5 Vices of a Team and How to Fight Them

[jisansorkar12]

We recently talked about Netflix's rules that helped the company become one of the leaders in the streaming industry. Their main advantage over competitors is their team, which remained loyal to the common cause even in difficult times. When you finish reading this article, be sure to read that one too - you'll find some practical advice on how to strengthen your team.

Netflix decided that a team is not a family. They consider a work collective to be a sports team, where everyone is focused on the common result. For example, in basketball, a well-coordinated team of average players is more likely to beat a team of strong but disunited players, where everyone wants to show that they are better than others. So, a great team is not just a group of good specialists.



There is a concept of five dysfunctions of a team. Its author Patrick Lencioni has a book of the same name. The concept is based on a list of problems that are most often encountered in teams. These problems prevent employees from becoming a team that works together.

The most interesting thing is that this concept is like a pyramid: one vice gives rise to the next. And like a snowball: first, subtle signs appear, which, if nothing is done, develop into open conflicts and lead to dismissals. Let's analyze each vice from the pyramid in order.

The first vice is mutual distrust
Employees keep silent about problems, are afraid to express their opinions, and do not offer to help others. At the root of this vice is a feeling of vulnerability and self-doubt: employees realize that they have no right to make mistakes, that they cannot stumble or admit that they cannot cope.

Most often, this happens because employees are afraid of punishment or other problems. For example, if responsibility for a problem is constantly shifted to an employee, he will draw beautiful figures in reports, even if they do not correspond to reality. Employees not only do not want to share their successes, but also do not criticize others, there is no diversity of opinions and proactive, motivated people in the team. People just create the appearance of work.

There are many memes on the Internet where employees sit in the office and tunisia whatsapp list instead of working, simply fidget with the computer mouse to create the impression of vigorous activity. In teams where this vice exists, this is exactly what happens.

There are many memes on the Internet where employees sit in the office and instead of working, just fidget with the computer mouse.

In essence, the appearance of vigorous activity is needed to hide real problems while it is possible. Because it is difficult to trust someone who is a threat, and in the employee's head, the negative reaction from colleagues to failures is something like: "Yeah, if there are mistakes and screw-ups, I will be scolded, and then fired altogether." And as a result, they choose to just sit back, create the appearance of success, instead of freely sharing problems and solving them together.

Mutual trust and respect are the key to normal relationships in a team. The team must be able to openly and calmly discuss complex and delicate issues, otherwise everyone will simply do their own thing, ignoring the forward movement of the common cause.

How to create an atmosphere of trust? Make yourself voluntarily vulnerable to each other - understand that there is no point in defending yourself from your own colleagues. If you can share failures and problems in a team, no one will feel different in the bad sense of the word.

If there is trust in the team, employees do not hide their mistakes and weaknesses, and are willing to ask for help. If they are given advice or their work is commented on, they do not withdraw into themselves or try to defend themselves, but understand that this is done with good intentions, and are willing to accept even criticism.

If you, as a leader, sense mutual distrust in your team, it’s worth reducing its degree. Start with yourself: allow yourself to be publicly vulnerable, share the mistakes and failures you’ve encountered.

The second vice is avoiding conflicts
This vice follows from the first one. If we don't trust someone, we are not inclined to enter into conflict. But it may seem that, on the contrary, everything is fine: there is harmony in the team, no one quarrels and everyone loves each other.

But here it is important to distinguish between a simple quarrel and a constructive conflict, in which everyone defends their opinion. Although some people believe that conflicts are bad and scary in principle, constructive conflicts are important for a team. But with mutual distrust, employees avoid these conflicts, trying to maintain pseudo-harmony in the team. If we do not trust a person, then we will not have the desire to openly express our position, and this is precisely what joint decision-making is based on.

It is important to distinguish between a simple quarrel and a constructive conflict in which everyone defends their opinion.



If people trust each other, they engage in constructive conflicts and make informed decisions.

As a manager, you need to give employees the opportunity to openly express opinions and help discuss them, without trying to protect everyone from stress. It is very important that the manager of these very conflicts does not fear that it is killing the team, but, on the contrary, encourages decent behavior during conflicts: a respectful tone, analysis of each other's opinions and constructive arguments.