4. Disengaged Teams—The third inhibitor is a test of your ability to recruit, equip and deploy a fully engaged team. Author and consultant Patrick Lencioni describes this dynamic in his book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. The first level of dysfunction is an absence of trust. When teams are void of trust—lacking vulnerability with one another—they fear conflict. This fear of conflict prevents them from engaging in the healthy debate of ideas. As a result, because opinions aren’t voiced (or heard), team members lack commitment to the proposed idea or solution. This lack of buy-in causes the team to avoid accountability. In the end, there’s an inattention to results. In other words, nothing gets done because the team has disengaged. In some cases, team members need to be assigned different roles that better match their gifting; other times, team members need to transition out of the organization. If your team is disengaged, identify where trust has been violated and implement appropriate steps to improve employee engagement.
5. Ineffective Execution—The final inhibitor is the inability to effectively execute. You can have the most inspiring vision, a rock solid plan and an excited team, but if you can’t execute, it’s like having a party without anything to celebrate. I used to think that it was impossible to have a motivated team without execution. To me, they’re like a hand in a glove … they just go together. But I’ve come to realize that some people are fun to have on a team, but they just don’t get much done. They can’t execute. Everything takes longer than it should. As a result, they inhibit progress. Execution requires everything listed above, combined with accountability and regular, strategic conversations to measure progress and make necessary adjustments.
These five inhibitors to progress prevent you from answering the five questions every organization must answer:
- Vision: Where are we going?
- Strategies: What’s the most effective method to get there?
- Plan: What steps will we take to implement the method?
- Team: Who’s responsible for each step?
- Execution: When will it be done?
Question: Which inhibitor is slowing your personal (or organizational) progress? What do you need to do to get the ball rolling again?
