Ever felt frustrated that your team is not performing as it should?
If so, have you ever wondered why they are not performing?
Do you have a team that truly trusts each other?
If you are a farm manager, especially if you farm at a scale that sees multiple to many labour units required, have you ever wondered what is the most important skill of a manager?
I suggest it is people and team management. Without capable, performing people and teams the technical aspects that you are likely excellent at will not be applied as required. Thus, the business will perform at a sub-optimal level leading not only to sub-optimal financial results but also a lack of enjoyment and likely unwanted stress.
In a family the consequences can be even more significant.
Mike Cameron’s article in this edition of Landline covers this and the requirement for emotional intelligence excellently.
But to be a good leader of a team it is important to understand what makes a team effective and the essential ingredient of ‘trust’.
Here at Planfarm we have been on a journey over the last 18 months to transform our way of leading and managing our team of 45+ people as we realized we too needed to be better at team and people management.
We are adopting a system known as the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) and are being led through the process by an expert EOS implementer. The implementer introduced us to a book by Patrick Leoncini – ‘The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team’ which particularly resonated with us.
Thus, knowing that many of you are struggling with your teams I thought it worth sharing the concepts with you.
With any team, there are inevitable struggles that must be acknowledged and overcome. While team-building exercises and one-on-ones can help foster connectivity, the root causes of failure run far deeper. A high-performance team can only thrive when underlying dysfunctions have been dealt with.
To train an effective team, leaders must become clarity, honesty, and team development facilitators. Certain pitfalls can reduce team success and paint a picture of artificial harmony in the workplace. Understanding these pitfalls, learning to identify them, and takings the steps necessary to overcome them is critical in building a successful and cohesive team.
What are the 5 dysfunctions of a team?
In “The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team”, Patrick Leoncini dives deep into why most teams are ineffective and offers solutions to overcome such barriers. According to Leoncini, these are the five most common struggles most teams face:
- Absence of trust
- Fear of conflict
- Lack of commitment
- Avoidance of accountability
- Inattention to results
5 dysfunctions of a team pyramid
I found it particularly insightful that trust underpins performance and results as with trust people will speak openly and challenge each other (conflict), and with conflict comes commitment to a robustly discussed course of action, and with commitment comes accountability and with accountability comes results.
Trust and conflict
Making an effort to highlight the strengths of all team members can encourage them to trust one another’s abilities and feel more comfortable sharing mistakes or weaknesses. Confidence and trust will follow when team members can appreciate what everyone brings to the table.
When a team does not have trust, they won’t be able to participate in productive conflict. In his book, Lencioni says, “teams that trust each other are not afraid to engage in passionate dialogue around issues and decisions that are key to the organization’s success. They do not hesitate to disagree with, challenge, and question one another, all in the spirit of finding the best answers, discovering the truth, and making great decisions.” Basically, conflict is essential for growth and problem solving – without it, here are some problems to expect:
- Resentment may build up over time
- Increased likelihood of gossip or interpersonal conflict
- Hesitation in voicing concerns or sharing opinions
- Analysis paralysis (preventing teams from moving forward)
- Failure to make crucial decisions
- Lower enthusiasm, engagement, and morale
To overcome this dysfunction, teams must prioritize clarity. Make an effort to explain priorities, expectations, and goals clearly. It will also help to clarify the why behind any big decisions and be consistent with all messaging. Providing defined expectations and deadlines will help avoid analysis paralysis and help employees commit to the tasks at hand. Leaders should also try to develop shared goals to align the team and facilitate enthusiasm around projects. Finally, encourage learning from mistakes rather than shaming people for them, so they aren’t fearful of committing to their duties.
In Patrick’s book he goes on to discuss how to address the key dysfunctions of lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability and ultimately how to become results focused.
But it is critical to understand that without trust and then appropriate conflict the team will always be limited.
In thinking through this whole concept, I couldn’t help but draw parallels to the most common team on plant earth that being a relationship be that marriage or whatever suits. I think we all know that trust underpins a marriage, but that true trust is built over time, and it is also easily lost! It also takes lots of and ongoing effort.
This too applies to our and your businesses.
So, as you ponder whether your team, remembering in farming this most likely includes family, is functional and performing consider the 5 dysfunctions of a team and as leaders (often parents) your role in building trust.
As without trust you are always going to struggle!
