The Team Is Everything!!

“Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare” – The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni 

Building an effective team that despite individuals, collectively operate with synergistic results is inarguably for most business owners the biggest challenge. I recently read a brilliant book on the subject of teamwork called The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. It is an easy read and worth the time spent on reading it. The first part of the book explains the model with a case study of a new CEO appointed to head a dysfunctional, non-performing executive team of a software company in Silicon Valley, called DecisionTECH, Inc. According to Lencioni, most teams fall prey to 5 pitfalls or dysfunctions that challenge effective team performance. Herewith a brief overview of the 5 dysfunctions:

1. Absence of trust (Invulnerability) – Trust amongst team members that the intentions of all team members can be trusted. Trust is built upon knowledge, insight and empathy for one another. Team members are vulnerable without fear, willing to share interpersonal shortcomings, skill deviancies, mistakes and asking for help.

2. Fear of conflict (artificial harmony) – An absence of trust leads to a fear of conflict. Avoiding debate and open discussions or disagreement. This results in team members being ‘polite’ and an artificial consensus on decisions. In contrast, constructive conflict relates to open discussions and debate, reviewing all possible alternatives before a collective decision is made.

3. Lack of commitment (ambiguity) – in the event of team members not trusting one another and openly contributing, individuals will then also have difficulty in committing. Commitment is easier when there is clarity on the way forward and individual buy-in from all the members of the team.

4. Avoidance of accountability (low standards) – The previous 3 dysfunctions lead to team members not keeping each other accountable for performance. In teams with high levels of trust, openly debating strategy and individual commitment, individuals will be motivated to perform in the fear of ‘letting team members down’. Positive peer pressure has always been a great motivator!

5. Lack of common focus on results / common goal (status and ego) – Common goals or desired results of the greater team are always more important than individual results, egos or career ambitions.

Ultimately building a winning team in a business starts by selecting and employing the right people for the right positions. Then follows creating an environment that will support the individuals to work together over time to a synergistic unit. It is this synergistic team that will give a business a competitive advantage over competitors, more than strategy, technology or resources.

ActionCOACH coaches business owners on the importance of 6 keys in creating an ideal environment for building a winning team. In short, these are:

1. Strong leadership – a crucial component of creating a winning team is the visionary leadership of the owner. The ability to inspire and lead the team towards ‘true north’, defining direction and a clear vision of where the owner is ‘taking the business’. This requires a leader to have passion and a belief in the potential of the business as well as the team. Combined with responsibility for the decisions and actions of the team regardless of the outcomes of actions and strategies. Strong leadership lays the foundation of trust amongst the team and in the owner or leader.

2. Common Goal – Clearly defined smart goals will result in a buy-in from the team as well as commitment to support and work together in achieving the goals. A true sense of ‘ we are all in together working together towards achieving a common goal and reward’. Setting clear goals gives focus, direction and momentum.

3. Rules of the game – defining clear norms and standards for behaviour within the business, called the values or culture statement. It is said that ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’ means that the best ideas, strategies or innovations will be less effective or profitable unless supported by specific rules of behaviour. Values and culture within a company start with the leader and his/her code of ethics in business. The rest of the team follows suit.

4. Action plan – Start by having every person in the company understand what their job, position and responsibility are (job descriptions). Then determine a strategy and plan to achieve defined goals and help staff understand how each and everyone contributes and plays a role towards achieving these defined goals. This drives overall accountability towards individual performance and the performance of the various functions in the company, e.g. all staff equally responsible for acquiring new clients (marketing) and servicing existing clients (customer service), etc.

5. Support risk-taking – the tolerance for risk or allowing staff to make discretionary decisions that can be seen as taking some risk, is a part of the culture of a company. Challenging teams to go beyond their comfort zone or normal ‘way of doing things’ can pay off in a great way. Reference to the Japanese word, ‘Kaizen’ – the process of continuous improvement where staff and team members are encouraged to always seek better or more effective ways to better their respective output or work responsibility. If not growth, then death!

6. 100% Participation – every team member is fully ‘present’ and actively involved in the well-being of the business, working together towards achieving the defined common goals. Ultimately this is above individual egos and career aspirations. The art of inclusion of all staff at all levels.

Building a winning business with a winning team is not supposed to be an easy task and can prove to be challenging in many ways. However, there are many shining examples of such winning teams and companies namely Ford, Apple, and the Elon Musk of the modern world!

It is said that the true strength of the team lies in the individual and the strength of the individual is within the team…it is true a win-win strategy!