The Five Dysfunctions Of A Team

Miller, Riley and Davis (2009) question whether there are behaviors that affect the ability of a team to achieve high

Throughout the beginning of the book ‘The Five Dysfunction of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni it was apparent that the DecisionTech, Inc. executive team was not a team at all. This group of individuals lacked some of the key attributes that make great teams. One of the most important attributes that was being neglected was that the executive group did not have interdependent members. This attribute was highlighted in the beginning of the book when the author said “Backstabbing among the executives had become an art. There was no sense of unity or camaraderie on the team, which translated into a muted level of commitment” (7). Due to the executive teams lack of interdependence, critical deadlines began to slip and morale deteriorated.

The biggest dysfunction I have had with a team was during a research project for my SRA 211 class. The group consisted of four members. We managed to complete our project proposal without incident, but afterwards problems began to appear.

running one group for six months or longer seems quite exorbitant! The theme of this book was based on an organizational approach to effective team building skills. The fable began by giving a brief background of the cooperation, DecisionTech, Inc. which was what this story was centered around. There was a new CEO, of the corporation, Kathryn, and her main task was to create effective teamwork among her staff who were the key leaders of this company. After observing the interaction and dialogue of all team members for several weeks, she finally decided to call an off-site meeting and invited her staff members to attend. The meeting was to take place just far enough to where

Unhealthy agreement occurs when everyone adopts the same point of view and follow blindly, as opposed to introducing and considering other options and perspectives (Sims, 1992). According to Sims (1992), Beech-Nut displayed a huge case of unhealthy agreement when they changed their ingredients and lied about what they were selling to consumers. Employees displayed unhealthy agreement by not countering the actions of the company, the unethical behavior of the company was not questioned. Employees justified their behavior by convincing themselves of misgivings of other organizations, the thought that they weren't hurting anyone, and by taking comfort in ignorance (Sims, 1992). The organization may have had better success by properly communicating the issues they were having and welcoming suggestions or alternatives that allowed them to continue to be truthful and sell a healthy product.

Now, when I reflect on and relate it to the course learning, I can understand why my third project team underperformed the way it did. In the first two teams, we knew each other personally. That was the foundation for the trust that existed between team members. This gave huge opportunities for healthy discussions concerning the issues faced by the team. But, that wasn’t the case with my third project team. We hardly knew each other and the group seldom spoke of anything other than work. Everyone in the team operated within their own personal boundaries and were highly concerned about finishing their individual work rather than achieving the team goal. This gave rise to a lack of trust. We never had any healthy discussions, and

The fourth aspect of a dysfunctional group is lack of communication. I believe that this is by far the most important aspect of a good team. Without good communication it is hard to maintain accountability, trust, and to express opinions. The key to success in all the ice breaker games was being able to communicate with your team effectively in a manner that everybody you were working with understood the point you were trying to make. We have learned that communication is more than just verbal it is also nonverbal, such as the body language and hand gestures that you use. In my group’s ice breaker game and presentation we tried to demonstrate that non verbal communication was important through the use of video as well as when we required our groups of to use charades type gestures to explain to the person assigned to draw what they were supposed to be drawing.

The paradox is that the Varsity team is comprised of athletes with the best technical and conditioning skills. Team members should have both strong technical and interpersonal skills. However, reality does not always match to theory as in the case of the Varsity Crew, which lacked the interpersonal skills to mesh well as a team. This aforementioned concept is a component of the Characteristics of Team Excellence, created by Larson and LaFasto, and we will discuss more components from this model during our presentation. Further, The Hill Model for team leadership states that effective team performance is dependent on the leader, which suggests that it was Coach P’s responsibility to ensure that the interpersonal relationships between team members were healthy and that any conflict was managed

Henry Ford once said, “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” This quote meant nothing to me until my freshman volleyball season. Our school has always been successful in volleyball, and, until then, I rationalized that it was solely from a great deal of talent, but it turns out I understood wrong. There is one aspect of sports that our coaches at West Delaware know how to teach better than almost any other coaches, and that is teamwork. I learned that after one particular game last year.

I enjoyed reading your post. It sounds like you’ve been reading The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. I find myself relating characters and situations in the book to staff members and circumstances at my school. You mentioned that during staff meetings, teachers “do not engage in heated debates to really figure things out”, that’s the case in my school as well. During staff meetings, our principal encourages the staff to speak freely and offer opinions regarding certain decisions, but normally everyone just agrees with whatever the speaker says. The textbook offers suggestions for developing trust that I found useful, “To provide leadership needed for a school to become a learning community, they must be open to engaging in dialogue with

If we were randomly asked to define the word “team” many of us would have numerous variations of this multifaceted word; some would proclaim it means helping others, backing one another while others might define it as unanimity or culpability. The French associate the word team, with the slogan “Esprit de corps” a majestic word that was adopted by the United States Marine Corps. This matchless catchphrase means: “a sense of unity, of enthusiasm for common interests and responsibilities.” As early as childhood it has been ingrained into us that teamwork is congenial and effortlessly achieved. When in fact it wasn’t until society was introduced to Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team, written by Patrick Lencioni, did civilization start to realize that teamwork is hard to measure and even harder to achieve because the has been loosely used as well as misinterpret. Lencioni understands that teamwork is a difficult thing to measure and achieve, his book reminds us that the power that comes from teamwork cannot be denied. It would be hypothesized that through the authors’ comprehensive exploration and methodical examination, he reveals ways for civilization to comprehend the term as well as employ each other successful; conversely this can’t be done until the dysfunctional factor is properly identified and controlled. Hence the reason for his in-depth plunge in explaining the five dysfunctions and method that can be utilized by teams to overcome the dysfunctionalities.

I gathered that being stern and showing authority is one of the strongest traits to obtain. This keeps the structure and matters under control. Due to my team acting foolish, I did this. I displayed tough love and reestablished the rules and boundaries. I am confident that because I was assertive, our structure returned. I am also confident that leading strong-mindedly helped motivate them. I pushed my team to their limits. I was always a step ahead because I was confident they were capable of anything they set their mind to. By the end of the year, my team was as dedicated as

1. There were many factors led to the eventual disintegration of Learning team #28. It was apparent that there was a growing dissatisfaction amongst members stemming from poor communication, disproportionate involvement in team tasks, and an evident lack of supportive leadership. Three major factors have been identified for discussion: the absence of the team’s constitution or a charter that clearly defined the team’s goals and processes, inadequate knowledge and skills amongst team members to drive the team’s performance, and absence of positive team culture and values. We explore each of these factors below and analyze how they contributed to the issues in the case.

As a team we were able to work together very efficiently, as every team member has specific strengths. Good project documentation, good communication and confidence was a basis for achieving a final goal – working and documented application. I joined an already existing team but I was well welcomed. I had a chance to express my opinion and participate in all team decisions. Some decisions were collective and some were left to discretion of the person responsible for their part of the project. We agreed at the start, that changes with high risk level have to be made by the

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