The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
When you are a member of a team, it is necessary to try and think all the problems that may occur and fix the dysfunctions that you may come across. This way you will be able to face them soon enough and deal with those problems before they threaten your team’s well-being and success.
Here are the 5 main dysfunctions that you may come across during your collaboration with your teammates.
1. Lack of Trust
When you are trying hard to preserve your attitude and don’t want to appear uncertain or vulnerable can be a huge problem for your agile teams. If everyone sees you flawless then they will have a very difficult time actually trusting you. If there is no trust in your collaboration, then your team will suffer a great deal. Make sure you give trust some time to be built.
2. Avoiding Conflict
Of course, you want your team to be harmonic and avoid conflicts at all cost. This will lead to an artificial environment that can be toxic for your team and the success of your collaboration. Make sure everyone respects the others, but allow them to get into a conflict if you believe this will lead in a productive result. These conflicts will get you closer to the truth that you are trying to find.
3. Absence of Commitment
If your goals are not clear then your team members will not commit to them. Make sure your goals and thoughts are clear and that everyone understands his role. Regular discussion of the matters will offer you the chance to commit to your work. Even the team members that disagree will commit eventually to the cause, if it is clear enough.
4. Accountability
When you avoid taking accountability for an action it sets the wrong example for all of your team. Do not be afraid to take the blame when you should or hold another person accountant when he has done something wrong. Remove the disastrous results of avoiding any type of accountability for your actions.
5. Avoiding Results
When you are only trying to reach your personal goals, you might neglect the main focus on your agile teams. Make sure you accomplish all the goals you create, no matter how small they are. Prioritize your results and place them over your individual ones. People will pick up on that and start doing the same thing. It is important to keep your results public, to anyone who wants to take a look at it. This will help you become more responsible and stay focused on your main goals.
If you manage to overcome these team traps, then there is no doubt that you and your team will do an amazing work. These are the most common mistakes agile teams make during their collaboration. So now that you know them, just make sure that they have no place in your creative team.
Even if you started off this way, there is always a way to change things and improve your collaboration status.
