HIGH PERFORMING OR
DYSFUNCTIONAL: HOW HEALTHY IS
YOUR TEAM?
Tammy Reynolds, MBA
October 2013
Leading Change in Turbulent Times
Executive Education Seminar
A little about me…
• Grew up in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania
• Have two awesome sons
and a husband Tim (who
you met earlier)
• Have a big lovable dog
• Worked in industry for 20+
years, most recently with
Whirlpool Corporation
• Joined Ohio University
August 2012
• Love the outdoors – skiing,
biking, hiking, kayaking
Sources used for this presentation
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Discuss at your table:
•Think about your best team
experience – sports, school, social
organization, work place?
•What made it great?
•Now think of the worst team
•Why was it so bad?
Groups
 Two or more interacting and
interdependent individuals
who come together to
achieve specific goals.
 Formal groups
 Informal groups
What Is a Team?
• Groups whose
members work
intensely on a specific,
common goal using
their positive synergy,
individual and mutual
accountability, and
complementary skills.
Tuckman’s Stages of Team
Development
Team Dynamics
 Groupthink - when a group exerts extensive
pressure on an individual to align his or her
opinion with that of others.
 Social loafing - the tendency for individuals to
expend less effort when working collectively
than when working individually.
Groupthink
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWoFQAqeZnQ
Mini Case
Instructions:
1. Take a few minutes to read the case individually and
answer the 3 questions
2. Discuss at your table 10 minutes and try to reach
agreement on the 3 questions
3. Prepare your response and elect a spokesperson for
the group
4. Review as a large group
Inattention
to Results
Avoidance of
Accountability
Lack of Commitment
Fear of Conflict
Absence of Trust
Invulnerability
Lack of Trust
• What are some examples of lack of trust on
teams that you have experienced?
Building Teams that Trust
Steven Covey - Trust
Emotional Bank Account
Steven Covey
Group Exercise
 At your tables, discuss deposits and
withdrawals that you might make into the
emotional bank account of someone you love
 Next, discuss deposits and withdrawals that
you might make with fellow teammates at
work
Emotional Bank Account
Steven Covey
Other ways to build trust on teams
• Share styles, strengths and
personality differences
• Get to know each other
outside of work
Teams that trust…
• Admit weaknesses
• Ask for help
• Accept questions and input regarding their
areas of responsibility
• Appreciate and tap into one another’s skills
and experiences
• Offer and accept apologies
Lost at Sea
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
by Patrick Lencioni
Inattention
to Results
Avoidance of
Accountability
Lack of Commitment
Fear of Conflict
Absence of Trust
Artificial Harmony
Fear of Conflict
Conflict - perceived incompatible differences that result opposition.
 Traditional view of conflict the view that all conflict is
bad and must be avoided.
Functional Conflict
• Conflicts that support a
group’s goals and
improve its
performance.
– Task conflict - conflicts over
content and goals of the
work.
– Process conflict - conflict over
how work gets done.
Dysfunctional Conflict
 Dysfunctional conflicts conflicts that prevent a
group from achieving its
goals(typically
interpersonal)
SO, IS CONFLICT ALWAYS A BAD
THING?
Clearly Not
Relationship Between Level of Conflict
and Level of Performance
Five Conflict-Handling Styles
Avoiding - “Maybe the problem will go away”
Accommodating – “Let’s do it your way”
Forcing – “You have to do it my way”
Compromising – “Let’s split the difference”
Collaborating – “Let’s cooperate to reach a win-win
solution that benefits both of us”
Programmed Conflict
Devil’s advocacy
 process of assigning
someone to play the role
of critic to voice possible
objections to a proposal
and thereby generate
critical thinking and
reality testing
 Dialectic method
 process of having two
people or groups play
opposing roles in a
debate in order to better
understand a proposal
Teams that engage in healthy conflict…
•
•
•
•
•
Have lively interesting meetings
Put critical topics on the table for discussion
Tackle issues “head on”
Solve real problems quickly
Minimize politics
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
by Patrick Lencioni
Inattention
to Results
Avoidance of
Accountability
Lack of
Commitment
Fear of Conflict
Absence of Trust
Ambiguity
Lack of Team Commitment
What does lack of commitment
look like:
•“Fuzzy” goals, no clear direction
•Revisit discussions and decisions
over and over again
•Encourages second guessing
A team that commits…
 Creates clarity around priorities
 Moves forward without hesitation
 Aligns the team members around common
objectives
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
by Patrick Lencioni
Inattention
to Results
Avoidance of
Accountability
Lack of Commitment
Fear of Conflict
Absence of Trust
Low Standards
Avoidance of Accountability
• Encourages mediocrity
• Misses deadlines and key
deliverables
Teams that hold each other accountable
• Ensure poor performers feel pressure to
improve
• Identify potential problems quickly by
questioning one another’s approaches
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
by Patrick Lencioni
Inattention to
Results
Status & Ego
Avoidance of
Accountability
Lack of Commitment
Fear of Conflict
Absence of Trust
Inattention to Results
“The ultimate dysfunction of a team is the
tendency of member to care about something
other than the collective goals of the group.”
(Lencioni, 2002)
•Rarely defeats competitors
•Encourages team members to focus on their
own careers and individual goals
Teams that focus on results…
•
•
•
•
Win!
Retain achievement oriented employees
Minimizes individualistic behavior
Learn to subjugate individual egos and agenda
for the good of the team
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
by Patrick Lencioni
Inattention
to Results
Status & Ego
Avoidance of
Accountability
Lack of Commitment
Fear of Conflict
Absence of Trust
Low Standards
Ambiguity
Artificial Harmony
Invulnerability
How healthy is your team?
• Referring to Lencioni’s model, determine how
healthy your team is
• What does your team do well?
• What can it improve upon?
• What one thing will you commit to changing
on your team?