Unlock the Power of Teamwork

Have you ever seen a team fall apart because of bickering, infighting, or a failure of accountability? Not only is it frustrating to watch, it's also incredibly disheartening.

Patrick Lencioni, author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, defines “Teamwork is the state achieved by a group of people working together who trust one another, engage in healthy conflict, commit to decisions, hold one another accountable, and focus on collective results.”

High performing teams are the cornerstone of healthy and cohesive organizations.  Building these teams is not a complicated task, but many leaders fail because they allow one of the following issues to manifest within the team.

TRUST – A team needs to be comfortable with being vulnerable with each other about their weaknesses, mistakes, fears, and behaviors. Trust grows when relationships are strong!

CONFLICT – A team needs to share their passions, disagree, and challenge and question one another.  The stronger the relationships, the healthier the conflict!

COMMITMENT -   A team buys into important decisions (even if they initially disagree) once all ideas and opinions have been considered. Strong relationships promote buy-in!

ACCOUNTABILITY -  A team does not rely on their leader to be the primary source of accountability but rather deals with their peers directly. Strong relationships build comfort levels creating the ability to discuss missed deliverables and mistakes, and encourages ownership.

RESULTS -   Teams that trust one another, engage in conflict, commit to decisions and hold one another accountable are more likely to put aside their individual needs and focus on what is best for the team as a whole. When relationships are strong, team needs become the priority!

Use your awareness of the five dysfunctions to recognize issues as they happen, so that you can help your team to be more effective. And remember that these are just five of the factors that can affect the performance of your team, so use these alongside other team effectiveness tools.