5 indicators of dysfunction on your team—and how to fix them

If specific goals, accountability and transparency are lacking within your organization or department, even your superstars might be spinning their wheels. Try these approaches.

Ragan Insider Premium Content
Ragan Insider Content

People and departments rely on each other to maintain certain functions, but what happens when teams don’t gel? Do you try to pin the blame on one bad apple, spoiling the whole bunch? What if you have nothing but topnotch employees in your organization?

The logic would follow that if we have excellent employees, we should have excellent teams.

Unfortunately, some teams just don’t function well, and it’s usually due to some combination of poor leadership and low individual self-awareness. Leaders are the primary actors who must turn around dysfunctional teams.

Deidre Paknad, CEO of performance management company Workboard, cites five dynamics of low-performing teams that leaders must address:

1. Freeloaders

Think back to high school group projects. Remember how bad it was to get stuck with that kid who didn’t do any work but still got the same grade as the rest of the group?

To read the full story, log in.
Become a Ragan Insider member to read this article and all other archived content.
Sign up today

Already a member? Log in here.
Learn more about Ragan Insider.