World Cup soccer has reminded us that even elite teams have troubled players: Whether it's West Germany's keeper, Toni Schumacher, throwing his hip into the head of an opponent, concussing him and simultaneously relieving him of three teeth; France's Zinedine Zidane's head-butt; or this year's hat trick of biting by Uruguayan superstar, Luis Suárez.
How do you know if your team is in trouble? Three sure signs.
Sign #1: Factions are forming
People disagree and people grow annoyed with others. That leads them to vent about one another. So far, so normal. When venting turns into faction-forming, you've got a problem. What's the difference?
Venting is letting off steam, expressing emotions, explaining why you find someone else's behavior irritating. Faction-forming is when you recruit others to your cause and to your opposition to another team member.
Factions are deadly because a team becomes a collection of competing sub-teams who are no longer committed to one another's success or to communicating assertively (i.e., clearly and directly).
Sign #2: Team members cheer for the failure of those on the same team
People disagree and people grow annoyed with others. This leads them to oppose decisions associated with those they find annoying and encourages them to hope that the decisions fail and that the other is proven wrong. There is a fine line between hoping that a person's idea will fail and working to that end.
Once team members are actively engaged in sabotaging internal decisions, there's little hope of success. If your competitors most effective weapons are members of your team, you are in trouble - deep trouble.
In the words of Jesus: "A house divided against itself cannot stand."
Sign #3: There's an absence of conflict
Some signs of trouble are easily confused with signs of health. Weight loss, typically associated with healthy eating and regular exercise, can be a sign of cancer.
Teams without visible disagreement may look peaceful, but are suffering from team members insufficiently engaged to speak up, group-think that eliminates originality, apathy about making improvements, or some other growth-deadening disease. Put two people in a room and give them three topics to discuss. If they are being honest and seeking the best outcomes they will have different and even conflicting ideas. That's normal and healthy.
False harmony is appealing, but deadly. Healthy teams are made up of strong individuals who disagree, challenge one another's ideas, reach well-considered decisions, and then commit to those decisions even if they disagree. They may work to refine implementation and insist on rigorous evaluation, but they don't cheer for failure or slink away uncommitted.
Solution: The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team - Your Team Health Tool
Your favorable response to The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team shows your interest in combining an individual DiSC personality assessment with an evaluation of your team in five key areas: Trust, Conflict, Commitment, Accountability, and Results. (Click on the underlined report title to view a sample copy.)
I'm starting to use this tool with teams from a wide range of industries and the results are transformative.
Remember: You need individuals operating from a sense of self-awareness (DiSC) and coordinating their efforts together to achieve the five behaviors of a cohesive team - a team that avoids the three signs of trouble outlined above!
At Julian Consulting we help our clients assess health and strategize improvement so that they lead successful and cohesive teams. Call TODAY to determine how we can serve you in this process.
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