How to Create Dysfunctional Teams

From The Five Dysfunctions of a Team:
Dysfunction #1: Absence of Trust
Strategy for Overcoming:
• Identify and discuss individual strengths and weaknesses
• Spend considerable time in face-to-face meetings and working sessions
Dysfunction #2: Fear of Conflict
Strategy for Overcoming:
• Acknowledge that conflict is required for productive meetings
• Understand individual team member’s natural conflict styles, and
establish common ground rules for engaging in conflict
Dysfunction #3: Lack of Commitment
Strategy for Overcoming:
• Review commitments at the end of each meeting to ensure all team
members are aligned
• Adopt a “disagree and commit” mentality—make sure all team
members are committed regardless of initial disagreements
Dysfunction #4: Avoidance of Accountability
Strategy for Overcoming:
• Explicitly communicate goals and standards of behavior
• Regularly discuss performance versus goals and standards
Dysfunction #5: Inattention to Results
Strategy for Overcoming:
• Keep the team focused on tangible group goals
• Reward individuals based on team goals and collective success
Makes sense, right? It’s not quite so simple.
A manager in a large Fortune 500 company once gave everyone on the team (yours truly included) a copy of “Who Moved My Gouda?” as a substitute for addressing the real issues affecting performance. Was I inspired or what?
Message to management: do not go out and buy copies of a book for your team and expect to solve anything.
I think the real key to teams working well is a sense of shared purpose. Of course, results matter… which is why we all need to study the secrets of successful strategy execution >>