Navigating Team Dysfunction: A Guide to Lencioni's model

Imagine you're a newly appointed manager in a multinational company and are assigned a team to oversee a critical project. You anticipate a collective effort where everyone is aligned towards a single goal but instead, you've walked into a cacophony. Tensions are high, cooperation is low, and the project's success is at stake. In these rough waters, Lencioni's model of team dysfunction provides a compass to navigate and bring team performance back on track.

Understanding Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team

1. Absence of Trust: Team members are not comfortable with vulnerability;
2. Fear of Conflict: Due to the lack of trust, members avoid healthy debates, leading to unproductive harmony;
3. Lack of Commitment: Lack of discussion and input leads to ambiguous agreements and unmet deadlines;
4. Avoidance of Accountability: Little commitment results in accountability shirking;
5. Inattention to Results: When personal ambitions overshadow team goals.

Applying Lencioni's Model: A Step-by-Step Guide

Phase 1: Building Trust

• Initiate team-building exercises that foster connections.
• Encourage open dialogue and vulnerability.
• As a leader, set the precedent by sharing first.

Phase 2: Promoting Healthy Conflict

• Create an environment that welcomes constructive criticism.
• Facilitate discussions to ensure all voices are heard.
• Resolve conflict with the focus on ideas, not personalities.

Phase 3: Enhancing Commitment

• Encourage participation in decision-making processes.
• Make expectations clear and deadlines firm.

Phase 4: Encouraging Accountability

• Regularly review team benchmarks and progress openly.
• Allow accountability to be collective, nudging everyone to keep their commitments.

Phase 5: Prioritizing Team Results

• Celebrate team achievements to boost morale.
• Keep individual egos in check; value team success over individual glory.

Why Lencioni's Model Works

Lencioni's Model treats the symptoms and causes of team dysfunction. It emphasizes that the resolution of one dysfunction leads to the mitigation of the next, leading to a buildup of trust, productive conflict, active commitment, peer accountability, and focus on team results.

Implementing Lencioni's Model, despite initial resistance and time consumption, promises to evolve your team dynamics by making them more synergistic and efficient, enabling them to perform at their highest potential.