Five Dysfunctions of a Team - #3 Lack of Commitment
Have you read "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team?"
I've been writing a short series in my weekly email, summarizing and reflecting on the book, and the feedback has been positive, so I’m sharing my cliff-note articles here.
I invite you to email me your comments or questions, as I'd love to hear about your experiences working on either a healthy or unhealthy team.
#3 Dysfunction - Lack of Commitment
Lack of Commitment might be best understood as the offspring of Fear of Conflict, because “If we can’t weigh in, we won’t buy in.”
Conflict is not the problem. Conflict unravels unity and lowers commitment when it’s unhealthy conflict.
Healthy conflict, on the other hand, leads to increased commitment.
90% of the time team members who have space to safely voice disagreement will leave MORE bought in, not less, if they feel heard.
In other words, team health is not about consensus. It’s about “disagree, and commit.”
Lack of Commitment is evidenced by:
1) Increasing shifting of responsibility for outcomes to others. (“I did my part. Don’t blame me.”)
2) Second-guessing when outcomes aren’t achieved. (“I voted in favor, but I knew this wouldn’t work.”)
3) Content with lack of clarity (clarity doesn’t matter if you’re not taking responsibility for the outcome anyways)
Side Note about how Healthy Teams might Still Struggle with Commitment:
Commitment will require clarity and alignment.
Example: “Great meeting everyone, let’s make this employee appreciation party the best ever!
”The best party ever” might be a unified vision, but unless each team member knows his or her specific contribution toward the team goal and why it matters, confusion will undermine commitment.
To avoid this confusion, a helpful question to ask at the end of any team meeting is, “What exactly have we decided here today?”
Every team member should be able to answer both the big team goal AND his or her definable, individual contribution toward achieving it.
Buy-in plus clarity equals powerful momentum.
Sadly, when there is a lack of clarity and commitment, a team quickly and naturally devolves to Dysfunction #4: Avoidance of Accountability.
“Team health is not about consensus.
It’s about ‘disagree, and commit.’”
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