From Dysfunction to Cohesiveness

If you want to cultivate team excellence, where do you start?

Patrick Lencioni has recently renamed the 5 Dysfunctions of a Team to the 5 Behaviors of a Cohesive Team. It is more than semantics because teams that operate as a unified, synergistic whole do outperform those that don't. And what we put our attention on grows!

Begin by considering 5 fundamental areas of influence. Does your team:

• Trust in a transparent, honest and vulnerable manner?
• Engage in unfiltered dialogue around ideas and different perspectives? 
• Commit to and align fully with decisions (even when they disagree)?
• Hold each other accountable to team agreements?
• Deliver quality results on time and in budget with enthusiasm?

We've found that high levels of trust, conflict competence, commitment, accountability and results-orientation do in fact contribute to team excellence if we focus on what we do want (cohesion) instead of what we don't (dysfunction).

Valuing Introversion on Teams

If a third to half of the US population is introverted and we need to come together to innovate and solve problems, it behooves us to better understand the value of introversion.

In Susan Cain’s Ted Talk http://www.thepowerofintroverts.com/about-the-book/ she states that the US culture tends to value “action over contemplation.” She also distinguishes between shyness and introversion.

“Shyness is fear of social judgment. Introversion is more about how we respond to stimulation. Introverts tend to feel the most alive when they are in quieter, solitude environments.”

A colleague of mine described it like this, “When someone asks you a question, the whiteboard of your mind starts filling in the blanks. You become energized. When someone asks me a question, my whiteboard is blank. So I panic if there is pressure to answer immediately. It takes me a while to collect my thoughts.”

If you want to maximize the talent on your team, find the right “zone of stimulation” that is right for each team member. Ms. Cain’s suggests the following ways to honor the value of introversion:

• Stop the madness for constant group work. Provide time, space, privacy and autonomy for people to work alone.
• Go to the wilderness. Unplug and get inside your own head and heart and reconnect to natural rhythms.
• Stop faking it. Acknowledge and claim the strengths of introversion in yourself and others.

All Voices Heard?

In Team System work we invite teams to be sure "all voices are heard" to illuminate insights, challenges, needs, barriers and solutions. If team members believe that this means "my idea will be used" or "I will get what I want" they are sure to be disappointed and engagement will actually drop. So, what is this team intelligence skill getting at?

• Reality Check- How do you encourage and honor the good, the bad and the ugly?
• Transparency- How can you make your thinking behind an idea visible and invite others to do the same?
• Redundancy- What issues keep coming up and where do voices get louder?
• Unpopular or Marginalized Perspectives- What is not being said?
• Listening Beyond Right or Wrong - If 2% of what is said is true, what would it be? 
• Communication Styles- How can you create space for introverted thinkers to contribute and extroverts to pause?
• Choice- What do you need to accept, change or let go of? 

As you work with this practice, be sure team members understand what "all voices heard" really means. When in doubt, ask them!