…a right pain. And that’s why Amazon.com carries 30,562 books describing how to do it (and seven more had been added by the time this blog was completed). But the fundamental building blocks are, in truth, pretty well established.
An effective team is likely to be a cohesive group that works together to solve problems, and makes sensible and well thought-out decisions on how to proceed, reaching consensus after a fair and full discussion that involves all relevant members of the team and looks at all the angles.
So, what are the building blocks needed to achieve this?
First fundamental: balance
Effective teams tend to have a good balance of different types of people ¬- in terms not only of job types or functional skillsets, but of behavioural preferences. Just as diversity in outlook and background is critical to effective management, so diversity of people types helps create a team able to tackle a wide range of issues effectively.
Hogan and many others have identified the relationship between positive individual traits, such as openness, and team cohesion. Acknowledgement and acceptance of the beneficial diversity of these behavioural preferences (not necessarily values) plays a part in the wider organisational mind-set, adding variety and depth to team dynamics. And, in my view, at least one team member should be a behavioural pragmatist with the ability to robustly call out bullshit.
At the other end of the spectrum, teams that are unbalanced tend not to be effective.
If teams are built around an ‘archetype’ of the ideal team player, you’ll likely end up with a bunch of carbon copies, who think alike and don’t bring any fresh perspectives to the table.
And if you put together a team dominated by ‘superstars’ with overlapping qualities, the chances are that you’ll end up with decision paralysis as the superstars battle to ‘win’ the discussion. As Lencioni writes in Five Dysfunctions of a Team, “the pursuit of individual goals and personal status erodes the focus on collective success.”
In general, any team which has an overpopulation of any one type is likely to struggle to be effective.
Second fundamental: trust
For Lencioni, “teamwork begins by building trust”. Do the members of your team trust each other? There’s a simple test.
Thinking about teams that you belong to but do not lead, would you feel able to say to your team “I need help” or “I don’t understand this” without fear of being marked down, criticised, or otherwise penalised? Are you confident that you could openly disagree with your team leader without risking any retribution or disfavour?
Lencioni’s model centres on dismantling the fear of vulnerability – the idea that open and honest trust should exist between team members. Think about it; how many times in the last month have you known that someone in your team hasn’t said what they truly think, or has held back for fear of ‘getting it wrong’? It’s this fear of vulnerability among colleagues that dissuades team members from speaking out, and is a clear sign that there is a trust deficit within the team.
The third fundamental: good leadership
To be clear, ‘good leadership’ doesn’t mean that the leader always wins the argument. Good leadership means enabling the team to deliver the optimal decision for the issue at hand, regardless of who is championing that solution.
The good leader ensures that trust is not undermined by lapses in behaviour, by office politics being allowed to drag down team discussions, or by team members’ personal agendas. The good leader protects and encourages meek or junior team members whose inputs might otherwise be bulldozed by more ebullient, over-confident or senior team members. Without such support from the top, new team members may feel abashed at challenging long-standing assumptions or approaches – even though that kind of thinking is incredibly valuable for effective teams.
Building an effective team is one thing – but the good leader works hard thereafter to maintain that efficacy. This means working to ensure that the balance of the team is maintained as people leave or as the team expands. It also means working to keep trust levels high, and trust cascades down from the leader to the rest of the team. Team leaders need to avoid trying to save face or maintaining a reputation – they have to admit errors, be honest, and be ready to ask their team for help.
On top of all this, the good leader needs to ensure that the team is being pointed at the right targets, and is looking at the right issues in the right way. All in all, leading an effective team is a pretty tough job – but one that is worth the effort.