Five Subtle Signs Your Team Is ‘Dysfunctional’
What team members—and leaders—can do to fix a team that’s not on track.
More than half of corporate roles rely on or requireteamwork, and, at least in the US, nearly seven in 10 employees work acrossmultiple teams. The problem is that companies typically struggle with teamwork.Indeed, 75% of cross-functional teams are “dysfunctional” in one way oranother, according to Behnam Tabrizi, a Stanford University professor whostudied teams across 25 corporations during the 2010s.
It’s obvious to most of us when a team isn’t working welltogether, but the clearest signs of dysfunction don’t necessarily involveshouting matches or spectacular failures. Instead, these quieter signs resultin puzzled looks on teammates’ faces, unproductive meetings, and, surprisingly,a lot of silence. Even top executives can find themselves involved with—orleading—poor-performing teams.
Fortunately, high-performing teams don’t just happen byluck. “They can be measured and they can be created,” says Amelia Haynes, managerof research and partnership development at the Korn Ferry Institute. If ateammate or team leader can identify their team’s struggles, they can often fixthe underlying issues. Below, our experts identify five signs that a team isn’tclicking and offer some solutions.
People can’t agree onwhat the team is supposed to accomplish.
Ask five members for the team’s top three priorities. If youget five substantially different answers, that’s a warning sign. A lack ofclear team purpose is a surprisingly common issue, even among teams composed ofsenior executives, says Michel Buffet, a Korn Ferry senior client partner andTop Team Performance solution lead in North America. “You have to articulatethe team’s job,” he says. Without that clear focus, team members can wind updoing lots of work without arriving at something that is successful overall. Ifyou’re a team leader, articulate the team’s goals and identify both individualand team responsibilities. If you’re a team member, don’t be afraid toexplicitly ask what a team’s specific objectives are and what resources areavailable to accomplish them.
Nobody is sure whodecides what.
Define decision rights explicitly. When decision rights arefuzzy, decisions drag on, get reopened, or bounce among team members. Forimportant recurring decisions, identify who recommends, who provides input,and—critically—who makes the final call. Buffet suggests making one of the morejunior-level team members a chief of staff for the group, responsible forkeeping track of decisions, meetings, and communications. A chief of staff, hesays, is a frequent feature of high-performing teams and it gives the juniormember opportunities to shine.
Disagreements soundpersonal.
Sometimes teammates disparage another teammate’s work. It’soften a sign of a lack of trust. Conflict is occasionally unavoidable, but teamleaders have to establish norms and address any obstacles that hinder theteam’s work both inside and outside of meetings. Establish a rule that peoplechallenge the idea, not the person.
It’s quiet. Tooquiet.
Yes, teammates squabbling can be a sign of a problem, but moretroubling, experts say, is when no one says anything. Sometimes, that unanimous,quiet agreement means that no one is anticipating—or prepared for—things thatcould change. In other cases, silence is often a sign that junior members don’tfeel empowered to ask questions and that senior members fear that voicingobjections could harm their careers. Productive disagreements, say experts, canactually propel a team to new heights. “A healthy team can harness thosedifferent perspectives to keep moving forward,” says Josée Guimond, a KornFerry’s Top Team Performance operations lead in North America. Team leaders shouldmake all team members feel empowered to speak freely, while team members shouldtell leaders, discreetly, if and when they don’t feel safe enough toeffectively collaborate.
“Star” performersaren’t doing the work.
The mosttalented, hard-charging employees are not always the most effective team players. Theymay feel they can do things better on their own, or that teamwork is beneaththem. The onus is on leaders to drive home that there’s work that can be doneonly as a team, Buffet says. As for team members themselves, they should askthemselves whether they are acting in the best interests of the team—and if theyare not, they should adjust their behavior.
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