Toxic teams spiral inward and downward.
Reaching high requires high-functioning teams.
How to lead a toxic team:
- Assume silence is agreement.
- Question motives.
- Avoid tough topics.
- Begin sentences with “you.” For example, “You always,” and “You never.”
- Use language that obscures meaning.
- Tolerate drifters.
- Allow power members to drone on and on.
- Share feelings without regard for others.
- Make decisions before or after team meetings.
- Fight for everything you want without regard to others.
- Refuse to adapt to each other.
- Start over when late comers arrive.
- Interrupt each other.
- Use sarcasm to put people in their place.
- Refuse to admit you’re wrong.
- Marginalize new members who don’t know that you’ve always done it that way.
- Invite the same people to the table, year after year.
- Explain why new ideas won’t work before exploring them.
- Get lost in the weeds.
- Don’t assign champions to projects.
- Don’t talk about purpose and goals.
- Assume things won’t work.
- Solve every problem and address every imaginable contingency before trying something.
- Don’t announce the purpose of the meeting.
- Write long agendas.
- Deal with a few “quick” items before you address important topics. Leaving too little time for big stuff.
- Discuss but don’t decide.
5 tips for high-functioning teams:
- Explain why the team exists.
- Connect everything you do to the reason for the team’s existence.
- Assign champions and establish deadlines.
- Monitor and manage energy.
- Encourage equal participation over time.
What’s the most toxic behavior that poisons teams?
What’s the secret to fueling team success?
