A 2-minute summary of Patrick Lencioni's book about why teams fail to work together to get the job done…. and what to do about it.
Talking Points:
- Trust is the base for a functional team. If your team doesn’t trust each other they won’t be willing to work together to achieve the goals they’ve set. Lack of trust places your team into a cycle of dysfunction.
- Conflict is essential and can be productive in helping everyone voice an opinion. However, if the conflict in your team isn’t confronted correctly it can lead to dysfunction number three.
- When your team communication isn’t good it can lead to team member not committing to the decisions that are made. Reaching a consensus as a team isn’t really the end goal. The end goal is to have everyone voice their opinion.
- Lack of accountability is another way your team can fall apart. If members are defensive and can’t ownership for mistakes, it leads to further dysfunction.
- You need to have clarity on specific goals as a team. Make sure performance reports of team members are in line with the strategic objectives of your team.
Discussion:
- Initial reactions to this topic? What jumped out at you?
- Which of these five dysfunctions do you most commonly see within your team? How have those things impacted the team?
- Why is trust so important to a healthy functioning team? What happens when people get defensive about their mistakes? What happens when people are willing to own their mistakes?
- List some specific and practical ways you can combat these five dysfunctions.
- What are some other things, that aren’t on this list, that you have observed in your team that have had a negative effect on team performance? Other things that have had a positive effect?
- Is there a step you need to take based on today’s topic?
Adapted form Patrick Lencioni’s book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
