AxTenk Blog

When a colleague appears to be more focused on a personal agenda than on a team goal, tension soars. Often the person’s behavior may shift from a competitive to a collaborative position.

Competitive Behaviors:
Threats and bluffs
Focus on stereotypes
Pursuit of own goals
Irrational perspectives
Secrecy
Misrepresentation of need
Unpredictable actions

Collaborative Behaviors:
Negotiation
Pursuit of common goals
Logical and innovative perspectives
Openness
Focus on positive feelings
Accurate representation of need
Predictable actions

Sometimes lack of cooperation is a form of passive-aggressive behavior. By staying distant and not communicating, you may be acting out of frustration and even anger toward you. Left unresolved, these emotions could even lead to active sabotage of your efforts, particularly if you have status in the company. Aim to reduce the appearance of threat you may present. It’s critical to move quickly toward having a conversation with him about what you are experiencing and then extending an invitation to work together to improve your relationship.

Team Work & Team-ability Assessment Toolkit
Assess/Rate your team according to the following questions:
1. We regularly evaluate our team performance.
2. We demonstrate creativity in our approach to doing work
3. Conflict between individuals typically gets resolved.
4. We have taken time to build relationships through activities that help us to know one another better.
5. We approach problem solving by looking at a wide range of alternatives and then selecting the best based on objective analysis.
6. Team members’ skills are complementary.
7. We are recognized by the organization for our work.
8. We have clear goals.
9. Communication among team members is open, allowing for free flow of information in a timely manner.
10. We encourage all team members to express their ideas.
11. We work well with others in our organization.
12. We organize tasks well.
13. We have established a way of measuring our progress on goals.
14. Team members’ roles have been clearly defined.
15. We have challenging team-performance standards.
16. We have established team guidelines/norms for how we want to work together.
17. Our team meetings are productive.
18. Team members trust each other.
19. We regularly celebrate our accomplishments.

Here are Common Dysfunctional Team Behaviors demonstrated in Today’s work environments:
    The team dynamic is characterized by polarization, with cliques often forming.
    Expected outcomes for individuals and the team are ill-defined or ignored.
    The team experiences low productivity; individuals may be performing but not nearly as effectively as if the team were truly functional.
    Team members view and execute their roles rigidly, with little willingness to be flexible.
    Team members make excessive negative assumptions about the intent behind the behavior of others on the team.
    Interpersonal conflict between team members remains unresolved and/or exaggerated.
    Minimal communication occurs between team members, which results in hoarding of information.
    Mechanisms for individual and team accountability are few.
    Team members do not trust one another or the leader.

Today’s work environments require collaboration within and across division/work units in order to ensure smooth and efficient operations, yet many individuals seem to focus only on their own interests or needs, sometimes at the expense of overall group performance. So how does a leader harness the individualistic, competitive spirit of some and develop collaboration and teamwork in order to achieve greater collective outcomes?