Why Teams Fail?

I have been an ardent follower of 20-overs-a-side, franchise-based, cricket tournament in India called the Indian Premier League (IPL). Played over a period of one and a half months, it has the best cricketers of the world playing the shortest version of the game in a keenly fought and exciting competition. High stakes involved in terms of sponsorship and prize money make it not only a lucrative tournament for club owners, but also attracts top talents and brings in high levels of professionalism.

Teams participating in the tournament have specialized coaches for every department of the game. The Bengaluru outfit is one of the star-studded teams in the competition with the presence of superstar cricketers like Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers amongst many others. However their performance in the tournament over the last few years has been lackluster. In spite of boasting an array of star players they have never won the tournament or been amongst the top finishers. This has been true of many other teams in countless other disciplines.

What could be the possible reasons for a team’s under-performance? While sports analysts have written reams of pages on sporting factors and statistics, what set me thinking were the more generic questions of “Why teamwork fails?” or “Why teams don’t work?”

In corporate circles virtues of great teamwork are extolled and celebrated. But it is often observed that, there is a collection of brilliant individuals on a project or a team, but they fail to deliver on their targets or goals. There are numerous occasions when individuals feel frustrated and leave teams due to poor chemistry amongst team members. So what are some of the reasons for such team failures:

1. Lack of Shared Identity: The team should have a common identity and a mission. The team mission acts as the unifying and driving factor of the team.
2. Poor Leadership: More often than not, team failures can be ascribed to the team leader. The leader sets the direction. If the leader doesn’t articulate a clear direction, there is a real risk that individuals will pursue different agendas.
3. Goals and Roles Not Clearly Defined: Members need to know what they are supposed to be doing together. Each member of the team should be clear about his/her role and responsibilities. Overlapping domains or fuzzy demarcations create scope for conflict and under performance.
4. Poor Team Composition: The team members should have complementary skills. To take a cricketing analogy, if one of the batsmen is a pinch hitter then the other one should be a patient accumulator. Age, gender, cultural background, learning styles are all factors that can make or mar a team. Teams that have the wrong mix of members invariably get into trouble.
5. No Clear Communication or Norms of Conduct: Teamwork fails if there is weak communication between team members. Problems with co-ordination result in poor collaboration and leads to under-performance. Team norms must be clearly laid out and activities such as team meetings must be efficiently managed.
6. Groupthink: If team members agree on everything then creativity might be stifled. Many teams suffer because of lack of diversity. All harmonious teams are not necessarily productive. Often, deviant members may bring in constructive disruption.
7. Lack of Enabling Support: If the organizational enablers such as rewards and recognition, performance management and growth and career plans are poorly designed, then there is a distinct possibility of team failure.
8. Lack of Team Coaching and Mentoring: It is seen that in most organisations, star individual performers get disproportionate share of management attention. There are no incentives for being star teams or productive units. Organisation must focus on group coaching, emphasising team results and encouraging team recognition. 

As I finished penning down my thoughts, it is time to witness another IPL match. Incidentally, it is another match involving the Bengaluru team and I will be keenly analyzing the team’s performance.