It can be reasonably argued that the business environment in which organizations now operate is ever-changing, highly uncertain, and increasingly competitive. Because of this dynamic fundamental shift in the business environment, organizational leaders are recognizing that long-term success hinges on the ability of leaders to develop and maintain effective and high performance teams. The collective contributions of these teams add great value to organizations by “increasing productivity, using resources more effectively, greater innovation and creativity, and better decision-making and problem solving” (Northouse, 2016, p. 364). This results in positive performance and people outcomes, which provide the organization with preferred strategic positioning and a competitive advantage.
There is however a plethora of barriers to developing and maintaining highly effective and highly functioning teams. Both internal and external forces can preclude team members from utilizing their collective capabilities and varied attributes, to work collaboratively and cohesively towards clearly defined and aligned goals, and a common purpose. The intent of this paper is to address some of the more critical barriers that teams must overcome in order to create value, and so that team members can reach their full potential. In particular, this paper will address incompetent leadership, poorly developed goals and misalignment of collective goals, and inadequate and poor communication. Recommendations for strategic initiatives will be offered which aim to eliminate the aforementioned hindrances to team success.
Lack of a Competent Leader
One of the biggest pitfalls to successful team building is the lack of a competent leader. According to Nelson and Quick (2013) competence is the ability to perform a job adequately (p. 413). While this definition is simplistic in nature and does not account for the myriad of complexities found in today’s business landscape, competent leadership is critical to the development and the maintenance of highly effective teams. Because of the increased scope of influence a team leader has over team members, tasks and responsibilities, development and execution of goals, and the shared vision, it stands to reason that the competence of a leader can either drive the team to success or hinder its progress.
Implications of Incompetent Leadership
Team dynamics. When a team leader lacks competence he/she will be unable to develop a team comprised of individuals who have the necessary knowledge skills, abilities, and core competencies, to effectively carry-out the functions of the team. To this end, leaders will not be able to maintain a team where team members have the capacity or the capabilities to make decisions that lead to increased productivity, and thus team and organizational success.
Recommendations for success. Leaders should give careful thought and consideration when developing a team. Team members should possess a variety of knowledge, skills, abilities, expertise, and core competencies so that tasks can be appropriately divided and successfully accomplished (Northouse, 2016, p. 370). Continuous training and development opportunities should be provided as the team and the team’s goals evolve. As the needs of the team change, leaders should develop effective recruitment strategies to attract team members that will contribute to the success and effectiveness of the team.
Trust. An incompetent leader cannot develop a team founded on trust. When there is a lack of trust team members may not have confidence in their leader or in their fellow teammates. Without trust, team members will expend their time and energy focused on the behavior of others rather than on achieving the team’s goals (Brenner, 2012, para. 15). The absence of trust can also hinder creativity and innovation therefore the team becomes stagnate and unable to create value for the organization.
Recommendations for success. In order to build a culture of trust within a team, leaders must demonstrate the behavior they want others to emulate which includes being transparent with their own weaknesses and failures. This will let team members know that the leader does not put him/herself above others, but rather is humanly flawed and has vulnerabilities. It also gives team members confidence to display their own vulnerability, thereby increasing the level of trust among the group. Leaders should take special care to practice constancy, congruity, reliability, and integrity, if they want to foster a perpetual environment of trust (Bennis, 2009, p. 152).
Empowerment. An incompetent leader is incapable of developing and maintaining a team which is motivated, inspired, engaged, and empowered. Such teams display counter-productive behaviors including lack of commitment, low levels of performance through ineffectiveness and inefficiency, pursuit of self-interests, and increased absenteeism and turnover. Disengaged teams members have an impact on overall team and organizational health which can negatively impact the bottom-line.
Recommendations for success. Leaders can empower and engage employees by allowing autonomy and participation in critical decisions that affect not just the team but the organization. Team members are than inspired and motivated to take a vested interest in seeing the team and the organization succeed. Leaders should capitalize on the varied backgrounds, attributes, and experiences of their team members, which open the door to innovation and creativity. Such an environment increases morale, engagement, and it increases commitment to the success of the team. This dynamic demonstrates that coordinated efforts of teammates under strong leadership can be successful when each team member is allowed to work at their optimal level.
In an effort to mitigate incompetent leadership we must first recognize that competence includes “behavioral/relationship competencies, emotional intelligence, thinking skills, mindfulness, concentration and self-awareness” (Pitagorsky, 2013, para. 3). By approaching incompetence as a multi-faceted issue which does not exist in a vacuum, we will be able to better identify creative solutions to develop and maintain highly effective teams.
Lack of Well Developed Goals and Goal Alignment
Establishing clearly defined goals is a fundamental component of team success. Goals serve as a blueprint for all team members, and are foundational in the development of action plans that help team members realize their goals. All members of the team should align their personal goals with those of the team so that there is team cohesion, and so that all members are fully invested and working collaboratively towards a common purpose and collective goal attainment.
Implications of Poor Goal Development and Lack of Goal Alignment
Loss of Purpose. When leaders fail to clearly articulate goals team members lose sight of their purpose, and eventually the dynamics of the team are weakened because of disinterest and demotivation (Brenner, 2012, para. 6). When team members are not given clear and concise goals they are unable to determine a reason for what they do. They are unable to recognize the value they add to the organization, giving rise to “ambiguity about directions and priorities” (Lencioni, 2002, p. 209). This results in team members not committing themselves fully to the team or the organization, productivity is diminished, and there is evidence of a disconnect between team goals and organizational goals (Gallo, 2011, para. 3).
Recommendations for success. Employees at all levels must be able to understand their respective roles, and how their contributions create value and result in organizational success. To do this, leaders and team members should acknowledge the goals to each other. Leaders should also allow time to discuss and debate relevant aspects of the goals involved in the future tasks or vision. Teams can then experience productive conflict designed to unify thoughts and understanding.
All great teams and relationships have grown through and out of productive conflict (Lencioni, 2002, p. 202). Organizations might consider group training as well which fosters an environment where team members can grow accustom to trusting and listening to each other. Popular group training for executives include ropes courses or the like, which utilizes both the physical and mental aspects of teamwork.
Goal Misalignment. When team members lack goal alignment they focus on self-interests rather than those of the team. These self-interests usually are realized through wasted energy. Each individual team member might be working diligently but due to a lack of common direction their efforts fizzle. When the team aligns behind a goal the energy is increased and unified, creating synergy. When this type of environment is created the individual goals become harmonized with organizational goals which result in a shared vision (Senge, 2006, p. 217).
Recommendations for success. Allowing team members to participate in goal setting will assist in aligning personal goals with team and organizational goals. Goal misalignment is naturally occurring in teams that lack cohesiveness. Leaders can help facilitate team cohesiveness by doing the following:
1. Interaction- By creating environments where the team is continuously interacting, it produces a natural tendency to align goals.
2. Encourage goal sharing- When individuals are allowed to share their hopes for the team and how they intend to contribute to the success of the team, it creates openness and builds trust in relationships. Team members then take a personal vested interest in helping all the members of the team succeed.
3. Personal attraction- Putting a team together whose members have similar attributes, needs, and desires, creates opportunities for the team to bond and become a cohesive unit, thereby aligning their goals.
The focus on building a cohesive team will naturally create goal alignment (Daft, 2015, p. 302-303)
Lack of Effective Communication
Ineffective Communication
The Achilles heel of an organization can arguably be poor communication. Deficient and ineffective communication is a barrier to developing a productive work environment, and hinders the development of a team’s ability to efficiently carry-out tasks to meet stated goals. Ineffective communication can cause chaos and make employees feel directionless and frustrated. This can be a de-motivator and puts the team and the organization at risk for failure.
Most organizations strive for open communication because it allows information to flow from all directions, and helps to ensure that useful ideas and varying perspectives do not get lost in the debate (Daft, 2015, p. 265-266). Effective communication is a key component to developing and maintaining high performance teams, especially in light of a consistently changing work environment.
Implications of Poor Communication
Poor communication skills. Ultimately, the level and integrity of communication within teams is dictated by the team leader. A leader lacking in communication skills can derail a team’s efforts by failing to deliver pertinent information in a clear, concise, and timely manner. Poor communication skills can result in confusion, loss of credibility for the leader, and it can compromise leader-follower relationships.
Recommendations for success. In an effort to improve his/her communication, leaders must practice active listening. This is most critical in a team environment where there are varying personalities and opinions. A leader should rely on his/her emotional intelligence when listening to team member concerns so that he can respond thoughtfully, appropriately, and empathetically (Goleman, 1996, p. 17). Active listening also allows leaders to improve their ability to identify conflict and apply appropriate corrective actions.
Leaders can also improve their ability to open the lines of communication by asking questions that generate constructive dialog. This allows for continuous two-way communication and exchange of ideas that might not otherwise come to light. Leaders can then hone their skills through healthy debate and consideration and respect of another’s point of view.
Leadership style. A leader’s style also plays an essential role in communication. Depending on a preferred leadership style a leader can over-communicate, under-communicate, or not communicate at all. For example, a coercive leader can stifle communication through controlling and manipulating others; a democratic leader’s communication style can lack direction decisiveness, resulting in distorted messages that result in team member disengagement and lack of commitment. Northouse (2016) explains how situational leadership depends a great deal on the style the leadership utilizes. A leader must recognize the needs of the team and provide the leadership necessary to accomplish the personal and organizational goals of that team (p. 94).
Recommendations for success. Leaders must understand their own leadership style and how that style inherently affects communication. Leader’s mustn’t take a one-size-fits-all approach to communication between leaders and team members, and must “abandon homogeneous communication strategies” (Bradt, 2012, para. 2). Leaders must adapt their communication styles in response to the audience, the situation, and the intensity of the message, so that the message is received as intended.
Poor communication planning. Often times leaders are so hurried to deliver a message that they fail to take the time to carefully develop the message, consider the audience, or plan the proper execution; recipients either are not clear on the intent of the message or receive it negatively causing frustration and resentment. An example might be a hastily sent email response or a “shoot from the hip” reaction to a recent legal decision.
Recommendations for success. To produce the desired outcomes of communication and to deliver the intended impact of the message, leaders must give careful thought and consideration to planning all aspects of the communication before delivery. Planning provides structure and efficiency and effectiveness.
By planning, leaders can take the time to access the type of team and tasks they are leading, and then utilize the best methods to communicate effectively. Leaders do right by the team when they confer with experts such as human resources, field leaders, or even making oneself aware of public opinion, before communicating large scale changes or transitions within the company.
Conclusion
Within every organization leaders must recognize the importance of building collaborative and cohesive highly functioning teams. As we have seen from the research presented throughout this paper, there are barriers to developing and maintaining highly functioning teams. A highly competent and effective leader with stellar communication skills, and with ability to positively encourage team members to align their goals with team goals and organizational goals, will be instrumental in overcoming these barriers. “Build up, build up; prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people. (Isaiah 57:14, New International Version)