Here's Why Your Team Isn't Working Well Together (It's Not What You Think)
As a small business owner, you've likely invested a great deal of time and resources into building your team. Something just isn't clicking despite your best efforts. The approximate cost of conflict in the workplace totaled $359 billion when it was last researched in 2008; this cost can easily be calculated to be in the trillions today.
When your team isn’t working well together, it’s easy to assume personality clashes, a lack of skills, or poor leadership are the culprit. But what if the true reasons your team is struggling are less obvious? Often, the underlying causes of team dysfunction in the workplace can be surprising and not as recognizable. In this blog post, we will take a look at some of the lesser-known reasons why your team might not be functioning as harmoniously as you'd like—and what you can do about it.
1.Your Team Is Too Homogeneous
Bias is a natural inclination that causes us to have a preference or rejection of someone leading to prejudice. We then tend to act on these biases which shows up in hiring team members that are like us. While it's natural to hire people we relate to or “who fit” in your workplace culture, a team that's too similar can lead to groupthink and a lack of innovation and creativity.
As a small business, a lack of innovation can have detrimental effects and can lead to stagnation and is one of the leading causes of business failure. Innovation is essential for all types of businesses to maintain a competitive edge and continue to grow. Diversity contributes to more innovation and creativity amongst your team. One study by Gartner revealed that a highly diverse environment can improve team performance by up to 30%. Diversity isn't just about demographics – it's about different thinking styles, backgrounds, and experiences.
What to do:
Prioritize hiring people with varied perspectives, backgrounds, and skill sets to keep your business innovating.
Evaluate employee referrals with the same structured interview process that non-referrals are evaluated to reduce bias.
Diversify your interview panel as your small business grows to gain different perspectives on candidates.
The approximate cost of conflict in the workplace totaled $359 billion when it was last researched in 2008; this cost can easily be calculated to be in the trillions today.
2. Lack Of Psychological Safety
A psychologically safe culture means people feel safe to take risks, speak up, be honest, disagree, or communicate concerns without fear of negative consequences. Teams that are not psychologically safe are afraid to fail, do not innovate, and do not bring their authentic selves to work. They then mask their true thoughts and are not empowered to do their best work. Your team should be empowered and trusted to make decisions that are in alignment with your business mission and vision.
What to do:
Ask your team often for their perspectives and opinions, then implement their ideas as you can.
When employees make mistakes, give coaching and constructive feedback without tearing them down; discipline in private and recognize in public.
Create a culture that views failures as learning opportunities.
Be approachable and accessible to your team by having an open-door policy and being physically present.
Implement one-on-ones with your team to get a frequent pulse of your teams’ concerns and issues and help them remove obstacles; show concern and support for team members as individuals, not just employees.
Share your own missteps and how you've grown from them to set the tone.
3. There’s No Trust in Your Team’s Autonomy
Micromanagement makes your team feels like they’re not trusted to make decisions, and it can lead to disengagement and dysfunction. You hired your team for the skillset and knowledge they bring to your organization and should be trusted to do their job. Constant oversight can stifle creativity, kill motivation, and make employees feel less empowered to contribute their best work. Over time, this leads to resentment and a lack of ownership over team projects.
What to do:
Be mindful of the amount of communication you send to employees such as emails, text messages, and chat messages.
Give your team the freedom to make decisions within their roles and responsibilities.
Focus on outcomes rather than day-to-day tasks, and trust that your team will deliver.
Offer support and guidance when needed but resist the urge to control the “how” of their work; be open to the fact that your team may take a different path toward the same outcome.
4. You're Not Embracing Conflict
Conflict is commonly viewed as a negative thing, but it’s necessary for your small business to grow. It’s natural to want to avoid conflict amongst your team, but a team that never disagrees isn’t necessarily a harmonious one. A lack of healthy disagreement can lead to groupthink, stagnation, and unspoken frustration. Healthy conflict can lead to better ideas and stronger relationships. Like psychological safety, if your team is afraid to voice different opinions or ideas, they’re less likely to feel engaged or committed to the outcome. This can result in a lack of buy-in, poor decision-making, low morale, and soon, a lack of trust within the team.
What to do:
Normalize constructive criticism and create an environment where disagreement is seen as a valuable part of the process.
Train your team on how to engage in respectful debates, encourage diverse viewpoints, and disagree productively.
Make it clear that questioning ideas or processes isn’t personal—it’s part of how your business grows and improves.
5. You're Not Fostering Personal Connections
In a professional environment, it can be easy to remain rigid in your interpersonal skills by hyper-focusing on the business mission. In a small business, it’s especially hard to find time to do anything outside of work. While it's important to maintain professional boundaries, teams that have personal connections tend to work better together. In fact, 94% of all respondents agree they’re more productive when they feel connected to colleagues. With one-third of your team’s time spent at work, establishing personal connection is key.
What do do:
Encourage non-work interactions by scheduling team events such as lunches, volunteer activities or virtual coffee breaks.
Support your team hosting non-work activities without you being present.
Create work-related connections through new hire buddy programs, mentorship, or pairing employees together to attend training programs.
6. Your Team is Over-Scheduled
Everyone is often wearing multiple hats in small businesses and meetings can fill the calendar quickly. Too many meetings and a crowded schedule can leave your team drained, with little time for actual productive work or informal bonding. When employees are constantly moving from one task to another, they lose the ability to communicate effectively or develop meaningful relationships with their peers. Employee eventually become burned out. Read our previous blog post to learn more about burnout.
What to do:
Cut back on unnecessary meetings by always sending an agenda ahead of meetings. If a meeting doesn’t have an agenda, it shouldn’t be scheduled.
Encourage “no-meeting days” or “quiet hours” to give your team uninterrupted time for deep work.
Build in time for genuine, quality interactions that aren’t tied to immediate work goals.
7. Lack of a Shared Purpose
Sometimes the problem isn’t that your team doesn’t get along—it’s that they don’t understand what they’re working toward together. Beyond individual roles and responsibilities, does your team understand the bigger picture? When goals are unclear, or roles are poorly defined, it’s easy for your team to feel disconnected from their work and from each other. Without a clear sense of purpose, collaboration can fall apart as individuals struggle to see how their work fits into the bigger picture. A lack of shared purpose can lead to disconnected efforts.
What to do:
Communicate your company's mission before hire and as part of the onboarding process.
Ensure that every team member understands the company’s mission and how their work contributes to it.
Set clear, measurable goals and ensure each person’s role is well-defined and communicated.
Regularly revisit and discuss your team’s progress toward shared objectives to keep everyone aligned and motivated.
Implement and leverage a performance review process to align employee goals with business goals on a regular basis. You can read more about how to develop a performance review process in our previous blog post.
Conclusion
Building a cohesive team is an ongoing process. It requires regular attention, adjustment, and a willingness to experiment with different approaches. Take a step back, evaluate your team dynamics through these new lenses. Your next breakthrough in team performance might come from the most unexpected place.
Disclaimer: The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Information on this website may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information.
