Five Behaviors That Make a Team Successful

Powered by the Everything DiSC® model, The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team™ helps members balance their individual workplace styles with an appreciation of those of other members. A team functions well beyond coexistence, achieving business results when members learn to master The Five Behaviors: 

1. Trust

BUILDING THE FOUNDATION OF A COHESIVE TEAM

Trust can only happen when team members are willing to be completely vulnerable with one another. There is confidence among team members that their peers’ intentions are good and that there is no reason to be protective or careful around each other.

How does a team build vulnerability-based trust?

Using a behavior assessment like DiSC can give team members deeper insights into themselves and their peers. It can help people understand each other and get comfortable being transparent about personal limitations.

2. Conflict

EMBRACING HEALTHY CONFLICT IS POSSIBLE WITH TRUST

Even though many of us may naturally try to avoid conflict at work, by doing so, we’re missing out on the kind of passionate debates that are essential to any great team. All lasting relationships require productive conflict in order to grow.

When team members build a foundation of vulnerability-based trust, conflict simply becomes an attempt to find the best possible answer. Productive conflict around concepts and ideas has the potential to produce the best possible solution in the shortest period of time.

How does conflict help teams succeed?

A team that engages in conflict minimizes politics and puts critical topics on the table for discussion. It also extracts the ideas of all members, helping to solve real problems quickly.

3. Commitment

BUYING IN ON DECISIONS DESPITE INITIAL DISAGREEMENTS

In the context of a cohesive team, commitment is clarity around decisions, and the ability to move forward with complete buy-in from every member of the team – including those who initially disagreed with the decision. Great teams understand they must be able to commit even when the outcome is uncertain and not everyone initially agrees.

How do different DiSC styles generally approach commitment?

• D coworkers have a take-charge attitude and want to make up their minds quickly.
• i coworkers rely on personal relationships and may be more apt to commit when they feel a sense of team spirit.
• S coworkers are careful decision-makers and want to be absolutely sure before they commit.
• C coworkers are swayed by objective information rather than emotion or intuition.
  

4. Accountability

CALLING OUT PEERS ON BEHAVIORS THAT MIGHT HURT THE TEAM

It’s not uncommon for people to be unwilling to tolerate the interpersonal discomfort that accompanies calling out a peer on his or her behavior, preferring to avoid difficult conversations. Effective teams overcome these natural inclinations, opting instead to ‘enter the danger’ with one another.

Applying peer pressure is a good thing when it comes to workplace teams. It gives team members a sense of feeling trusted and respected, and members feel a responsibility to get things done right.

DiSC styles tend to prefer receiving productive feedback in different ways:

• D coworkers prefer a straightforward delivery.
• i coworkers want a positive explanation.
• S coworkers prefer a considerate but direct delivery.
• C coworkers want a truthful, logical explanation.

5. Results

STAYING ACCOUNTABLE AND FOCUSED ON COLLECTIVE RESULTS

The ultimate goal of encouraging trust, healthy conflict, commitment, and accountability is to achieve results. And yet, as it turns out, one of the greatest challenges to team success is the inattention to outcome-based results.

Aren't all teams working toward results?

Results would naturally seem to be the driving force behind a team. However, sometimes team status and individual status goals get in the way. A focus on team status occurs when merely being part of a group is satisfying enough, regardless of results. Individual status refers to the familiar tendency of people to focus on enhancing their own positions or career prospects at the expense of the team.

The emphasis is on collective results. Great teams ensure all members, regardless of their individual responsibilities and are as of expertise, are doing whatever they can to help the team accomplish its goals.