Attention to Results

In this concluding week on my series on Lencioni’s ‘5 Dysfunctions of a Team’, we’re looking at the 5th and final layer of his pyramid which addresses ‘Inattention to Results’, the ultimate dysfunction of a team!

Focusing on results requires that all team members put the team results first, rather than individual results. So what do we do to keep team goals ahead of personal goals?

Firstly, we need to agree what the goals are then make them crystal clear. Each person needs to know what their contribution is to that team goal, when it is needed and how they, and those around them, will know it is achieved. It sounds like common sense, but weirdly it is not all that common.

Secondly, when team goals are achieved, leadership needs to reward those who achieved the goal by recognising any behaviour that contributed to its achievement. The team needs to experience that collective win of achieving the team goal.

Team success occurs when all elements of Lencionis pyramid are addressed. Starting from the base layer, we need trust in order to achieve healthy, productive conflict which in turn achieves buy-in or commitment which then allows for people to be accountable which then allows for that attention to results.

So what now?

It’s worth setting aside some time to work on addressing the dysfunctions of your team. We hope that this series has given you some starting points. It is not really a decision about whether you can afford to spend the time working on your team. It is much more about whether you can afford not to.

Addressing the dysfunctions of your own team can be daunting and exhausting but absolutely worth it. Put the work in and you will reap the rewards of a successful, functioning and a far happier team.