Best-Selling Author's Five Dysfunctions of a Team Questionnaire Indicates Trend

BELMONT, MA (05/30/2007)(readMedia)-- According to The Table Group, the consulting firm of business author Patrick Lencioni, a major trend is plaguing teams today — team members readily avoid holding their peers accountable for both their performance and behaviors that might hurt the team.

The trend is a conclusion of The Table Group’s Online Team Assessment, a 38 question online tool that evaluates teams based on the model outlined in Lencioni’s New York Times best–selling book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Nearly 15,000 participants have taken the online assessment.

A full 68% of teams scored "red" on accountability—or lowest on The Table Group’s three tiered rating scale of green-yellow-red. Other red scores for the remaining four dysfunctions include: absence of trust (44%), fear of conflict (39%), avoidance of commitment (25%) and inattention to results (28%).

Lencioni’s definition of accountability goes beyond just informing people about missing "their numbers." The essence of this dysfunction is the reluctance of team members to tolerate the discomfort that accompanies confronting a peer on his or her behavior. Team members have a general tendency to avoid difficult conversations. Great teams do not wait for the leader to remind members when they are not pulling their weight.

Ironically, the assessment scores showed that the higher the position in the organization, the more pronounced the problem. Of the 132 executive teams (comprised of nearly 1,300 participants), 80% of the teams scored "red", or poor, on accountability. Lencioni finds that members of an executive team typically have similar socioeconomic status and, therefore, don’t feel justified commenting on a peer’s performance.

SheerLine Associates, a Boston-based consulting partner of Lenioni’s firm that helps companies implement the models and concepts from Lencioni's books offers these tips to help overcome this avoidance of accountability:

• Ensure that poor performers feel pressure to improve
• Address unproductive behaviors early – they inevitably lead to poor results
• Publicly state the team’s goals and standards
• Institute regular progress reviews
• Reward team achievement versus individual contribution

SheerLine Associates works with business leaders and their teams to help them improve the effectiveness and health of their organizations through improved leader capability, increased team cohesiveness, and greater organizational clarity.

To learn more about how to improve your team’s effectiveness, go to www.sheerlineassociates.com.