How To Recognize And Transform A Non-Cohesive Team
Since the start of the world-wide health pandemic in 2020, we’re being asked more and more about how to develop cohesive teams, particularly at the C-suite/senior-management level. This lack-of-cohesion challenge isn’t just limited to organizations with hybrid or remote work models. Even organizations where individuals primarily work in-person seem to be struggling with this pain point.
Many of the examples we will give below, and the focus of this particular blog post, will pertain to senior-level executives working well together, but our insights can be applied to all levels of individuals at an organization who need to function well as a team.
Harmful Behaviors Of Non-Cohesive Team Members
While not an exclusive list of behaviors, the following are some of the more common behaviors of members of non-cohesive teams that we’ve not only witnessed as team and leadership development experts, but also had reported to us by those looking for our help in creating more cohesive teams:
- Isolated decision-making and action-taking: team members make decisions and take actions that will affect other team members without considering the impact on those other teams
- Disregard for/lack of solicitation of others’ opinions or expertise: team members make decisions and take actions without soliciting feedback and insights from other team members, which in turn, leads to conflict on the team
- Insufficient sharing of information: team members are not proactive about sharing with each other information that is critical to the organization’s overall success and/or to a particular department’s success
- Prioritizing one’s goals over those of the team: team members put their time and energies towards achievement of their own personal goals or of the department they manage/direct – basically, members take an isolated, or individualistic approach to their role and work at the organization
- Berating fellow team member(s) or finger-pointing: team members criticize fellow team members either publicly (meaning the individual is present or included in the conversation) via an e-mail or meeting, or do so privately, i.e., behind fellow team members’ backs
- An example of the above behaviors in action is the following: A CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) focusing on meeting a certain sales goal related to bringing in new customers, which they established without conferring with other members of the C-suite, but particularly without conferring with the COO (Chief Operations Officer whose teams are likely responsible for serving/servicing new customers) to see if they have sufficient bandwidth from both a systems and staffing perspective.
Signs and Symptoms Of Teams Who Lack Cohesion
Some signs and symptoms, which eventually and inevitably appear, if team members are engaging in the above dysfunctional behaviors include the following:
- Decreased, or lack of, trust among team members
- Reduced, or lack of, fondness for other team members
- Little, or less, compassion for other team members
- Lack of, or weakening, support and encouragement among team members
- No sense of team spirit or camaraderie
- Reduced, or lack of, accountability to other team members
- Dearth of shared goals, or if shared goals exist, they are not met or not done so on a timely basis or in an efficient manner
- Decline in, or lack of, collaboration between team members
- High turnover of members of the non-cohesive team or among the direct reports of members of the non-cohesive team
The Costly Impact On Your Organization Of Disjointed, Unproductive Teams
After reading the above lists of behaviors, signs, and symptoms, it may already be quite obvious to you what the negative outcomes of allowing a team to become, or remain, non-cohesive are. Undesirable outcomes of teams lacking cohesion include:
- Goal deadlines not met, or goals not achieved at all
- Missed opportunities for organizational and professional success
- Reduced creativity and innovation from lack of collaboration
- Team member dissatisfaction and eventual departures
- Dissatisfaction of team members' direct reports and eventual departures
How To Fix A Non-Cohesive Team
So, as we alluded to in our blog post title, despite the above lists of daunting behaviors, signs, symptoms, and outcomes, we do believe, and have experienced, that cohesive teams can be created and transformed – with the caveat that once teams become less-disjointed and are higher-functioning, measures are kept in place to keep them that way.
Building cohesive teams is a process and takes dedication from the organization’s senior-most leader, e.g., CEO (Chief Executive Officer), President, or ED (Executive Director), HR department, and most importantly, from the team members themselves.
By working collaboratively with organizations to address, and ultimately optimize, the frequency of the positive demonstration of the five behaviors listed in Patrick Lencioni’s “Five Behaviors Of A Cohesive Team,” as well as other behaviors that can make or break the effectiveness of a team, our team of leadership and development experts can help your organization effect changes that will, over time, significantly reduce, and hopefully alleviate, the signs, symptoms, and negative outcomes of team that lacks cohesion.