The five dysfunctions of a team: theory and selfassessment

1. P. Lencioni
The five dysfunctions of a team: theory and self-
assessment

2. Introduction
• how to go from from group —-> team
• focus on human side vs result driven
• recognize and acknowledge dysfunctions common in teams
that fail
• pyramid: step by step; grow in levels. The higher up, the
easier it gets.
• takes time and effort!

3. Cohesive vs Dysfunctional
teams

4. 1. Trust
Members of teams with an absence
of trust:
• conceal their weaknesses and
mistakes
• hesitate to ask for help and feedback
• hesitate to offer help
• Jump to conclusions about others
• Fail to tap into each others’ strengths
• Avoid spending time with the team
(meetings!)
Members of trusting teams:
• admit weaknesses and
mistakes
• ask for help
• offer feedback and assistance
• accept input from others
• focus on important issues, not
politics
• look forward to meeting and
working together

5. Building trust
• starts with a vulnerable leader
• get to know each other on a personal level
• profiling
• trust must be established before team can
move forward

6. Lack of
COMMITMENT
Fear of
CONFLICT
Absence of
TRUST
Avoidance of
ACCOUNTABILITY
Inattention to
RESULTS
Making ourselves
Invulnerable
Hiding behind
Artificial Harmony
Lots of misunderstanding due to
Ambiquity
Acceptance of
Low Standards
No shared goals but individual
Status and Ego
Focus on achievement of collective
Results
We hold one another
Accountable
We commit to decisions and
Plans of Action
If we disagree around ideas
We demand debate
Being humans we make mistakes
We trust one another
Self assessment: trust

7. 2. Healthy Conflict
Teams that fear conflict:
• have boring meetings
• create environments for
personal attacks and passive
aggression
• ignore uncomportable topics
that are critical to success
• fail to get different opinions and
perspectives
• waste time and energy
Teams that engage in conflict:
• have interesting meetings
• use ideas from al team
members
• solve problems
• save time; issues get resolved
• minimize politics
• discuss critical issues

8. Mastering conflict
• a team must have established trust before they can
handle conflict
• Conflict - trust= argument (win/lose)
• Conflict +trust= Debate (truth)
• even on the best teams, conflict may be uncomfortable
• facilitator

9. Lack of
COMMITMENT
Fear of
CONFLICT
Absence of
TRUST
Avoidance of
ACCOUNTABILITY
Inattention to
RESULTS
Making ourselves
Invulnerable
Hiding behind
Artificial Harmony
Lots of misunderstanding due to
Ambiquity
Acceptance of
Low Standards
No shared goals but individual
Status and Ego
Focus on achievement of collective
Results
We hold one another
Accountable
We commit to decisions and
Plans of Action
If we disagree around ideas
We demand debate
Being humans we make mistakes
We trust one another
Self assessment: conflict

10. 3. Commitment
Teams that fail to commit:
• create ambiguity about
diction and priorities
• loses opportunities because
of failure to act
• breeds lack of confidence
and fear of failure
• wastes time revisiting same
topics
Teams that commit:
• have clarity on
direction and priorities
• is aligned around a common
objective
• learns from mistakes
• takes advantage of
opportunities
• changes direction when
needed without guilt

11. Achieving commitment
• “commitment is…a group of individuals buying-in to a
decision precisely when they don’t naturally agree”
• ability to defy a lack of consensus
• honest (emotional) support
• clarity: removal of assumptions and ambiguity
• summarize the agreement of the team
• rate buy-in

12. Lack of
COMMITMENT
Fear of
CONFLICT
Absence of
TRUST
Avoidance of
ACCOUNTABILITY
Inattention to
RESULTS
Making ourselves
Invulnerable
Hiding behind
Artificial Harmony
Lots of misunderstanding due to
Ambiquity
Acceptance of
Low Standards
No shared goals but individual
Status and Ego
Focus on achievement of collective
Results
We hold one another
Accountable
We commit to decisions and
Plans of Action
If we disagree around ideas
We demand debate
Being humans we make mistakes
We trust one another
Self assessment:
commitment

13. 4. Accountability
A team that avoids
accountability:
• creates resentment
• encourages mediocrity
• misses deadlines
• places burden on the team
leader as the sole source of
discipline
A team that holds one
another accountable:
• pressures poor performers
to improve
• identifies problems quickly
• establishes respect
• avoids bureaucracy
• saves time

14. Embrace accountability
• = willingness of team members to remind each other when
they are not living up to the performance standards of the
group
• leadership modeling: hold others accountable
• behavior issues and not results
• natural to be hesitant to give critical feedback
• meetings are the best place to practice accountability
• clarity on roles and responsibilities

15. Lack of
COMMITMENT
Fear of
CONFLICT
Absence of
TRUST
Avoidance of
ACCOUNTABILITY
Inattention to
RESULTS
Making ourselves
Invulnerable
Hiding behind
Artificial Harmony
Lots of misunderstanding due to
Ambiquity
Acceptance of
Low Standards
No shared goals but individual
Status and Ego
Focus on achievement of collective
Results
We hold one another
Accountable
We commit to decisions and
Plans of Action
If we disagree around ideas
We demand debate
Being humans we make mistakes
We trust one another
Self assessment:
accountability

16. 5. Results
A team that is not focussed
on results:
• stagnates
• does not grow
• loses good employees
• encourages members to
focus individually
• is easily distracted
A team that focusses on
collective results:
• retains good employees
• minimizes individual
behavior
• enjoys successes
• doesn’t suffer failure for long
• avoids distractions

17. Focus on results
• define success
• focus on collective outcome
• teams define their own measurement of success
• go public with the expected results
• set up a scoreboard (visualize!)
• celebrate

18. Lack of
COMMITMENT
Fear of
CONFLICT
Absence of
TRUST
Avoidance of
ACCOUNTABILITY
Inattention to
RESULTS
Making ourselves
Invulnerable
Hiding behind
Artificial Harmony
Lots of misunderstanding due to
Ambiquity
Acceptance of
Low Standards
No shared goals but individual
Status and Ego
Focus on achievement of collective
Results
We hold one another
Accountable
We commit to decisions and
Plans of Action
If we disagree around ideas
We demand debate
Being humans we make mistakes
We trust one another
Self assessment: results

19. Role of the leader?
• Discuss in groups what you think the the role of the
leader should be:
• 10 minutes
• focus on the 5 dysfunctions
• present your findings on a flip chart 5 min/team

20. Thank you!