Essay on the Five Dysfunctions of a Team and Management

This essay delves into the concept of the five dysfunctions of a team, as outlined by Lencioni, and their significance in organizational management. It begins by defining the five dysfunctions: absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results. The essay then explores the relevance of these dysfunctions to management, emphasizing the importance of functional teams in achieving common goals and organizational success. An example of a dysfunctional team is provided, illustrating the negative outcomes when these principles are not applied. The essay concludes with three actionable tips: building trust, addressing harmful behaviors, and fostering strong leadership to promote a shared vision and collective goal within a team. The essay underscores the critical role of effective teamwork in achieving organizational objectives.

Running head: DYSFUNCTIONS OF A TEAM
Dysfunctions of a Team
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1DYSFUNCTIONS OF A TEAM
Introduction
Teams are important parts of an organization. It promotes a cohesive and synergic
environment through which an organization thrives. Team members share goals, visions and
objectives and help one another to reach their goals. Sometimes, teams become dysfunctional
and the reasons that might lead to a dysfunctional team has been described by Lencioni
(2002), in his book. In this essay, the concept of a dysfunctional team and its relevance to
management has been discussed. Moreover, it analyses a situation and the outcome, where
the concept could have been used but was not. Finally, it provides three take away points on
the effective implementation of the concept.
Discussion
1. Describe the topic (concept) in your own words in manner that
demonstrates you understand the meaning of the concept.
According to Lencioni (2002), the first dysfunction that a team can have is the
absence of trust. In order to be able to work effectively, team members need to have
trust on one another and be able to open and honest with other team members.. The
second dysfunction is the fear of conflict. Team members are bound to have conflicts
and more often than not it indicates that the people are committed and are sharing
ideas. Team members should be comfortable enough with each other to be able to
engage in healthy conflict which makes them see things from other’s perspectives.
The third dysfunction is the lack of commitment. When people in a team have
no trust and conflict among them, they are not committed to a decision that has been
made. Due to lack of insight into the topic they are not able to see the big picture or

2DYSFUNCTIONS OF A TEAM
final outcome of it. The fourth dysfunction is accountability. When team members do
not have conflict and are not committed to the decision of the team, they have no
accountability (Lencioni, 2005). The fifth dysfunction is inattention to results in this
case team members are not unfocused on the collective outcome of the team and are
mainly busy trying to serve their ego or personal department and thus the motto of a
team collapses.
2. How is this concept relevant and important to management?
The concept of dysfunction of team is important to management as
dysfunctional teams cannot work as a unit and get a job done. They would not be able
to work for a common goal and they do not share a vision (Björk, Browne-Ferrigno &
Kowalski, 2018). Management has a role to play in creating and improving the
functions and productivity of a team. Thus, they must be aware of the barriers that
might reduce a team’s performance. Moreover, they are also responsible for providing
leadership and without knowing the problems in the team it is not possible to plan
improvement (Wilen, 2016).
3. Provide an example of a situation in which it could have been used but
wasn’t and the outcome
In an organization that I had worked before, I saw one of the most
dysfunctional teams and the outcome of it. It was a small company and the teams
were created on a cross department basis. The problem started with the lack of
leadership in the team. The high competition between the departments had already
created rift between the employees and when they were thrown together they were not
able to work properly (Bonavoglia, 2019). They would not share ideas, would not
listen to other members, they would conceal facts and findings, as all of them were

3DYSFUNCTIONS OF A TEAM
concerned about their personal and departmental development, which led to one of the
biggest project failure that I had ever seen.
A new leader was appointed but due to lack of experience he could not
pinpoint the actual reason for the problem. He was also quite intimidated by the
members as they were all old employees compared to him. He could not call out on
them when they did mistakes or took part in harmful politics. Finally, the team had to
be dissolved and the organization had to go back to their old ways of working.
4. Provide 3 tips or 3 take aways in how to effectively use or implement the
use of the concept.
The three tips are:
a. Build trust among the team members and give them opportunity to know each
other’s strengths and weaknesses so that a cohesive work environment can be created
(Lencioni, 2005).
b. Call out on people when they do harm to the team or do dirty politics in order to
ensure a positive environment.
c. Good leadership that are able to motivate the members to share the same vision and
work for a singular goal (Penno, 2017).
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is evident that team functionality is an important aspect
for organizational management. As organizations are becoming more team oriented,
management must be able to understand the problems of a team and the concept of 5
dysfunctions succinctly analyses the reasons that needs to be looked after as basics. A good

4DYSFUNCTIONS OF A TEAM
leader and trust among the employees in organization goes a long way in successful
teamwork and leads to organizational success.

5DYSFUNCTIONS OF A TEAM
References
Björk, L. G., Browne-Ferrigno, T., & Kowalski, T. J. (2018). Superintendent Roles as CEO
and Team Leader. Research in Educational Administration & Leadership, 3(2), 179-
205.
Bonavoglia, N. (2019). Dissecting dysfunction: What to look for. Pharmacy Today, 25(7),
28-29.
Lencioni, P. (2002). The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Lencioni, P. (2005). Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Field Guide for
Leaders, Managers, and Facilitators. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Penno, D. K. (2017). The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate the Three
Essential Virtues. Journal of Applied Christian Leadership, 11(1), 104-105.
Wilen, M. (2016). Team evolution in the public sector. In Talent Development (Vol. 70, No.
4, pp. 108-109).