As much as we hate to admit it, not every team was meant to succeed!
Unfortunately, being the manager of a group of people who are unable to work together will certainly put you in an awkward prediciment. Just because your team isn’t developing or working well together does not mean your work can be put to the side.
Identifying the reasons most teams fail is important to your ability to remedy the situation. There seem to be seven main barriers when it comes to team development.
They are:
1. Attempting to form a team at the wrong time. If you have too many other priorities you will not have the right amount of time to train your team and teach them how to get the job done.
2. Your team members view themselves as individuals instead of as a team. Did you ever take the time to have them participate in team building exercises or let them get to know each other?
3. Your team members are too reserved - they don’t want to share information about themselves with each other and as such, have difficulty identifying with each other.
4. Your team has no direction - they don’t know what to work on and, if they do, they don’t know the best way to get it done. There is a distinct lack of resources.
5. Your team members don’t trust each other and don’t feel safe discussing the way they feel (personally or about group projects) or what they think the team or project
needs.
6. Your team members can’t let go of past mistakes and move into the future.
7. Your team members aren’t giving each project enough time and attention for it to become truly successful.
Now, it’s up to us to find the remedy! Do you need a new team or do you need to address one (or more) of these barriers so that you team can move forward in an effective manner?
