Seven Warning Signs Your Team is in Trouble — Or Will Be

Seven Warning Signs Your Team is in Trouble — Or Will Be.

Learn about the signs in the accompanying video.  Also, see how you can apply these recommendations:

• The team understands the goals and commits to them.  Set clear expectations for the team’s work, goals, accountability, and outcomes.

• The team creates an environment so people are comfortable taking reasonable risks in communicating, advocating positions, and taking action. Team members trust each other. Team members are not punished for disagreeing.

• Communication is open, honest, and respectful. People feel free to express their thoughts, opinions, and potential solutions to problems.  Team members ask questions for clarity.  They spend time listening deeply rather than forming rebuttals while their coworker speaks.  That’s so tempting, isn’t it?

• Team members have a strong sense of belonging to the group. They experience a deep commitment to the group’s decisions and actions.

• Team members value themselves as unique people.  They have irreplaceable experiences, points of view, knowledge, and opinions to contribute. After all, the purpose of forming a team is to take advantage of the differences.  The more that a team can bring out divergent points of view supported with facts as well as opinions, the better.

• Team members deliver creativity, innovation, and different viewpoints. Comments such as, “we already tried that and it didn’t work” and “what a dumb idea” are not allowed or supported.

• The team is able to constantly examine itself and continuously improve its processes, practices, and the interaction of team members. The team openly discusses team norms and what may be hindering its ability to move forward and progress in areas of effort, talent, and strategy.