Building cohesive, high-performing teams is essential for nonprofit success. Discover how Patrick Lencioni's 'The Five Dysfunctions of a Team' framework can help nonprofit leaders foster trust, accountability, and a results-driven culture for greater impact.
Effective teamwork is essential in the nonprofit sector. Nonprofits often operate with tight budgets, limited resources, and high stakes, making team synergy critical. They are the Ginger Rogers* of the working world, doing everything other businesses do but often backward and always in high heels.
* For those of you who are not boomers, please see this.
Patrick Lencioni's seminal book, "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team," provides valuable insights into building cohesive, high-performing teams. The framework is important especially for nonprofits and was instrumental to Risk Alternatives as we developed our Foundations for Growth (FFG) engagement offering. This month we will be addressing Lencioni’s dysfunctions to help nonprofit leaders understand how to build great teams. As part of that, we will reflect on how our FFG engagement can help.
The Dysfunction: Without trust, team members are reluctant to be vulnerable and open about their mistakes, weaknesses, or concerns.
Why It Matters for Nonprofits: Nonprofit work often involves complex, emotionally charged missions. Trust is the foundation for open, honest discussions that are crucial for addressing sensitive issues and making impactful decisions. It fosters a safe environment where staff can admit challenges and seek help, leading to innovative solutions and better mission fulfillment.
The Dysfunction: Teams that lack trust can't engage in unfiltered, passionate debates about ideas, leading to poor decision-making.
Why It Matters for Nonprofits: When managed well, conflict can drive growth and improvement. Nonprofits deal with diverse stakeholder interests and multifaceted problems. Healthy debate ensures all perspectives are considered, resulting in robust strategies and better outcomes for the communities they serve. Encouraging constructive conflict prevents stagnation and promotes continuous improvement.
The Dysfunction: Without buy-in team members struggle to commit to decisions, leading to ambiguity and a lack of direction.
Why It Matters for Nonprofits: Commitment is vital for achieving long-term goals. Clear commitment ensures all team members are aligned and moving in the same direction. This unity is crucial when implementing programs, fundraising, and advocating for change. A committed team is resilient and persistent, qualities necessary for navigating the challenges and uncertainties inherent in nonprofit work.
The Dysfunction: When teams fail to commit, they are unlikely to hold each other accountable, leading to a culture of mediocrity.
Why It Matters for Nonprofits: Accountability ensures everyone is contributing effectively to the organization's mission. In the nonprofit world, where resources are scarce, every team member's performance directly impacts the organization's ability to deliver on its promises. A culture of accountability drives excellence and ensures all team members meet their responsibilities and striving toward collective goals.
The Dysfunction: Team members put their individual needs or departmental goals above the collective goals of the team.
Why It Matters for Nonprofits: The ultimate measure of a nonprofit's success is its impact. Focusing on individual or departmental achievements can detract from the organization's overarching mission. Nonprofits must prioritize collective results to maximize their positive impact on society. By focusing on shared goals, teams can ensure their efforts are contributing to meaningful, measurable outcomes that advance their mission.
The Dysfunctions’ Importance to the Foundations for Growth Engagement
Patrick Lencioni's "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" offers a powerful framework for building effective, cohesive teams. The book was important to us at Risk Alternatives as we developed our popular Foundations for Growth engagement. As Lencioni notes, one can look at the five dysfunctions from the other direction to describe a “cohesive, high-performing team:
Patrick Lencioni, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team 189-90 (2002). We wanted to create a way that nonprofits could build such teams. The FFG approach is the answer, as we will explain in later posts.
By cultivating openness and trust, encouraging healthy discussion of competing issues, committing to decisions, holding each other accountable, and focusing on results, nonprofit teams can overcome common pitfalls and achieve extraordinary outcomes. In a sector where every effort counts, mastering these dynamics is key to driving social change and fulfilling the noble missions that define nonprofit work.
Risk Alternatives provides training and support for organizations that want to improve their resilience, sustainability, and growth. For more information, email info@riskalts.com or call 608-709-0793.