THE FIVE DYSFUNCTIONS OF A TEAM MODEL AS INSPIRATION FOR A MANAGER TO BUILD AN EFFECTIVE TEAM

5 dysfunkcji pracy zespołowej Lencioniego to model, który pozwala spojrzeć szerzej na pracę zespołową. Szczególnie przydaje się, gdy chcemy „zabrać się” za budowanie zespołu i stworzyć coś więcej, niż tylko grupę ludzi pracujących razem. Pozwala na dokonanie analizy sytuacji oraz wyznaczenie priorytetów – czym zająć się w pierwszej kolejności?

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team vs plantation culture in Poland

The topic of teamwork is one of the key areas of interest for managers in large organizations. Why? Relationships within the team have a huge impact on efficiency as well as the sense of fulfillment and job satisfaction – which works both ways. It can therefore cause an increase in results or, conversely, a decrease. What areas should we focus on to ensure our team achieves goals more easily?

In 2005, Patrick Lencioni presented his model in the book ‘The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,’ which discusses the traits that build or sabotage team effectiveness. He compiled in it conclusions from his many years of managerial experience – he worked at the consulting firm ‘Bain & Company’ and in the IT sector (Oracle and Sybase, in the latter as Vice President of Organization), as well as consulting experience – he advised managers from Fortune 500 companies (AT&T, Bechtel, Boeing, Cisco, Microsoft, Barnes & Noble, SAP, General Mills).

Lencioni’s approach to building team effectiveness proves to be an effective tool in Poland for dealing with the so-called ‘plantation culture’, widely described by Jacek Santorski*, which can be a serious limitation for teamwork in our country.

The key issues arising from the prevailing ‘manor culture’ in the company are:

• Lack of mutual trust
• Centralized decision-making center
• Focus on achieving only individual goals

Five dysfunctions of teamwork – how to recognize them?

Although it is not so easy to build a high-performing team, the guidelines for creating one often seem intuitive to us and may even sound familiar. Lencioni’s model shows these key elements arranged in the proper hierarchy – starting with the one that is the foundation of the whole. Once an appropriate foundation is established, other aspects – group roles, hierarchy, communication, personal likes and dislikes, etc. – tend to ‘fall into place’ naturally during the team formation process. So, what dysfunctions appear in teams and what can replace them?

1. Lack of trust...

…which means hiding failures, not admitting mistakes, and ‘sweeping issues under the rug’ until something ‘explodes.’ Then comes the time to find someone to blame… The opposite of this situation is the feeling that within the team, we are not afraid to admit mistakes or lack of knowledge, and in case of problems, we can receive not criticism, but help/information/support from colleagues to deal with the consequences.

Contrary to appearances, it is not about trust resulting from long-term acquaintance and the ability to predict what a colleague from the team will do in a given situation (predicability trust) but about an atmosphere of safety and support, where we can take risks and allow ourselves to be honest (vulnerability trust). The good news for managers is that long-term cooperation is not necessary for this, but good management is.

How can this dysfunction manifest in your team?

• • Team members hide their weaknesses from each other, do not disclose their mistakes
  • They are reluctant to provide feedback – especially when it concerns ineffective activities
  • They are reluctant to offer help/support to colleagues
  • They focus on their own knowledge, competencies, skills, and do not seek support/ideas from the team
  • They avoid conversations on non-work-related topics

They attribute bad intentions or incompetence to others (especially in difficult situations)

2. Fear of conflict

We often feel discomfort at the thought of expressing controversial opinions in a professional environment. This involves risk. Therefore, in teams with low levels of trust, disagreements are not openly expressed, and the prevailing standard is widespread politeness. Important matters are discussed by the coffee machine, but not in the forum…

Members of teams who trust each other do not hesitate to engage in heated discussions about key issues crucial for the success of the team or organization. They do not hesitate to disagree with others, question different viewpoints, all in the spirit of finding the best solutions, discovering the truth, and making sound decisions.

How can this dysfunction manifest in your team?

• • Teams that fear conflict have dull, ineffective meetings
  • They feel that team meetings are a waste of time (usually caused by the awareness that during meetings, people say the ‘right’ things, not necessarily the true things)
  • They avoid discussing difficult, controversial matters that are important for the team’s work. They try to postpone such discussions, pushing them to the ‘right moment,’ which usually never comes.
  • They downplay or diminish opinions that are in the minority. They readily use the ‘dictatorship’ of democracy (to avoid listening to the arguments of opponents of the chosen solution)
  • They discuss problems and difficulties in ‘trust circles’, in small groups, reluctantly addressing such issues during team meetings or in conversations with the manager.
  • They fear disagreement, arguing that they do not want to hurt someone or expose them to negative emotions.
  • They remain silent during discussions when the team makes a decision they believe is wrong.

3. Lack of engagement

Lack of engagement is a direct result of the unwillingness to engage in conflict. If team members feel that they did not have the space to express their opinions during the planning stage, they will not have a high level of motivation to act. Teams that exhibit this dysfunction tend to adopt a cautious attitude and aim to delay decisions until full data is gathered, causing paralysis. They also limit discussions about different ideas or methods of solving a problem and are willing to stick to routines/standards of operation even if they have specific information indicating the inefficiency of such an approach.

We want to foster a belief within the team that in any situation, we can freely share a proposed solution to a given problem, which will be heard and considered. The belief that decisions are made taking into account the viewpoints of different individuals. This does not mean that we have to agree with everyone – simply put, it is enough that team members feel heard and the manager explains why they decided to (not) implement their idea(s).

How can this dysfunction manifest in your team?

• • They do not buy into the team’s decision – if the team’s decision is contrary to their point of view, they do not support its implementation.
  • They do not sabotage the team’s decision – they engage passively. They nod during the meeting, but then go back to the office and tell others: ‘this won’t work…’
  • In a difficult situation, they say: ‘I said from the beginning that this was not a good decision.’
  • They express (more or less directly) the opinion that their point of view will not be taken into account anyway.

4. Avoiding responsibility

Team members who do not feel responsible for the overall task focus only on their area of activity. If they notice a mistake made by a colleague, they often keep it to themselves, and as a result, no one corrects the process (until the leader notices the irregularity – the question is, when will that happen?).

Teams that engage in the decision-making process (sometimes turning into conflict) are not afraid to later demand high standards of efficiency from themselves and others. Moreover, such team members believe that responsibility for results lies not only with the leader but with everyone, so they feel it is appropriate to give feedback not only along the manager-subordinate line but also among peers of equal rank.

How can this dysfunction manifest in your team?

• They do not give each other feedback – positive or negative.
• They do not ask questions or engage in discussions with a colleague when something is not working. They are more likely to turn to a supervisor to ‘do something about it.’
• They avoid discussing team rules that involve responsibility and/or co-responsibility.
• They ignore mistakes that do not fall within their area of responsibility. Even if they realize that something is going in the wrong direction, they do not convey such information or doubts to others.
• They say: ‘I don’t have the time and energy for such discussions…’ – e.g., in the context of giving feedback.

5. Lack of attention to results

It is much more likely that team members who trust each other engage in conflict, do not avoid responsibility for jointly made decisions, set aside individual priorities, and focus on what is best for the team. Such people do not succumb to the temptation to prioritize the interests of their own departments, individual career development, or their own ego. They focus primarily on what is essential for the team’s success. Instead of their personal budget, their career, their status.

How can this dysfunction manifest in your team?

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• Due to the lack of flow of important information (caused by not thinking about who should be given important information related to the client, product, or key processes)
• By people who care about their own efficiency, actions, and image at the expense of other team members (e.g., not considering the costs that others bear in relation to their actions/success)
• They strive to implement their own ideas without listening to other proposals, possibilities, and solutions.