I’m sure you’ve had the same experience as most people. You’ve started a new project, working with some colleagues in your organization. You were chosen for this because you have something to contribute.
At first, you’re excited about the prospect of working with others to accomplish something that drives positive change in your organization. And then, the team starts to work together. One person doesn’t pull his weight. Another person forgets to “stay in her lane,” and mostly suggests (unsolicited and annoying) ways that you can fix your area. And the list goes on and on and on. Soon enough, you’re wondering why you’re working on the project and you just can’t wait for it to end.
What can go wrong? Most of the thoughts about problem teamwork falls into fourteen categories:
Vision, purpose and goals lack clarity
Roles not defined
Team has weak culture
Team members struggle with diversity
Lack support (time and resources) for teamwork
Mistrust
Miscommunication
Poor out-of-the-box thinking
Weak problem solving capability
Team behaviors cause poor decisions
Lack conflict resolution skills
Team leader lacks team leadership skills
Ineffective meeting facilitation
Poor meeting behaviors
Any of these happen in your team? Follow our blog and maybe you’ll have learn some creative ideas about how to reduce team conflict and help your team to perform.
Dr. Franz is a Professor of Industrial and Organizational Psychologist at St. John Fisher College. In addition to his academic work, he also works as an organizational consultant through his independent consulting organization, Franz Consulting.
His topical areas of expertise include team leadership, individual and team decision making, improving team performance, and using teams to drive organizational change. Many of his ideas about improving teams are published in his book, titled Group Dynamics and Team Interventions. He is also an experienced applied researcher, specializing in conducting focus groups and individual interviews, designing custom surveys, analyzing employee and workplace data, and evaluating the effectiveness of training programs.
Prior to becoming a college professor, Dr. Franz worked for the Wyatt Company (now Towers-Watson), Buck Consultants and Custom Solutions, A London House Consulting Group.
Dr. Franz is a member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Erie Canal Applied Psychology Network. His scientific research has been published in premier journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Journal of Applied Psychology, and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago and his M.A. from the University at Buffalo.
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