If your team works well and is stable, then you won’t be reading any further. But are you sure? Maybe more is possible? More energy, more quality, more focus, more purpose? At the same time, more appreciation and humanity?
But perhaps the situation on the market is also difficult? Employees are leaving you? Customers have doubts about you? Perhaps you have heard the following sentences in your team? Or felt them? Or thought them yourself?
- “Talking about it brings unrest to the team. ‘They’ should just be able to do their job.”
- “Those at the top don’t see the situation, or don’t want to see it. I no longer trust them.”
- “They (down there) in the team should just trust me.”
- “I have my own protected area here and observe what our managers are doing from the outside, so to speak.”
- “When change happens, there are always people who are afraid, angry or disappointed. They’re just mimosas.”
- “The customer must not find out what’s going on with us.”
These are all bitter, dangerous signals that you should react to. If you can confirm one of these sentences for yourself or your team, then you are not in the state of a “high performing team”.
Instead: Lencioni – the vision of a high-performance team
Let’s look at high-performance teams from the other side. What characterizes them? What do dysfunctional teams lack? In our work, we like to use a concept developed by Lencioni (“The Five Dysfunctions of a Team“).
Dysfunction 1: Lack of trust
If there is a lack of trust, team members no longer assume mutual goodwill. They do not share information and no longer go the extra mile. The flow of communication is disrupted and cooperation within the team is poor. Mistakes are neither addressed nor admitted. Weaknesses are not admitted and mutual help is neither requested nor given. Team members do not recognize the skills and expertise of others and do not use them.
A lack of trust is like sand in the gears, everything becomes slow and time-consuming. Colleagues write protocols to hedge their bets, politics and tactics become more important than solutions. Synergies within the team cannot be exploited, errors are not recognized and rectified, or only too late. The quality of the results and the performance of the team decreases.
Instead, in a high-performance team, there is a high level of trust at the relationship level. The team is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the respective team members and can play them to the full or deal with them. Showing vulnerability is possible – and has a positive effect on the overall level. Mistakes are openly recognized and addressed without devaluing colleagues, badmouthing or even scheming.
Trust is then not an end in itself, but a means of adopting different, new perspectives, making optimal decisions and achieving an optimal distribution of tasks and, above all, clearly and radically moving away from dogmas, taboos and individual beliefs as a basis for decision-making.
Dysfunction 2: Lack of ability to deal with conflict
Fear of conflict paralyzes open exchange and dealing with fundamental challenges and problems. A superficial and crumbling harmony covers up open discussion; dogmas, taboos and power dominate communication. Poor decisions are the result. Lencioni is a fan of conflict. The more of it there is, the better it is for a team.
In a high-performance team, conflicts are approached actively and consciously, passionately and without any prohibitions on thinking, in an appreciative, respectful manner. Differences of opinion and constructive, substantive disputes are valued and even sought out. Unpopular opinions are okay, the opinions of other team members are actively sought and actively listened to in communication.
This leads to taboo-free, open, intensive and results-oriented communication in which the best decision for the team is made rather than dogma or power. Different, new perspectives are actively sought and adopted, which can lead to new things for the team (new content, new organization & processes, new cooperation). The team lives and develops.
The best decisions are made from respectful, passionate conflict, and relationships are strengthened.
Dysfunction 3: Lack of commitment
The dysfunctional team does not push for decisions to be made clearly, decisions to be taken and communicated and next steps to be agreed. If decisions are made and goals are set, then team members do not commit to these goals and decisions individually. There is ambiguity and ambivalence in the room.
Non-commitment and self-interest dominate and the team does not implement decisions. This annoys and drives away good team members, the stars. Instead, free riders prosper with social “loafing” at the expense of others, which in turn leads to counter-reactions. Cooperation, collaboration and team performance are then out of the question.
In a high-performance team, the team makes clear decisions, even if the information is not perfect. Discussions are always concluded by making decisions and agreeing on the next steps.
Team members adhere to these decisions, even if they may not have agreed with them individually, and implement the agreed next steps. They consistently pursue the goals of the team and not individual interests. Free riders have little chance; they must themselves take clear responsibility for implementing the decisions and for their tasks.
Commitment simply leads to things being implemented. And it also leads to greater clarity, focus and a much stronger “I” in the “we” of the team. More energy, more motivation, more employee loyalty.
Dysfunction 4: Lack of mutual responsibility
In a dysfunctional team, there are no clear, mutually accepted and monitored responsibilities. As a result, the team members watch in silence as others fail to fulfill their tasks or do so negligently. They do not hold each other accountable. Everyone acts as best suits them personally. A lack of role allocation can contribute to this situation. Team members learn little from each other.
High-performing teams take advantage of the opportunities that different external and internal views within the team provide for the work and performance of the individual. Such teams have clear standards. Deviations from these standards – or opportunities for higher performance – are addressed proactively, openly, respectfully and appreciatively. Roles are clearly assigned and team members use each other to develop. Promises and commitments are kept.
At this level, there is continuous, respectful fine-tuning and alignment of the team, a real, dynamically optimized “we” is created and learning and further development take place.
Dysfunction 5: Lack of focus on results
The fifth and final dysfunction is the lack of focus on results. Team members focus on personal goals – but not on those of the team. Status and ego dominate. The performance and results of the team are not important to the members, there are no clear standards.
From a scientific point of view, this phenomenon hides social norms. In some teams, behaviors have become established as “normal” that are very unfavorable: poor treatment of customers, disregard for safety regulations, little appreciative communication within the team, low work performance, no efforts to improve or train.
High-performing teams have worked their way through the levels of trust, passionate, respectful conflict, individual commitment and mutual accountability. Team goals are clear and dominate actions and thinking, collective success is more important than individual success. A focus on results strengthens the “we” of the team and ensures uniform, harmonized goals.
What happens next?
In order to work systematically, constructively and effectively on the dysfunctions described, we have developed a curriculum that supports teams and managers in addressing the 5 aspects (success factors) with focus and effectiveness. You can find a description of this curriculum here. Interested in more? Get in touch with us! Let’s talk.