How dysfunctional is your team?

My researchED Warrington talk, 2024

When we think of a dysfunctional team, it’s tempting to conjure an image of a group of people arguing, scowling, raising their voices or storming out of rooms. Overt dislike, perhaps. Toxic leadership with malignant approaches to accountability, maybe. And yes, those things are bad. But the truth is, most dysfunctional teams don’t look anything like that. It would be much more straightforward if they did!

One of the most common forms of team dysfunction lies beneath the surface of warm, friendly, affable teams. There might be mid-meeting smiles. Sharing of cake. Discussions about family, hobbies, etc. And, of course, those things are important. But the aim of a team should be to utilise the combined brain power in the room to create ideas, processes, products, that an individual alone wouldn’t be capable of. They should share lively discussion, debate, and will inevitably disagree at times on the path to finding the best solution for that piece of work. If a team places comfort over ambition and challenge, then it won’t get much done. And, in my experience, a friendly meeting atmosphere often (not always) projects good vibes superficially, but in fact belies dysfunction that lurks beneath.

But, nothing about teamwork is simple, and I don’t wish to oversimplify. There are many features of dysfunctional teams, so let’s unpick that further.

On the 2^nd March I delivered a talk at researched Warrington and decided to pick four areas of team dysfunction that one could identity and overcome.

To begin with, I discussed the Lego Movie (no apologies!), in which the poor Lego people are ignorantly going about their lives singing that ‘everything is awesome when you’re part of a team’. To be fair, it looks great. Everyone follows the systems in total harmony, all day every day. The height of efficiency. But eventually the protagonist realises that he has no purpose, no why, no individuality – no one has explained what’s going on or why they work the way they do – they are just expected to follow blindly. What appeared to be systematic and efficient, actually turns out to be oppressive and lacking any real teamwork.

1. Lack of clarity: teams need to know exactly where they stand and what they are working for and towards. There should be crystal-clear clarity for the team’s values, goals, processes, vision, and many other things. Lack of clarity leads to uncertainty, inconsistency, and potentially lack of commitment. Therefore, we have to regularly articulate and review all aspects of the team’s ethos and work so that everyone understands and is still aligned with it all.
2. Lack of trust: according to Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team, this is where it all starts to go wrong! If we don’t trust those around us, we are less likely to involve ourselves in team discussion and debate. We won’t contribute our true views or experience. That’s the kryptonite in teamwork – if team members aren’t openly sharing, we have squandered the reason and potential for even meeting as a team to begin with. Teams must build belonging, psychological safety, and create actual mechanisms within and between meetings for staff to contribute in a safe setting. It takes time!
3. Lack of evaluation and voice: some teams launch things in September and then review how it’s going in June. Clearly, this is a flawed approach. Teams should build in regular debriefing opportunities that explore processes and that aren’t linked to (emotive) outcomes or data. Try surveys or in-meeting feedback so that things don’t fester – we need to ask big questions to 1) understand how the team feel and 2) to tweak things as we go along.
4. Lack of accountability: in Intelligent Accountability, David Didau talks about how the school system in the UK, with its various accountability measures, encourages people to blame, hide mistakes, and be put under pressure. Indeed, some schools and workplaces use accountability as a stick. But many other teams have no accountability at all. We need to create purposeful accountability so that everyone is motivated around a common cause, without being pressured or mistreated when things go awry.

Of course, these are just four element of team dysfunction, discussed briefly. If I was going to ask a team about its work, I’d begin by asking about what members think of the team’s vision, purpose, and values, and then ask them how that permeates their actual work. I’d ask how they decide and create things, and what sorts of things get done in meetings. I’d ask what and how they learn and grow as a group, and again how that feeds back into their work.

Please find a PDF version of my presentation here:

If you’d like to learn more about what I think of teams, and a whole load of research about how to improve them, check out my book: The Power of Teams

A huge thank you to everyone who organised, and attended, researchED Warrington 2024!

Sam