Jennifer Porter writes about working with dysfunctional teams and developing the skills to improve team dynamics.
Teams are complex systems of individuals with different preferences, skills, experiences, perspectives and habits. The odds of improving that complex system in a meaningful and sustainable way are higher if every team member (including the leader) learns to master these three foundational capabilities:
- internal self-awareness
- external self-awareness
- personal accountability
Source: Harvard Business Review, January 29, 2019. Link.
Changing how we process information and respond requires not just learning these new skills, but also demonstrating them long enough to form new habits. Effective teammates believe that, sometimes, you have to go slow to go fast.
INSIGHTS: Porter notes how frequently team members point at each other. Change, she says, starts with that person who looks at you in the mirror every morning.