How do you move your team from being dysfunctional to being successful?
There are a few ways to do so and to be more successful.
A lot of this advice is based on Patrick Lencioni’s book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, and his follow up book called The Advantage. Mr. Lencioni lays out the dysfunctions that teams can fall into, and how to correct them to increase performance.
Here are three dysfunctions and success principles that you will want to pursue:
- Harness conflict to resolve disagreements.
Many people do not want any conflict at all – they avoid it like the plague. But, conflict is just a disagreement over ideas—and everyone has different points of view.
Great teams have a way of harnessing disagreements to come up with better solutions. Practice getting better about surfacing conflicts and disagreements, and doing so in a way that people do not get defensive and can work together to find better solutions.
- Focus on building a high-level of trust.
You have probably experienced both kinds of teams—ones with high trust and others with low-trust. You need to focus on being sure that the person on the other side of the table has your best interests at heart. Do you have a high enough level of trust that they are willing to speak up when something does not quite resonate with them?
Building a high level of trust with your team is extremely important.
- Be accountable.
Simplify accountability: essentially, when you say you will do something, you deliver on that promise. And, if you do not, you are willing to own up to it.
Avoid passing blame to others, even if they might have contributed to the problem. Take ownership and responsibility. Share on XYou should be willing to call each other out, not to punish people, but to simply increase the performance of the team.
We would love to help you improve your leadership aspects and characteristics, whether on-site to deliver our Frontline Leadership Training, or by participating in our virtual training. Or perhaps you need to download some resources—we have those too.
If we can help you on your leadership journey to achieve greater success for you and your team, please reach out, and connect with us!
