Something Everyone Should Learn in Kindergarten

I’m not going to lie to you.  This is the first school book I have fully read since junior year of high school.  But honestly, it shouldn’t even count as a school book because it is not filled with a ridiculous amount of words you are constantly looking up in the back glossary and it is under 300 pages long (I read it in two days).

Anyone who will ever work in any sort of team setting (which is pretty much everyone) needs to read this book.  Patrick Lencioni does a wonderful job of illustrating a realistic fable of a business staff being set back by lack of communication and the inability to work as a cohesive team.  I can guarantee you that any of the students reading this post have worked on a group project with unresponsive and frustrating group members… and if you’re saying you haven’t, it’s probably because you’ve already read this book J

So, in order to function properly in a group setting you must avoid the five dysfunctions of a typical team:

Absence of trust

Fear of conflict

Lack of commitment

Avoidance of accountability

Inattention to results

1.  The base: Absence of Trust is seen in teams who fail to ask for help, provide constructive feedback, and hide their own weaknesses and mistakes from other members of the group.  When working on a team, make sure you take risks in offering feedback and suggestions.  Trust that your group will respect your input.

2.  Teams that fear conflict have painfully boring meetings.  Instead of getting information out in the open, they feel the need to discuss the situation behind other people’s backs (which ends up making the situation worse anyway).  In a meeting or group setting, don’t be afraid to bring up a point that may potentially be controversial.  It will ignite discussion, and who doesn’t like to debate about something they believe in?

3.  Lack of commitment in a group setting creates ambiguity among the team about direction and goals.  Make sure that everyone on the team knows what the overarching goal is, and stick to it!  Hold everyone responsible for their agreement to a specific goal, but make sure the priorities and direction are clear to everyone involved. 

4.  When a team avoids accountability, the standards of the group are instantly lowered.  Deadlines are missed, work is not completed to a satisfactory level, and resentment lingers throughout the team.  If someone in your group is not putting in the work that they should be, call them out on it!  It will make you a stronger leader, and the other member a stronger and more responsible worker.  Hold others accountable for their responsibilities to keep the standards of work high. 

5.  Inattention to results as a team is the separating factor between personal success and team success.  Prioritize where you want the results to lie; if you are focusing on your own individual goals, you are distancing yourself from your team.  Get rid of your ego and put your energy into the team’s results.

But since these are lessons we should have learned in kindergarten, here are the new "golden rules" of working on a team:

1. Ask for help when needed, and admit your mistakes.
2. Speak your mind and don’t be afraid to do so.
3. Know what you’re working for, and stick to it.
4. Put in effort, and make sure others are too
5. There is no ‘I’ in team

Read the book.  You'll thank me.  And so will your team.