When a team is in dysfunction – the team isn’t getting along – it can’t make decisions. But, dysfunction usually is more of a symptom than the actual problem. As often as not, the real problem revolves around a lack of clarity surrounding organizational strategy or direction. Helping teams get their minds around that basic fact helps them understand why they’re here, aside from making money as an organization. It's fundamental to understanding the business. 

You may call it a vision or core purpose, but it can be surprising the numbers of people who can't really answer the question: "What is it that you do?” Executives frequently say: "We've got that covered." But when pressed to write it down in simple terms, they may be working on it three or four hours later. Without clarity over so basic an issue, it is difficult to organize to the get the job done and to focus leaders and employees on tasks that create real value. Disagreements, then, create the tension or dissension in your team that presents as dysfunction, which may not be the problem at all.

Problems with team dynamics commonly stem for a lack of alignment of team members' goals and expectations. That, in turn, usually revolves around areas of competence. Does the team believe each other has the range of talent to do the job?

That brings up the correlated issue of confidence. Do team members trust each other? That’s often the baseline. Do they really trust each other and choose to trust each other? Can they engage in productive conflict? That’s almost impossible to do if you don’t have a baseline of trust.

Are team members able to make commitments – can they disagree and then still commit to a chosen course of action? Are they able to see things through? At the same time, do team members have the courage — and does the environment allow for the courage – to say, "Wait a minute. We need to pull back and change direction.”

Anytime there are handoffs between one group and another — as between development and production or sales and operations — there is an opportunity for a disconnect. That’s where understanding, trust, and also the clarity of direction, is crucial. If one of those is out of whack, chances are high that there’s going to be a problem, or a misunderstanding, or an assumption of ill will of some type.
 

It is a big shift to go from being an owner/operator to being the CEO of a larger organization. You must move, almost overnight, from having your finger on the pulse of the organization with a deep, intense, first-hand knowledge of its operations and products into building a structured environment and leadership team. Many CEOs can’t make that switch, and good things typically don’t happen when that occurs.

• They focus almost entirely on whatever is the urgent issue of the day. This is a form of firefighting. Leaders get together and work out solutions to problems with urgent needs. They may not be the most important needs of the company. Just urgent.
  
• Overzealous attempts to treat everyone equally. In this case, leaders decide they don't want to exclude anyone, don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, and the meetings turn into overlong report sessions.
  

Things that everyone thinks they understand often aren't as clear as we all think. This is especially true over time. New leadership, new team members, new products, marketplace changes, technology changes and many other things all can eat away at alignment among senior leader team members. Everyone assumes they understand the mission, but that understanding may have shifted among many in the group.

Additionally, changes may have necessitated adjustments, some of which may have come naturally to members of the team, but which never were fully shared or discussed in terms of finding a unity of purpose. 

It is important to dedicate senior leadership time to ensuring that the mission, values, goals of the organization are revisited, recommunicated and realized vigorously on a regular basis. As Lewis Carroll's Cheshire cat said: "If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there."