Effective Teams

Podcast Episode 41: Building Teams for Success: Avoid the 5 Dysfunctions

10th February 2020

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This Episode: Building Teams for Success: Avoid the 5 Dysfunctions

In this HR Uprising Episode, Lucinda talks about a topic that’s been requested by a member of our HR Uprising Community. Namely, how to build teams for success by avoiding the 5 dysfunctions of a team.

So, perhaps the team is entirely new, or one that you wish to enhance, either way, Lucinda is here to offer an invaluable guide to the structure she uses to set a team up for success.

Certainly, implementing the tools your team will need, and having a structure in place early on, is vital to success. However, there are 5 team dysfunctions that should always be avoided. Therefore, in this episode, Lucinda tells you how to successfully navigate your way around them, and the theory behind them.

Valuable Resources

Host of The HR Uprising Podcast, Lucinda Carney, is also the founder and CEO of Actus Software, where you can find additional free HR Resources: https://actus.co.uk/free-performance-management-resources/
- Actus Software resource particularly relevant to this podcast: Building an Effective Team
The Tuckman Model
Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Join the HR Uprising LinkedIn Group

Key Takeaways

The basic items that should always be covered in any team development situation would be:
- An introduction or ice-breaker
- A personality tool
- The Tuckman Model
- Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team
- Time for planning around ground-rules and purpose.
The Tuckman Model is otherwise known as the Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing model. Although originally devised in 1965 by Dr. Bruce Tuckman, it is still relevant today as a way of explaining team development and behaviour. Adjourning was added in the 1970s.
Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions were devised by Patrick Lencioni to outline the root causes of politics and dysfunction in the teams in which you work.
The Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions are:
- Results – Are you ensuring that you’re meeting your objectives? Is the team’s purpose being fulfilled?
- Accountability – Lack of accountability leads to excuses. Make sure you hold people accountable for their goals and actions.
- Commitment – Team members need to buy into the purpose of the team.
- Conflict – If a team is afraid of conflict, they will be dysfunctional. Conflict is natural and can be hugely positive.
- Trust – If there is an absence of trust, the team will never get off the ground. How can you help to build trust between them?
Realising that we are all different is the realisation that we are all strong in different ways. It’s rare for everyone to be an all-rounder. These strengths are also what sometimes cause tensions in a team.

Best Moments

‘Lots of it comes down to conflict or fear of conflict’
‘It’s all about self-awareness’
‘Conflict might happen but it’s natural, and it is positive’
‘It’s about understanding and appreciating differences’
‘Listen to each other. Say if you don’t agree with something’

About The Host

Lucinda Carney is a Business Psychologist with 15 years in Senior Corporate L&D roles and a further 10 as CEO of Actus Software where she worked closely with HR colleagues helping them to solve the same challenges across a huge range of industries. Certainly, it was this breadth of experience that inspired Lucinda to set up the HR Uprising community to facilitate greater collaboration across HR professionals in different sectors, helping them to ‘rise up’ together.

“When we look up we rise up”