Collaboration killers
Collaboration is challenging, and it is more challenging, if not impossible when leaders allow dysfunctional behaviors within the team. Here are the collaboration killers we find to be the root of collaboration failure among teams.
Putting Self Over Team
Everyone faces trauma to some degree. It is important to emphasize that it is the human condition. More people than we may realize have faced significant trauma. To serve clients and the community well, we must recognize these truths and not allow our personal human condition to get in the way of the job of helping others. Serving requires undergoing individualization, which is the process of detaching from choosing destructive emotions that we formed as children and deprioritizing immature emotions under what the collective team is trying to accomplish. We all have these immature emotional reactions. Mature adults have learned to manage them and perhaps let them go altogether. But we all struggle with them. In cases of abuse and extreme violations that people have experienced, they need help processing these traumas, and hopefully, they choose to get the help they need. Read Ego Is The Enemy
Lacking Self Control Over Personal Triggers
Personal defense triggers (needs for affection/approval, control, safety/security) often remain the same in one’s life because they are deeply rooted in the early formation of survival and coping to protect ourselves from harm. The strategies or mechanisms we use to manage the triggers can and do change, and they are usually unconscious. They can be mature or unhealthy. The goal is to be more conscious about managing the triggers and your reactions to be healthy. Here are two articles you may find interesting about the strategies: National Library of Medicine and Healthline.
Leaders Not Removing Drama in The Culture
From a management perspective, if drama is part of the culture, there may be the need to bring in outside professional help to heal the team so productivity and service can be the priority. If drama is not an intentional part of the culture (dependent on the leader), it is essential to examine the leadership style, allowing drama to dominate and undermine the team's success. In such cases, there is likely a lack of clear, measurable expectations and accountability processes to ensure the organization's success - which is the focus required for the sustainability of the organization. Individual needs taking down the focused mission of the team, clients, and organization will undermine collective success. Most people live with Intentional Unconsciousness, and it can only be resolved with a collective village working together to overcome challenges and provide each other the support required to heal and mature to more productive beliefs of self-worth and value for the benefit of the mission of serving others.
Not Setting Values with Expectations to Reinforce Transparency
Leadership must insist on transparency and teamwork as the expectation. Behaviors such as gatekeeping and hoarding only exist in organizations where there is undermanagement and when team members are allowed to operate hyper-independently and in silos with no sharing and accountability to the team. Gathering the team, developing values and the bulleted specific behaviors required that will be expected by all, and then addressing members immediately when they are operating under the ground rules of the values is the common approach needed,
Resisting Giving Negative Feedback
A recent LinkedIn article outlined the biggest mistakes when giving negative feedback about any counter-team behaviors, and they are true: delaying conversation, skipping preparation, not asking the right questions, making it personal, failing to create and align to a roadmap. If negative behaviors are going on and it isn't being addressed with facts and direct conversation that refocuses people on the plan and deepens relationships - then you will never have the trust to collaborate. Using the TALK method works every time:
Tell it like it is
Ask for feedback
Lead to a solution
Keep at it until it sticks
Not Setting Boundaries with A Plan and Process
The boundaries for success should be the expectations of the growth plan and the assigned action steps required to grow and scale the organization. This should excite people to learn and grow. It should have their input, and they should be a part of the process of developing the plan so they have input about the content and cadence. This should be backed by values with clear action-based expectations required to fulfill the values. The team's understanding and alignment of the plan and values will shape the culture and success. When the team is a part of the process, they will understand the WHY, what, and how. We find people are almost always overwhelmed and stretched when they are caught up in daily tasks not connected to - or feeling distanced from - the vision and plan of a greater goal and purpose. Remember, 80% of the time conflict arises because of the lack of systems and processes, and only 20% of the time is it the lack of strengths and talents of the people.
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