Is Your Team Dysfunctional? Here’s How to Tell
Passive-aggressive behavior. Apathy. Passing the buck. Covering up mistakes.
If you’ve ever witnessed any of these things at work, you’ve probably been on a dysfunctional team.
When your workplace team dynamic is off, everything suffers, from productivity to morale. So, how do you know if your team is dysfunctional, and what can you do to overcome it and get everyone back on track?
In this post, we’ll cover the 5 traits of a dysfunctional workplace as outlined by renowned leadership author Patrick Lencioni. We’ll also offer tips for overcoming each issue to take your team from dysfunctional to dynamic.
Image: Charles Folscher for Unsplash
Patrick Lencioni’s 5 Dysfunctions of a Team
The 5 dysfunctions of a team are organized in a pyramid hierarchy, with #1 at the bottom and #5 at the top. Each dysfunction builds on the next—you can’t overcome #2 without first addressing #1, and so on.
Throughout, we’ll quote Patrick Lencioni’s talk about the five dysfunctions of a team, which you can watch here.
Dysfunction #1 – Absence of Trust
Lencioni says that most people think about trust as predictive trust, which is when we know what to expect from people in regards to their behavior. But that’s not the kind of trust that makes a great team.
“The kind of trust that makes a team great is what I call vulnerability-based trust,” Lencioni says. This is when employees feel comfortable saying things like:
“I don’t know the answer”
“Can you help me out?”
“I made a mistake”
“You’re better at this than I am”
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that”
When people are honest and open—when they’re not afraid to hold back—it changes everything.
On the other hand, if one member of a team can’t be vulnerable, it’s going to “spread like a disease to the entire team,” says Lencioni. An absence of vulnerability-based trust creates a faulty foundation for any team. So how do you get your teammates to be vulnerable?
How to fix it: If you’re in a position of leadership in your company, you have to be willing to be vulnerable. Without leadership that’s willing and able to be vulnerable in the workplace, no one else can be. If you’re not in a leadership position, you can still model vulnerability in your day-to-day work life.
Just don’t conflate vulnerability with the idea that you should be spilling your guts every chance you get. As Brené Brown said in a conversation with Adam Grant on his podcast WorkLife, “Vulnerability minus boundaries is not vulnerability.” Be honest, be transparent, but keep it professional.
Dysfunction #2 – Fear of Conflict
Whether you’re talking about a marriage or a business partnership, a hallmark of a solid relationship is the ability to have healthy disagreements—ones where both parties come from a place of respect for each other.
Without vulnerability-based trust, conflict quickly becomes political in the workplace, whereas conflict should really be treated as “the pursuit of truth, or the best possible answer,” as Lencioni says. “There’s far less conflict in every organization than there needs to be because [employees] don’t want to see people get their feelings hurt.”
How to fix it: The solution for a fear or avoidance of conflict in the workplace is similar to the solution for a lack of trust: Be vulnerable. Share your workplace challenges, and don’t be afraid to speak up and disagree with your teammates when you feel strongly about a topic. You’ll come out stronger because of it.
Dysfunction #3 – Lack of Commitment
Climbing up the dysfunction pyramid, we reach a lack of commitment. This is where apathy often rears its ugly head, especially when employees don’t feel comfortable engaging in conflict. A lack of willingness to weigh in on important workplace decisions can lead to missed business opportunities.
How to fix it: Ask people to “disagree and commit.” This is a management principle that Lencioni references, and it involves demanding that people weigh in on issues and allowing for healthy disagreement. It also requires leadership to step in and break a tie if there isn’t a consensus and asking everyone to buy in and commit to the decision at hand.
Dysfunction #4 – Avoidance of Behavioral Accountability
It’s easy to hold someone accountable for quantitative results. “We missed our Q4 numbers.” “Our unsubscribe rate is through the roof.” And so on. But when it comes to behavior, people often try to skirt around the issue. Instead of taking the time and effort required to confront an employee or coworker about their unacceptable workplace behavior or consistently poor performance, you might find yourself making excuses to avoid the conversation. “That’s just their personality.” “I don’t have time for that, I’ll just wait to see the metrics.” And so on.
How to fix it: Challenge yourself to hold people accountable, even if you know it will be a difficult conversation. Taking the time to help someone uncover and address issues they might have demonstrates your respect for them and for your team as a whole.
Dysfunction #5 – Inattention to Results
When we fail to hold people accountable for their behavior as it relates to the team, they’ll believe that the results of the team don’t matter. They may only focus on their individual results, whereas the collective results of the team are the priority and will naturally beget positive results for each individual, too.
How to fix it: There are a few easy ways to remedy a team that doesn’t focus on collective results:
Define success for the team
Ask employees to share results publicly
Celebrate small wins, and often
Remember, it all starts with building vulnerability-based trust. How can you be vulnerable with your team today?