In my work in collaboration and team effectiveness, I am sometimes approached about helping with a “dysfunctional team.” People use the word “dysfunction” liberally and can mean various things by it. I’ve learned some lessons about team dysfunction, and the most important one is that it isn’t what I often assumed it was.

The ‘team’ problem

Several years ago, I was asked by a Mars HR manager, Carla, to work with a finance team she described as “really dysfunctional.” She explained that they were having problems with trust, or rather, mistrust. I agreed to look into it and immediately began to gather data, starting with team member interviews, conducted individually by phone.

I was a few minutes into my third team member interview when an unmistakable pattern emerged: People were breaking into tears when asked how things were going within the team. It was clear there was a problem here. I explored the cause of the tears and discovered the major problem was their petty and vindictive boss who played team members off each other in ways that left them feeling shamed and exposed.

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