I recently had a leadership team complete Patrick Lencioni’s “5 Dysfunctions of a Team” assessment. As part of the exercise, the team identified several strategies for team improvement.
The team called one strategy “moving up the pyramid” in reference to Lencioni’s pyramid of 5 dysfunctions of a team. But instead of listing the dysfunctions in the pyramid, they listed the 5 behaviors of a cohesive team:
- Trust
- Engaging in Conflict
- Commitment
- Accountability
- Collective Results
What is their strategy for “moving up the pyramid?”
- The leadership team will meet once a week.
- In their meeting room, they will display the pyramid with the 5 behaviors of a cohesive team.
- The team will carve out 10-15 minutes in each meeting to address where they are on the pyramid.
- Each person will share one example of how they moved up the pyramid.
- As a team, they will address any hurdles that are preventing them from “moving up the pyramid.”
Here is what I like about this strategy:
- The focus is on behaviors they want to exhibit as a team.
- The team has a commitment to identify examples of how they are “moving up the pyramid.”
- Each team member is accountable for “moving up the pyramid.”
- They will identify any hurdles each week.
- The team is committed to putting into practice what they discuss about team improvement.
This may be an idea for your team to consider. Try it and let me know how it works.