Working in teams can provide many benefits – bringing together a diverse set of skills, experiences and perspectives often leads to better outcomes than working individually. However, teams don’t always work well together, remotely or in person. There are several common reasons why teams struggle with collaboration and effectiveness. Being aware of these and actively managing them can help lead to better teamwork.
Lack of Clear Goals and Priorities
When team members don’t have a solid understanding of their main objectives and priorities, it’s almost inevitable that difficulties will arise, which will affect deadlines. Using a scrum board tool lets your team stay ahead of deadlines, but without clear goals and priorities, team members may end up working at cross-purposes or duplicating effort. Time gets wasted doing low-value work. Important tasks fall through the cracks. The team lacks focus and motivation.
Having well-defined goals and agreeing on the most important priorities are critical first steps for team success. These should tie directly to the overall vision and mission for the team. Goals should be specific yet flexible enough to allow for changes when needed. Revisiting and realigning on goals regularly helps keep everyone pointed in the right direction.
Poor Communication
Even with clear goals, teams struggle if communication is unclear or inconsistent. When some members lack key information, they can’t contribute fully or end up moving in the wrong direction. When discussions are disorganized, important issues don’t get the needed focus. Decisions may get made but without full buy-in from the team.
Good communication requires keeping everyone informed in a timely manner. Discussions should have clear agendas and objectives. Healthy debate should be encouraged while bringing conversations to decisive closure. Non-verbal cues also matter – teams communicate through body language and tone. Active listening, respectful interactions and talking straight are key.
Lack of Role Clarity
Without clear roles and responsibilities, team members may assume someone else is handling a critical task. Duplicated efforts, gaps, resentment over workloads and simmering conflicts often result.
Defining each person’s unique role based on their skills, experience and interests is important. Document responsibilities for improved accountability. Have open discussions to align expectations. Adjust roles as priorities shift. Clear roles enable a team to operate as a cohesive unit.
Lack of Trust
Trust is the foundation for high-functioning teams. Without mutual trust, communication breaks down, motivations get questioned, and collaboration suffers. Building trust requires consistently demonstrating reliability, integrity, commitment to the team, and concern for others.
Trust deepens through shared experiences and successes. Using team building exercises and social gatherings to connect on a personal level can help. Nothing builds trust faster than spending two days in a remote location where team members have to rely on each other to make it back to the checkpoint. Respecting and appreciating diverse working styles also builds trust. When conflicts do arise, handle them constructively. Trust takes time and conscious care to develop.
Ineffective Decision Making
Unclear decision rights, siloed decisions, or inadequate input leads to poor choices, lack of buy-in, and implementation issues. Effective decision making requires consultation with those impacted, openness to ideas, clear processes, and authoritative choices.
Decide who ultimately is responsible for specific decisions. Gather diverse insights. Set timelines for closure. Once this is decided, commit fully. Analyze the results and improve. Involving the team in decisions builds trust and shared purpose.
Lack of Accountability
Without personal accountability, some team members may disengage, overtly disregard decisions, or work inconsistently. Things agreed upon don’t get done. Resentment builds when some carry more weight for the team.
Building accountability starts with setting clear expectations. Progress needs to be monitored at appropriate intervals with clear measures and reporting processes. Underperformers should be addressed respectfully but directly. All team members need to feel invested in the team’s success.
Poor Conflict Resolution
Conflicts addressed poorly lead to lingering resentments, motivational issues, distrust, and even disengagement. However, when handled constructively, conflict provides an opportunity to build understanding.
Encourage airing issues early before they escalate. Listen empathetically to understand all perspectives. Find areas of agreement. Develop solutions collaboratively. Take time for emotions to cool before re-engaging if needed. Focus on issues not personalities. Model constructive approaches. Keep moving forward together.
Lack of Leadership
Teams need strong leadership to perform well. Leaders set direction, coordinate resources, model desired behaviors, mediate conflicts, champion and develop members, and drive accountability. Without effective leadership, teams flounder.
Leaders should embrace opportunities to develop leadership skills. Emotional intelligence, influencing, and communication are key areas. Promote shared leadership by empowering members. Remain open to feedback. Share wins and failures. Strong leaders breed strong teams.
Personality and Work Style Clashes
Diverse perspectives and approaches on a team can lead to innovation and well-rounded solutions. But they can also lead to interpersonal difficulties if not managed well. Personality or work style differences are common sources of friction.
Extroverts may dominate discussions and overwhelm introverts. Detail-oriented team members can lose patience with big-picture thinkers. The assertive may run roughshod over those more accommodating. Recognizing differences in working styles and finding the strengths in various approaches can build appreciation.
Lack of Skills
Not every team member will come equipped with all the skills necessary to collaborate effectively. Interpersonal, decision-making, project management, and conflict resolution skills may be lacking. Technical gaps may also exist.
Assessing current team skill levels compared to the skills required should be an early step. Look for opportunities to coach and develop skills one-on-one. Bring in outside training where needed. Mentoring and cross-functional learning also build competencies.
Siloed Mindsets
When team members put their function or department first, without shared vision and purpose, mistrust and lack of collaboration follow. Siloed mindsets undermine information sharing, coordinated planning and integrated execution.
Building connections between disparate groups takes time and leadership commitment. Shared metrics, inclusive meetings, job rotations, social events and rewards based on collaborative outcomes can help shift mindsets.
The most effective teams take time to build shared mindsets, behaviors and operating processes. Paying attention to the details of teamwork and addressing difficulties as they emerge is critical. With care and intention, teams can navigate the common pitfalls to perform at their best.
