendly, acknowledge/reward good behavior

3) Manage differences

-clarify different viewpoints, define areas of agreement/disagreement, resolution through problem-solving techniques and consensus decision making

4) Summarize important decisions

-summarize team's conclusions after discussion of each major agenda item

The meeting can be wrapped up by tying lose ends, checking results, and evaluating the group process. 5) Evaluating the group process involves discussing possible areas of improvement for meeting operations and providing feedback to team members on performance. This process helps to address and fix team or task problems before they get out of hand.

So what?
The key component of successful team meetings is collaboration, coordination, and good communication. Team meetings that are poorly structured waste time, reduce motivation, and produce frustration. The team facilitator fills the role of maintaining the 5 main communication activities, although other team members have a responsibility to help facilitate. Good communication skills are learned and reinforced with practice. Someone who demonstrates good communication skills asks questions, actively listens, gives constructive feedback, and manages their emotions.

Now what?
After my team's first outside of class meeting, our goal was to brainstorm and narrow down ideas for our service learning project. We didn't have an agenda and discussion was not very organized, so the meeting took much longer than expected. We practiced good communication skills by asking questions and providing feedback. We also managed our differences when it came to deciding what project idea to proceed with and at the end we summarized our decisions. To help increase the effectiveness and efficiency of our next meeting, we delegated tasks to be completed and are preparing an agenda to help guide discussion and keep us from going off topic.

What Makes a Team?

Daniel Levi defined a team as a special type of group in which people work interdependently to accomplish a goal. A team is a special type of group. A group has goals, interdependent relationships, interactions, structured relations, and mutual influence.

The best example demonstrating a team relationship was The Wisdom of Wolves. It really drove home the concept of a team. A lot can be learned by observing wolves. Their group norms include loyalty and communication. One of the quotes from the video that stood out the most to me was "Wolves do not aimlessly choose or harass their prey. They are content to be keen observers analyzing the physical and mental state of each member of the caribou herd."

So what?

The best team members are very observant of others behaviors and emotions. The first few weeks are the most important for reading other group members' personalities and expectations. For the greatest chance of success, each group member needs to know the best way to communicate and work with each member of the group. This is related to the wolf choosing the best caribou to go after in a group that has the greatest chance of success. This strategy is also related to a long-term goal over a short-term success. If the wolf chooses to randomly attack a caribou, a member of the pack has a chance of being killed by a caribou hoof. The wolf would rather accomplish the long-term goal of keeping the pack together than the short-term success of killing a caribou.

Now what?

In the beginning stage of our team service project, it is essential that we set specific goals and get to know each member of the team. We are most likely to have success if we are all working together interdependently toward a set common goal.