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).
