Tweet

Broken Teams Damage Your Business

Written by: Barbara Giamanco

Article Overview: A profitable business bottom line depends on effective teaming as much today as it ever did; yet, "effective teaming" may be destined to be no more than another irrelevant buzz phrase, because by and large teams are still dysfunctional and broken.

Broken Teams Damage Your Business

A profitable business bottom line depends on effective teaming as much today as it ever did; yet, "effective teaming" may be destined to be no more than another irrelevant buzz phrase, because by and large teams are still dysfunctional and broken.

If you've ever worked in a team - and I've yet to meet someone who hasn't - I know you have at least one horror story to tell about a team that crashed and burned. Isn't it ironic that with all that's been written about the negative impact dysfunctional teams can have on business and with all the training available to help correct the problem, success is still elusive.

It's easy to ignore the damage that dysfunctional teams can do to a business, but the financial impact can be huge. Consider the wasted time in meetings debating the same issues again and again, as well as the constant squabbles and in-fighting over priorities that lead to inaction or worse, bad decisions that result in good money being thrown down the drain.

A recent Microsoft study found that U.S. workers spent an average of 5.6 hours per week sitting in meetings and 69 percent reported that they were not productive. Business is about increasing revenue and profits, so the financial implications to the organization are significant. A $100,000 worker will cost their employer roughly $13,000 to sit through meetings that waste time and do nothing to further the organization's business goals. Ask yourself if you can afford the $130,000 price tag for having a 10 person team waste hours week after week.

Though some are jaded at the prospect that teams can work together successfully, I believe they can. Developing the cohesiveness that ensures success, though, requires that the root causes of team dysfunction are identified and cured. However, overcoming the issues that lead to dysfunction in the first place is a daunting task requiring openness, disciple and the courage to see it through. The reality is that many teams can't or won't summon the strength to tackle the challenge, but those willing to take it on will surely reap the rewards.

There are scores of reasons why teams don't work. Common ones touted are a lack of clarity about team member roles, a lack of focus on doing the right things at the right time in the teaming process, a lack of appreciation for the unique strengths of every team member, and a failure to reward and recognize the contributions made by each person. Mix in conflicting professional agendas, increasing diversity, lack of trust, a global business world where people are teamed together "virtually", as well as a resistance to clarifying goals and roles up front, and it's no wonder teams are stuck.

For teams to perform at their peak, it all begins with trust, unfortunately a rare commodity these days. Trust is the first and most critical component of building a strong team. However, trust cannot be forged when team members put their personal agenda first, refuse to ask for help, when they are unwilling to admit mistakes and blame others, or they summarily dismiss the opinions and ideas of other team members. If team members don't feel they can trust each other, effective teaming is impossible.

One way to begin building trust is to recognize that people behave differently; they exhibit different behavioral styles and they have different motivations. While you cannot motivate another person, all people are motivated. The mistaken assumption often made is that all team members are motivated by the same things and nothing could be further from the truth. For example, in a situation where a team is working together to achieve a sales goal, it might be easy to assume that everyone is motivated to hit the sales target. But are they really? What happens when not everyone on the team stands to earn compensation for hitting the goal? Sure, the sales person cares, but does the support staff have the same motivation if they don't share in the commission? Doubtful.

Taking the time to develop a greater understanding of individual behavioral styles and motivations will foster a trusting environment, improve communications and builds a foundation for effective interactions with other people. And before you start griping about not having enough time, remember that it costs your company in more ways than one if you don't make the time. Doing the upfront work positions teams for innovative performance.

Cohesive, high performing teams give an organization a powerful competitive edge. Great teams don't waste precious time focused on the wrong issues, nor do they constantly revisit the same topics over and over again, in meeting after meeting, because team members didn't buy-in to the goals from the beginning. High performing teams make high quality decisions; they get more done in less time without the normal personal hassles and frustrations. Finally, when it comes to keeping great talent in the organization, which is itself a significant competitive advantage, remember great people don't walk away from teams that get it right!

Check out our Team Dimensions Profile - identify dominant strenths and styles of your team members.View Sample - located on our website.

(c)2008 Barbara Giamanco and Talent Builders, Inc. 404-459-4030

Related Articles
  Will My Laptop be Ruined After I Have Dropped it
  You mat be Able to Repair Your Broken Laptop by Yourself?
  Redesigning Websites is a Need Of Time
  Redesigning websites is a need of time
  3 critical elements of a research survey. Part 3 – Analysis.

Article Tags: bad decisions, business bottom line, business goals, buzz phrase, challen, cohesiveness, daunting task, disciple, dysfunctional teams, financial impact, financial implications, horror story, inaction, negative impact, openness, person team, price tag, productive business, profitable business, squabbles



Related Forum Posts
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Exclusive: Interview with Results - Hi Forum Members, I'm helping start up a Business Coaching and Consulting company here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (a Subsidiary of RSC Business in Los Angeles). As a Research and Development Intern I am required to practice my listening and interview skills by surveying Small and Medium Businesses on thier Business. This Survey is designed by RSC Business to also assist the Business being interviewed more insight into their own business. I am looking to interview about 30 businesses across North America over the span of 3 months. At the end of these interviews I will be publishing a report of the results and they will be made available for free to the Interviewees. The Report data will include responses from a minimum of 100 interviews. I would like to extend this opportunity to members of the Forum. If you would like to have this short 20-30 minute interview conducted on your Business and you reside in North America please send me an email or PM. Please contact me at andy[at]jvprosperity[dot]com to arrange our interview and to get free access to the results when they are published.
Re: HOw to market a B2B consulting company - [quote="zohahunt77":428owzbi]Hi, I was wondering if anyone can tell me the difference between B2B and B2C. I don’t know about b2b marketing but I have done marketing so know things about it. I will suggest you to take online services which will spread your business all over web network. Online marketing is the best way to market any business.[/quote:428owzbi] B2B = Business to Business - You are marketing to other businesses. B2C = Business to Consumer - You are marketing to consumers.
English teachers learn Japanese as Interns - Yasunori, what about the many students that leave N. America to teach English in Japan. They may want to learn Japanese (maybe Business Japanese is a bit different) and the Japanese Business Culture.
New Study - Women prepare better business plans - I found an article in Business Week and I found this quite interesting. [quote:ka7lg35i]Who Prepares Better Business Plans, Men or Women? A new study based on four years of data from men and women in a training program for microenterprises finds that they come out the same in quality scores. "However, women scored significantly better on the presentation of their plan to judges," conclude the study's authors, Ronald G. Cook, Paul Belliveau, and Christine Lentz of Rider University, in a paper presented at a recent meeting of the Small Business Institute. [/quote:ka7lg35i] What do you guys think?


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Stress: What Causes It and How To Deal With It

How do you keep it together on a daily basis?

Leading from Authenticity is a Beautiful Thing

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.