Why do teams fail?
Ahhh, let me count the ways! Teams fail every day, despite all the team building programs they attend. They fail despite the increased emphasis on the concept. They fail even though they KNOW collaboration is the best way to increase effectiveness and achieve worthy goals.
And here’s The BIG Secret – why they fail has more to do with how they treat each other more than anything you will do or not do!
But regardless of whether you’re a supervisor, business owner, executive director or council chair, your commitment to create an environment of teamwork and collaboration is crucial. If they see it’s important to you, regardless of how unwilling or untrained they are at first, they will make the effort to make it work.
And if YOU know in advance why folks fail, you can “head ‘em off at the pass” and require norms of behavior that lead to success.
Teams fail because members fail to…
1. Thank each other. Some believe mistakenly that recognition is only the leader’s job and don’t realize that peer appreciation usually means more to folks. Why? Because people know that leaders go to leadership classes that teach they how to do and say the right things. Depending on the level of trust in the relationship, they may be very skeptical of appreciation they feel is insincere. Yet when it comes from someone with whom you work side by side, and there’s no inference of obligation, peer “thank you’s” mean a lot. Encourage them not to be stingy with their appreciation of one another.
2. See the value in one another’s roles. They fail to recognize that it’s important to have a creative “idea person” on the team, a reliable “executor” and a strong “promoter” to move ideas forward. Yet often, the idea person gets offended when someone questions the practicalities of their concepts, or the executor gets frustrated when plans have to go back to the drawing board. We need all roles to be as effective as possible. The teams I work with who have the most trouble are those that are significantly lopsided. They may get along, but they don’t get things done.
3. Identify one another’s strengths. At the beginning of each project, team members should take the time to discuss, “here’s what I’m good at” or “here’s where my strengths lie”. If you were a member of a sculling team (rowing) or any other sport, wouldn’t the coach want to know who was left-handed and who was right-handed? They’d adjust the way they placed people on the team according to that trait, right? It’s the same concept on any work team, board or council. Established teams know one another well enough that they choose tasks according to talent and strengths. But a newly formed team doesn’t have that knowledge or experience of one another just yet. That type of discussion will help them put the best “faces” in the most effective “places” so they can use their resources wisely.
4. Practice diversity vs cloning. Teams tend to want to clone themselves and invite participants in who are “just like me”. They often fail to appreciate that someone with a radically different approach may bring a perspective that makes the team smarter and stronger. Too often, we shut out those who rock the boat, ask too many questions and push back on the status quo. We perceive them as trouble-makers because they don’t always go along to get along. Perhaps their approach is not as smooth or sophisticated as we would like. Not everyone went to professional charm school and some people have physiological issues that make it difficult for them to interact socially like others do. That doesn’t mean their ideas aren’t worthwhile. As a team, we may benefit more from someone like that than someone who sits quietly in the corner and agrees with everything that’s said.
5. Recognize the power of the informal leader. There are those who command a great deal of respect and informal authority. It’s because of who they are vs what position, rank or office they hold. These are the folks who can influence others and get things done in ways that most cannot. They have what’s called “referent” power. People pay attention to what they say. It’s due to their character, reputation, they way they carry themselves and often, due to the relationships they’ve formed with folks along the way. These are the influencers and it’s best that teams know who they are and choose to work with them vs against them if the team really wants to get things done.
In Part Two on this topic, I’ll cover the five remaining reasons why teams fail.
In Part Three, I’ll share tips on what to do first if you’re forming a new team or want to take an existing team to a higher level of effectiveness.
