More things, and better things, happen when  there is a healthy team in place and team members work together for the common good.

Unfortunately, teams can, over time, become dysfunctional and cause more harm than good. What would you look for to determine if your team is healthy or dysfunctional? Here is Brad Lomenick with some incredible insights on this all important question.

Originally posted by Brad Lomenick

So why is your team dysfunctional?

Here are a few key indicators and signs of a dysfunctional team/organization. A team that needs to reimagine, re-engage, and recommit.

Look for these, and if they exist, be committed to change the culture.

  • Lack of communication- no one is talking, emailing, calling, texting, or dm’ing, unless they truly HAVE to, but never because they WANT to. 
  • Lack of empowering. Power is being held at the top, and not being passed down to leaders throughout the organization. 
  • No one values each other. Everyone has quickly shifted towards “individual survival” and only thinking about themselves and how they can personally win. 
  • Vacations are not possible because the urgency is constant and contagious, like a bad virus. 
  • Everything is last minute, and everything is late. Nothing goes out on time, or gets scheduled on time.
  • Silos exist everywhere. Cliques and gossip is rampant.
  • The work and environment is mundane. It’s boring.
  • Entitlement has taken over.
  • Lack of a clear mission, vision and core values. When asked where the team is headed, everyone has a different answer. 
  • There is no accountability. People on your team just feel like they can do whatever they want, whenever they want. This will drive your best team members crazy.
  • Everyone is moving offices, just to have something to actually feel good about. 
  • Most of the team is spending more time on Linkedin and Facebook compared to improving the product or service your organization offers. 
  • Updating your resume is a requirement, because you just never know. 
  • Regular staff meetings keep getting cancelled. 
  • Key people are spending more time on new head shots for the website update, compared to working on or in the business. 
  • There is a tremendous loss of reality. No one can or is willing to confront the brutal facts.
  • Lots of hype and very little true hope exists. Celebrations and “atta boys” are being passed out for meaningless tasks getting done, which further frustrates the best players on the team. 
  • More energy in scheduling lunches than in bringing in new revenue. 
  • No one knows where anyone is; you can’t find anyone. 
  • Blame is getting passed from person to person, from team to team, and from silo to silo, and ultimately lands nowhere. 
  • The only voices that end up being heard are the loudest and the most annoying, like a clanky wheel on a shopping cart. 
  • Everyone is cordial but behind closed doors there is deep distrust. 
  • The buck stops here doesn’t exist. No one is ultimately responsible. The responsibility tree has been chopped and split up so many times you can’t really figure out who is driving what and who has responsibility for what.
  • Meetings have no focus, and most meetings end up in a longer than needed conversation about things like toilet paper, dishwasher rules, and the upcoming Christmas party, all the while pondering theoretical questions with no goal in mind. 
  • Key people are leaving. The “A” players can see the writing on the wall, and usually get out way before things become bad.
  • Decision making has left the building, at every level. The lack of decisiveness is stifling, frustrating, and confusing, leading to increased lack of clarity and a strong desire for someone to take charge.