Business Link

by Carey-Lyn Kurten

Give me a lever long enough and I shall move the world – Archimedes

What if I were to suggest that that lever might be teamwork?

Patrick Lencioni, author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is of the opinion that “Teamwork remains the one sustainable competitive advantage that has been largely untapped.”

Reality: How can this competitive advantage be untapped after so many books have been written and so many interventions designed to get people to work in teams? In my interaction with organisations, I have seldom come across a highly functioning team of people. Most individuals are frustrated and believe that when it comes time to pool ideas and make decisions, working with others slows the process down. People are messy. Many teams are plagued by internal politics, agendas, egos, lack of accountability and hours can be spent debating points. On the other extreme, some individuals fear conflict
and simply withdraw and follow the dominant idea exclaiming: “Oh, it wastes too much time and energy to argue, they won’t acknowledge other ideas anyhow”. The true measure of a team is that it accomplishes the results that it sets out to achieve.

Many teams have low expectations, and as long as the group is reaching bottom line targets, they are comfortable working as a group.

So what is the true purpose of forming teams of people and giving these teams titles?

Purpose of Teams: “Functional teams make higher-quality decisions and accomplish more in less time, with less distraction and frustration. They avoid wasting time talking about the wrong issues and revisiting the same topics over and over again because of lack of buy in.” – Patrick Lencioni

Building the Team:

Reflection – The team must use an assessment to identify their dysfunctions
Commitment – The team looks at how they can overcome the dysfunctions by following a guided set of proven activities giving the team the tools to build trust, engage in meaningful conflict, achieve buyin, hold one another accountable, and focus on the collective results that determine team success.
Results – Follow the ground rules established and hold one another accountable.

In a two day workshop last month, I worked with a management team of eight who had the courage to tackle their team dysfunctions and tap into their collective intelligence. The results will give them a lever long enough to move their world.

Carey-Lyn Kurten is a skilled and energized facilitator who will assist you with a simple tool to stamp out negativity and improve the quality of your organizations decision making and problem solving.