Finished 26/11/2023
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Suggested by careercutler, everything you wish you could ask. Nothing that The Phoenix Project had not already said, a bit generic, but at least it was structured as a story (with rather bland characters), so I read it in less than a week. There is a good summary here: https://www.runn.io/blog/5-dysfunctions-of-a-team-summary
Notes
The takeaways are that there are 5 factors that undermine a team, even when the individual members are strong, and they are interconnected. Exploring them with focused sessions and clear communication is the leader’s job, in this example the CEO.
- ABSENCE OF TRUST Not trusting others to do their job, and lack of self-confidence, prevents cooperation and weakens the foundation. ✅ First step is to open up, talk about yourself and your personal challenges, starting with the boss. Create a sense of transparency
- FEAR OF CONFLICT Dull meetings where no one challenges others’ ideas, so no problems get solved in the name of keeping harmony ✅ Understand that conflict, and exchanging views, is productive. With respect for others, of course. The leader should keep it reasonable
- LACK OF COMMITMENT Clear goals, deadlines, and assessments are needed so that people do what they promise ✅ Cascading message, everyone should relay things to their teams right away, and deadlines in black and white. Be patient with mistakes
- AVOIDANCE OF ACCOUNTABILITY To avoid crises and discomfort, no one takes responsibility and everything gets pushed onto others. No one takes ownership ✅ Public goals with a clear, specific owner. Reward results
- INATTENTION TO RESULTS (EGO) A final consequence is that everyone pulls in their own direction and there are endless disputes that lead nowhere. The overall direction is falling apart ✅ hard to fix, it requires a cultural change, a shift. Rewarding collaboration and synergies could be an idea. In the book, an individualistic teammate is fired, unfortunately