Avoid these team collaboration pitfalls: The 7 pitfalls in team collaboration!
Team dynamics consist of a tangled web of interactions, relationships, and behavioral expressions among different personalities, also known as team dynamics. The more personalities you add to this mix, the more complex these dynamics become. This complexity can lead to both positive and negative ripple effects throughout the organization.
When do team dynamics turn into pitfalls? Let's explore:
- What are team dynamics?
- A Team is a System
- The 7 Pitfalls of Team Collaboration
- #1 Groupthink and Uniformity
- #2 Polarisation and Extremes
- #3 Lack of Responsibility
- #4 Unspoken Disagreements
- #5 Conforming
- #6 Mismatch Between Process and System
- #7 Losing External Connection
- How do you make unproductive team dynamics visible?
What are team dynamics?
We define team dynamics as follows:
“Team dynamics: the interplay of unconscious forces arising from interactions and teamwork within a team.”
This definition broadly describes how individuals interact within a team and work together as a cohesive unit towards a common vision. It can be seen as a complex web of relationships, interaction patterns, and behavioral expressions.
Each individual operates from their own frame of reference, shaped by their values, personality, and past experiences. In teams, these differences can sometimes lead to conflict, but they can also foster great collaborations and even lifelong friendships!
Ultimately, team dynamics largely determine an organization's culture. Therefore, it's crucial to monitor them closely. Improving team dynamics, for instance, can be achieved by fostering a culture of trust and open dialogue.
A Team is a System
One of the principles in team coaching is to approach a team as a living system. The individuals together form a larger whole. In doing so, you assume two beliefs about teamwork:
- The output of the system is always more than the sum of its parts.
- There is mutual dependency: if one element moves, the entire system moves.
This latter point is what makes team dynamics so complex and unpredictable. Every action creates a reaction. This can lead to both positive and negative ripple effects. For example, when a colleague has a bad day at home, it can impact the team's overall atmosphere, which in turn affects the results and behavior of others. Thus, teams are in constant motion.
This concept can be beautifully illustrated with the following team coaching exercise. In this exercise, each team member is tasked with forming an isosceles triangle with two other team members at all times from the starting signal. Quickly, you see the whole team moving. Because when one person moves, the entire team moves.
After trying different configurations, you’ll see the same patterns repeating. Eventually, the team comes to a standstill, given the necessary flexibility and compromises. At least for a moment! Until someone sets the team in motion again. What a beautiful metaphor for what happens in the workplace!
The 7 Pitfalls of Team Collaboration
The beauty of working as a team is that the whole can achieve more than the sum of its parts. In other words, 1+1=3. This isn’t mathematics but pure magic. However, within this magic lie several pitfalls for teams.
Sometimes, unproductive team dynamics emerge. This often happens unconsciously and unintentionally. People act with positive intentions but do not consider the impact on the system and its results.
Here are the 7 team dynamics to avoid. Read more!
1) Groupthink and Uniformity
Despite what many believe, teams don’t always need to agree on everything. On the contrary, when this happens, you likely have a shortage of unique perspectives. The team loses its individuality and creative thinking ability.
Groupthink often arises from the intention to maintain harmony within the team. People avoid disagreements to keep a pleasant atmosphere. However, in doing so, they lose sight of the bigger picture. Or your team might consist of similar personalities—a perfect recipe for uniformity!
2) Polarisation and Extremes
Groupthink often leads to more extreme positions within the team, whether conservative or progressive. What you would never dare alone, you now dare as part of the team. The team feels strengthened as a whole, taking more and larger risks. Conversely, the team may become more conservative, avoiding all risks. This limits creativity and stifles innovation.
3) Lack of Responsibility
Since teams often share responsibility, individual accountability can diminish. This is evident in statements like: “Someone else will handle it” or “That’s not my job.” Alternatively, the same team members end up repeatedly taking on the same “shared tasks,” leading to frustration and burnout. This is not a sustainable solution.
4) Unspoken Disagreements
Another pitfall in team collaboration is that disagreements remain unspoken. They stay hidden or surface too late, leading to inevitable frustrations within the team. Dominant personalities might push their agendas, while the rest of the team—without fully supporting it—still carries out the plan. This is a missed opportunity to strengthen the plan with additional perspectives.
5) Conforming
Team dynamics like conforming can be hard to avoid, so it’s important to stay alert and aware. People naturally want to belong to the group, which is normal and healthy. However, if not monitored, it can become dangerous. Unspoken norms often arise within teams, making it difficult for new team members, especially when the pressure to conform is high. This results in a loss of diverse talents within the team.
6) Mismatch Between Process and System
Sometimes there is a mismatch between the team as a system and the processes they must follow. This can have various causes, such as outdated systems. Teams or managers may quickly try to bypass the process, resulting in a loss of control and missed opportunities to update and improve the system.
7) Losing External Connection
Finally, many teams fall into the trap of focusing too internally. A good team atmosphere does not guarantee good results. An echo chamber can develop where external feedback is perceived as criticism. Effective team collaboration also involves maintaining strong relationships with external stakeholders, such as customers, suppliers, and even other teams within the organization.
How do you make unproductive team dynamics visible?
A team is only as strong as its weakest link. We all know the proverb. But what exactly is the "weak link"? And how can you address it to improve team collaboration in a sustainable way?
With this framework, you can make unproductive patterns visible and then address them.
- Observe the behavior of others.
- What reaction does that evoke in you? What do you think and feel about it?
- How do you respond? What do you do?
- Put yourself in the other person's shoes. How might they perceive this situation?
- What reaction might this provoke in the other person?
By following these steps, you enhance understanding and empathy towards others. This makes it easier to put things into perspective and break the vicious cycle. Are you tired of falling into the same patterns repeatedly? Do you want to know how productive your team really is? Book a temporary free team scan now!
