"The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” - An overview and our experience

How “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” Can Strengthen Your Workplace

In his bestselling book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni outlines a simple yet powerful model that helps leaders and teams diagnose common problems and build healthier dynamics. While the framework is often used in leadership training, its real value lies in how practically applicable it is to everyday teamwork.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the five dysfunctions—and how you can spot and address them in real-life team situations:

1. Absence of Trust

The dysfunction: Team members don’t feel safe being vulnerable—admitting mistakes, asking for help, or sharing concerns.

Example in practice: A new project team avoids giving honest updates during meetings, leading to late surprises.What to do: Start meetings with a quick personal check-in or use short team-building exercises to encourage openness over time.

2. Fear of Conflict

The dysfunction: People hold back their opinions to avoid tension, which leads to watered-down decisions.

Example in practice: In a strategy session, no one challenges the team leader’s idea—even when it clearly needs more thought.What to do: Set ground rules that respectful disagreement is not only allowed, but encouraged. You might even appoint a "devil’s advocate" in discussions to prompt debate.

3. Lack of Commitment

The dysfunction: If people haven’t felt heard or engaged, they won’t fully buy into decisions.

Example in practice: After a meeting, team members quietly continue doing things their own way.What to do: At the end of meetings, summarize key decisions and ask everyone to voice agreement or concerns—this reinforces shared commitment.

4. Avoidance of Accountability

The dysfunction: Without buy-in, people hesitate to hold each other accountable for poor performance or missed deadlines.

Example in practice: A team member consistently submits work late, and no one addresses it.What to do: Build in shared metrics and peer reviews so the team—not just the manager—monitors performance.

5. Inattention to Results

The dysfunction: When individuals prioritize their own success over the team's goals, results suffer.

Example in practice: A high-performing salesperson withholds client info from the team to maintain personal advantage.What to do: Publicly define and track collective goals, and celebrate team wins to reinforce shared success.

What do we find when we use this model? And why it works...

The real power of Lencioni’s model is its simplicity. We use it with teams at all levels as a health check—whether they are leading a department, managing people or a project group.

We start by creating the right environment for an honest assessment where any team struggles, then experiment with working through how different approaches might impact.

Even basic steps like encouraging open feedback or tracking shared goals can have a noticeable impact, esepcialy when started in a facilitated (and safe) environment, such as an offsite.

In a world where collaboration is essential, the Five Dysfunctions model gives teams a shared language and practical path to improve—not just in theory, but in day-to-day work.