Latest news with #teamdynamics
Forbes
7 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
How To Change Team Dynamics Step-By-Step
Jerry, Executive coach, CEO of Reboot, speaker, author, radical self-inquiry pioneer, and believer that better humans make better leaders. It's easy to get frustrated with a team that keeps missing the mark. But often, the problem isn't effort—it's a loop of unspoken dynamics. Teams fall into habitual roles, and no number of workshops or retreats will help unless those roles are identified and disrupted. Once these patterns are made visible, they can be broken—giving each team member the chance to speak up and step into the role they truly want to play. Caught In A Loop A client recently came to me ready to fire his entire executive team. One person kept taking over every project, others disengaged or resisted and blame was flying. He'd tried retreats and team-building workshops, but nothing worked. Despite their credentials, he was convinced the team would never function well together. What I saw was a classic pattern: Each person had unconsciously fallen into an emotional role. The overachiever had become the Rescuer. The one constantly blamed was the Scapegoat. The disengaged one had taken on the role of Skeptic. No one chose these parts—they just emerged over time and got reinforced with every interaction. These roles weren't sustainable, but they were also hard to break—until we named them. Once the team began to identify the roles they'd been playing, something shifted. Most didn't want the roles they'd been stuck in; they simply hadn't known how to step out of them. The real work of healing a dysfunctional team isn't about assigning blame or hosting another offsite. It's about making the hidden dynamics visible and giving people the choice to play a different part. Breaking The Pattern Teams often adopt subconscious roles—patterns of behavior that feel familiar, even if they're unhelpful. These roles become reinforced over time, especially when they go unexamined. People become used to playing the same role and slip into that place during every meeting and when faced with any project—not because they want to play that role, but because it's the one that has been subconsciously assigned to them. To begin breaking the cycle, try this simple but powerful process: • List each member of the team, including yourself. This process only works if everyone is part of the inquiry. • Name the emotional role each person seems to play. For example: Is someone always the Rescuer? The Skeptic? The Ghost? The Scapegoat? Don't think in terms of job titles—think in terms of emotional posture and habitual reactions. • Identify the underlying belief or fear behind each role. Ask: What might this person be protecting against? What story are they carrying—about themselves or others? • Invite the team into a shared conversation about these observations. You don't need to get it 'right.' What matters is creating a safe enough space for honest reflection. Often, the simple act of naming the roles begins to loosen their grip. • Ask each person which role they feel stuck in—and whether they want to keep playing it. This step can be incredibly freeing. Most people don't want to be trapped in old patterns. They just haven't been asked and don't know how to break free. By making the implicit explicit, you open the door for choice. And with choice comes the possibility of a team that functions not out of fear or habit, but out of clarity and trust. And that's the team that leads, executes and excels. Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?
Forbes
30-07-2025
- General
- Forbes
5 Steps In Dealing With A Difficult Teammate
Master these 5 practical ways to handle a difficult teammate and protect your workflow, team ... More dynamics, and leadership reputation. In every career and organization, encountering a difficult teammate is almost inevitable. Whether it's someone who consistently misses deadlines, displays a negative attitude, or causes friction in the group, you will likely have to deal with such coworkers at some point in your professional journey. Rather than allowing these challenges to affect your morale or team output, it's essential to handle them with maturity and strategic thinking. Mastering the art of handling difficult colleagues shows emotional intelligence and professionalism. The ability to navigate team conflict without drama demonstrates leadership potential and might likely be one of the things management looks for when considering promotions. Here are five ways to deal with a difficult coworker without causing conflict. Assess If There Is A Pattern In Their Behavior The first step in dealing with a difficult teammate is to avoid making hasty judgments. It's easy to label someone as "difficult" based on one or two interactions, especially under stressful conditions. Instead, take a step back and observe if there's a consistent pattern of behavior. Is the person regularly uncooperative, or was it just a bad day? Do they have issues with everyone or just with you? Understanding the frequency and triggers of the unpleasant behavior helps in responding appropriately. There are times when what appears to be rudeness or laziness could stem from personal struggles or stress. Being objective will prevent unnecessary conflict and help you build a clear perspective on the issue. Try To Avoid Conflict If You Can Not every challenge requires confrontation. Avoiding conflict doesn't mean avoiding accountability. It just means choosing your battles wisely to preserve team harmony and personal energy. In some cases, the most effective approach is to avoid unnecessary friction altogether. If a teammate tends to be argumentative during meetings or becomes agitated over minor tasks, it may be wise to limit direct interactions when possible. You can focus instead on delivering your part of the project and keeping communications professional and to the point. By refusing to engage in petty arguments or power struggles, you maintain your composure and focus on productivity. Show Empathy When Discussing Issues When a difficult teammate's behavior starts impacting the team's performance, that is the time you need to have that conversation. However, how you approach this discussion matters a lot. Instead of blaming or accusing, show empathy and focus on the team's success. Start the conversation not with criticism but by using phrases such as, 'I noticed you've seemed a bit overwhelmed lately' or 'I wanted to understand how we can work better together.' Showing curiosity and concern can open up dialogue and build trust. Demonstrating empathy doesn't mean excusing poor behavior, but it creates a more constructive environment for resolving issues. If Things Don't Improve, Have An Open Group Discussion If your efforts to understand and avoid conflict haven't led to any improvement, the next step is to address the issue directly within the whole team. Consider proposing a group meeting with everyone involved, rather than discussing the issue with your superior without your teammate's knowledge. A team discussion brings transparency and allows each person to share their perspective openly. The presence of others also helps difficult coworkers realize the broader impact of their actions and prevents the situation from turning into a 'my word against yours' scenario. Keep the tone respectful, focus on behaviors, and aim for a resolution that works for the team. Escalate Only If The Issue Is Serious While escalation should be your last resort, there are cases where a teammate's behavior becomes toxic, harmful, or violates company policies. If someone is being abusive, discriminatory, or consistently undermining the team's performance despite repeated attempts to resolve the problem, then it's time to escalate. In such cases, involve HR or senior management, but only after documenting specific incidents and making sincere efforts to address the issue informally. When raising the concern, do this respectfully and professionally, and ask for a meeting that includes all parties involved, including HR or a neutral third party, to ensure fairness and accountability. Learning to work with a difficult teammate is an important professional skill. It demonstrates your ability to handle conflict, communicate effectively, and prioritize the success of the team over personal frustration. These five steps will help you not only in dealing with difficult teammates but will also set you apart as a team player and potential leader. How you respond to challenges speaks volumes to management. Handling difficult colleagues with professionalism can ultimately put you in a stronger position for career advancement.
Forbes
24-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
3 Signs That You Need A Career Change Within The Same Industry
You don't need to leave your industry to move forward—sometimes, a better team, new role, or fresh ... More challenge is all it takes to reignite your career spark. Many professionals find themselves at a crossroads in their careers, not because they dislike their work, but because something about their current situation is no longer fulfilling. Often, the solution is not to abandon the industry altogether but to shift within it. Staying in the same industry allows individuals to leverage their expertise and experience while seeking new challenges and environments that better align with their personal and professional goals. Here are three clear signs that indicate it might be time for a career change within your industry. You Love The Work But Dislike The Team Or Your Boss One of the most telling signs that it's time for a change is when the work itself still excites or fulfills you, but the environment in which you're doing it has become toxic or uninspiring. If you find yourself constantly frustrated by poor communication, micromanagement, lack of support, or workplace politics, it's not necessarily a sign that you should leave the field. Instead, it suggests you need a change of scenery. The impact of a poor team or ineffective leadership cannot be underestimated. Even the most passionate professionals can experience burnout or disengagement when they are surrounded by negativity or a lack of mutual respect. In these situations, it's important to recognize that your skills and love for the work deserve an environment that respects your contributions and promotes growth and collaboration. Moving to another company or department within the same industry can refresh your perspective and rekindle your enthusiasm. You've Been In The Same Role For Years Without Growth Longevity in a role can be both a strength and a weakness. On one hand, it signals loyalty, deep knowledge, and consistency. On the other, if you've been doing the same job for more than five years and there's been no progression, or no new responsibilities, promotions, and meaningful challenges, it may be time to re-evaluate your trajectory. Stagnation often indicates that your current organization may not be the right place for your long-term development. Even if you're good at your job, staying in one place for too long without a clear pathway forward can hinder your potential. Ambitious professionals thrive when they have goals to chase, whether that's a leadership role, new certifications, or exposure to different aspects of their field. If those opportunities are not available where you are, then seeking a new position within your industry can help reignite your motivation and set you on a path toward higher achievement. You've Mastered Your Role, But You Lost The Spark Mastery is a double-edged sword. While becoming an expert in your field is a significant achievement, it can also lead to a sense of complacency or boredom if there's nothing left to learn or challenge you in your current role. The early excitement that came with solving complex problems or learning new systems may have faded, leaving you feeling indifferent or unfulfilled, even though you're still performing well. This loss of zeal is not necessarily a sign that you're in the wrong career. It may just mean you've outgrown your current position or company. Many seasoned professionals feel this way after reaching a plateau where the learning curve has flattened. When that happens, the best move is often lateral rather than vertical, as there is a need to seek a new challenge within the same industry that allows you to apply your expertise in fresh ways. This could involve transitioning to a different specialization, working with a new client base, joining a startup, or taking on a consulting role. Feeling dissatisfied at work doesn't always mean you need to start over in a different field. Often, the solution lies in making a strategic move within the same industry where one offers a healthier work environment, more room for growth, or new challenges to tackle. Changing companies, departments, or even roles can breathe new life into your career while keeping you grounded in the work you enjoy and excel at. Recognizing these signs early and acting on them can help you stay motivated, fulfilled, and successful in the long run.
Harvard Business Review
08-07-2025
- Business
- Harvard Business Review
6 Steps to Reset a Demotivated Team
How often has your team changed lately? A new member joins. A key player exits. Roles shift. Strategy evolves. A conflict brews. Performance dips. Today's teams are in constant flux —reshaped by both internal dynamics and external pressures. And yet many leaders push forward without pausing to reset after a team change. The best leaders know that success isn't static—it requires regular renewal. Whether driven by restructuring, relationship tensions, demotivation, or strategic pivots, there comes a moment when a team needs more than a tweak. It needs a relaunch. Based on our collective work with hundreds of teams over the past decade, we offer a roadmap for getting your team back on track. 1. Reassess: Diagnose before you act Leaders often rush to make changes without first diagnosing the underlying issues, only to find the problems worsen. Before jumping into action, consider these questions: Is the team aligned on purpose, goals, and priorities? Are there unresolved conflicts or trust issues? Has motivation, engagement, or well-being dropped? Are there external pressures impacting performance? Does the team have the right resources? Is there a shared commitment to investing in relationships? Are there issues with your leadership style or perceived fairness? Not all team members will feel comfortable speaking openly, especially in group settings or directly with you. Cultural norms, personal history, and power dynamics can all shape how people express concerns. In addition to one-on-one conversations, consider using anonymous pulse surveys, or have one trusted member of the team compile unspoken themes and report them to you. And if the team's psychological safety allows, host a structured dialogue where members can share their perspectives in a respectful, inclusive way. The goal isn't to force openness—it's to uncover what's really going on in a way that works for your team. Only then can you address the root causes and relaunch with intention. Take one leader we worked with at a European tech company. He believed a loss of motivation had caused his team to get complacent, diminishing their performance. We asked him to dive a little deeper into what might really be going on that could perhaps be unspoken. An anonymous team diagnostic revealed a deeper issue: A recent reporting restructure had left several members feeling overlooked and undervalued, driving their disengagement. Once the true cause surfaced, the leader could take targeted action to rebuild trust and reenergize the team. While individual conversations are helpful for diagnosis, the reset must happen together. Leaders often rely too heavily on private, bilateral talks, unintentionally reinforcing fault lines. The real work lies in building the team's capacity to face hard truths— collectively. 2. Reconnect: Build trust and psychological safety If your team has been through turbulence, chances are trust has taken a hit. For example, we recently worked with a senior leader at a pharmaceutical company who dismissed a team-composition change as 'just one person' and that it was 'more or less the same team.' But the reality was different: While only one team member was replaced, the new person was dismissive and made sarcastic comments, which fundamentally distorted the whole team's power dynamics and diminished psychological safety. Relaunching starts with rebuilding psychological safety by creating an environment where people feel safe to speak up, share their experience, challenge ideas, and even engage in a ' good fight ' now and then. Here's how to begin: Lead with vulnerability by conducting a team check-in to understand how team members are faring both personally and professionally. Encourage open dialogue through structured team retrospectives. Allow each member to speak about their experience and ideas and be heard and acknowledged by others. Share your own lessons learned and what you'll do differently. Allow for constructive feedback through a structured team process where feedback is considered a shared responsibility. 3. Reenvision: What's our job to be done? What is your team's purpose? What does the future hold? What is at stake? Teams rally around clear, inspiring visions, especially during periods of change. Frame the relaunch as an opportunity to realign on the 'what,' not just to react to problems. While leaders often assume their team is aligned on purpose and strategy, that's not necessarily the case, and it's important to make the implicit explicit. We worked with the CFO of a German manufacturing company who had attempted a relaunch but been unsuccessful. She had skipped this reenvision step because her team members insisted that the vision was 'clear,' when in reality, they weren't on the same page. To get the alignment you need, be transparent about challenges while focusing on the future: Clarify the overall vision and strategic map to get there. Align on a few key outcomes that define success in the short and long term. Reaffirm the team's purpose and value to the organization and to customers. Set a forward-looking tone that inspires optimism and agency. 4. Recontract: Clarify the team's ways of working Misalignment often stems from confusion about roles, priorities, and how team members will actually collaborate. During a relaunch, renew and redefine key elements of what McKinsey refers to as the ' team operating system ': 'the building blocks for the way team members collaborate, create change, and support one another.' Consider: Roles and responsibilities: Ensure everyone knows what's expected of them. This encompasses both written and unwritten expectations of who specifically is responsible for which deliverables. Decision-making processes: Clarify who makes which decisions and how input is gathered. Team norms and expectations: Consider which behaviors are expected, what the optimal cadence is for meetings and collaboration, and when you'll engage in feedback. It's especially critical to regularly realign and reinforce these expectations when working across borders, boundaries, and time zones. We worked with the leadership team of a fast-moving consumer goods company's EMEA region on realigning their meeting practices. They were suffering from meeting proliferation, where their entire days were spent sitting in meetings, leaving little time to get 'actual work' done. We challenged them to be as specific as possible, considering questions like: Who must really be in the room, and who can receive the minutes afterward? What preparation is expected? What are our practices for virtual and face-to-face meetings, including length, how to ensure all voices are heard, and how much time to spend on checking in? And after the meeting itself, is there time for debriefing and sensemaking? After going through that exercise, the team created—and upheld—new standards, and meeting quality improved dramatically. 5. Reenergize: Build on successes It's easy to fall back into old patterns. To make the relaunch stick, focus on quick wins that demonstrate positive movement and reinforce the new behaviors. Identify one or two visible, achievable objectives that can be met in the first 30 to 60 days and recognize team members for doing so. Small successes build confidence and reinforce positive team dynamics. A team's energy is shaped by its daily interactions, successes, and failures. Relaunching is a great time to introduce or refresh rituals that foster alignment and engagement. Here are some ideas: Bi-weekly check-ins: Schedule short, focused team meetings to align on priorities. Wins and learnings reviews: Celebrate progress and reflect on lessons after completing important milestones. One-on-one coaching: Prioritize regular leader–team member touchpoints with the purpose of having a growth-oriented, developmental conversation. Equally important are the peer-to-peer coaching conversations where colleagues help each other with expansive questions aimed at strengthening skills. A supply chain team we worked with took time to acknowledge the progress they were making on active listening. They gave encouraging feedback to a team member who had previously been dominating conversations and had practiced stepping back in meetings. This encouraged him to continue the journey, propelling the team forward. These moments of positive reinforcement shape and reinforce team culture. 6. Readjust: Sustain momentum A relaunch is not a one-time event—it's an ongoing process, and the steps aren't always linear. Keep the momentum by: Tracking progress against the team's new goals and priorities. Providing micro-feedback frequent, brief, and targeted, and holding each other accountable to new ways of working. Regularly reassessing and adjusting what's working and what's not, including roles and responsibilities, decision-making processes, and team norms. The executive board of a logistics solution company we worked with found itself in a situation where members were frustrated with one of their peers, resulting in an us-versus-him dynamic. But we found that the reality was more complicated. The team was consistently violating an initially agreed-upon norm of turn-taking and sharing the airtime in discussions. The flipchart that featured this agreement had been pushed to the corner of the room and subsequently forgotten. The simple act of asking them to revisit those norms launched the reset. We asked them to evaluate themselves: 'On a scale of 1–10, how well are you doing on your initial agreement to take turns and share the airtime?' . . . Like any living systems, teams need regular care, attention, and intentional renewal to thrive. Relaunching a team isn't a sign of failure—it's a sign of leadership. By pausing to reassess, reset, and realign, leaders can reenergize their teams, strengthen trust, and build the clarity and momentum needed for sustained performance in an ever-changing environment.
Forbes
30-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How To Fix Executive Team Performance And Accountability
Even strong executive teams can struggle with creating shared accountability for enterprise results. getty Want to have a high-performing executive team? It's easy to assume that when you bring together smart, capable executives, performance will naturally follow. But in practice, the real barriers to executive team performance aren't about intelligence, strategy, or even trust. They're about a much deeper level of dynamics—unspoken tensions, competing priorities, and the uncomfortable truth that many senior leadership teams never learn how to hold themselves accountable to each other. Here's what's really going on behind the polished slides and well-run meetings—and what teams need to do differently if they want to drive real enterprise value. Most leadership teams know accountability is important. The problem? We tell teams to hold each other accountable—but we don't teach them how. Accountability requires conflict. It means naming when someone hasn't followed through, when priorities are drifting, or when a leader's actions are out of sync with what the team agreed to. That's hard in any environment—and exponentially harder when you're sitting across from someone who has more power, deeper relationships, or a longer tenure. So we avoid it. We say, 'We'll follow up later," or tell ourselves it's not the right time and assume the team leader will step in. And slowly, accountability erodes—not because people don't care, but because we haven't built the skills to do it well. Just telling teams to 'hold each other accountable' is naive. It's like handing someone a scalpel and telling them to perform surgery. It sounds simple—but without the training, it's not going to end well. The real fix is to help leaders learn how to have productive, high-stakes conversations where conflict, candor, and challenge are part of the process—not the exception. These are not soft skills. They are essential executive capabilities. Practical Steps: Train for it. Teach executive teams how to give and receive direct feedback in high-stakes situations—without it getting personal or political. Teach executive teams how to give and receive direct feedback in high-stakes situations—without it getting personal or political. Practice it. Build conflict into your meetings. Assign someone to challenge ideas or play devil's advocate. Reflect on what made a disagreement productive or not. Build conflict into your meetings. Assign someone to challenge ideas or play devil's advocate. Reflect on what made a disagreement productive or not. Reward it. Don't just celebrate outcomes. Celebrate leaders who name hard truths, raise flags early, or hold a peer accountable in service of the team's goals. The Unspoken Rules Run the Room — And That's a Problem for High-Performing Executive Teams Executive teams love to say they value open dialogue. But behind the scenes, there's often a long list of topics that never make it into the room—especially in front of the CEO. Power dynamics, relationships, and politics all play a role. And truthfully, it makes sense—not every conversation can or should happen in the team setting. That's why we pull each other aside in the hallway or debrief one-on-one after the meeting. It's faster, safer, and often, more efficient. But here's the catch: when the real conversations only happen outside the room, the team never learns how to operate with full transparency inside it. And over time, that reinforces a dynamic where people second-guess what they can say, silence themselves, and make safer bets. We avoid the risk of speaking up in the room—so the room stays safe, but also stagnant. The fix isn't to ban backchannels or pretend they don't exist. It's to balance them—and to gently build a culture where team members start saying to each other, 'I think that's something worth raising with the group.' Practical Steps: Encourage transparency, without demanding perfection. It's not about saying everything out loud—it's about recognizing when the team deserves to hear it, more often. It's not about saying everything out loud—it's about recognizing when the team deserves to hear it, more often. Model the shift. As a leader, bring something into the room that you used to handle privately. Show that it's useful to do so. As a leader, bring something into the room that you used to handle privately. Show that it's useful to do so. Use team norms intentionally. Include agreements like, 'If we're having multiple side conversations about a topic, that's a sign it belongs in the room.' If you want real performance, don't just focus on what's being said—start noticing what's being saved for later. Yes, It Can Feel Like Middle School Sometimes On the surface, executive teams operate like composed, high-functioning professionals. But dig deeper and you'll often find something far more familiar: cliques, inside jokes, and informal in-groups that leave others on the outside. Newer executives and external executive hires, especially, can struggle to break in. Long-standing relationships dominate conversations. Some leaders have shared history, inside language, or direct access to the CEO that others don't. It can feel like there's an A-team—and then everyone else. But here's where it gets more complicated: this dynamic is real—but it's also a trap. Feeling excluded can easily lead to the mindset of, 'I'm being excluded,' or, 'This team is the problem, not me.' And that thinking, while understandable, often leads to behaviors—pulling back, judging others, staying quiet, thinking, 'why bother?'—that unintentionally deepen the divide. The more we feel like we don't belong, the more we risk behaving in ways that reinforce our separateness. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. That's why fixing this dynamic takes the willingness to point out if this happening, and the courage to look in the mirror and ask how we're personally showing up. Practical Steps: Treat onboarding to the team like onboarding to the company. Clarify norms, decision-making patterns, and implicit expectations. Assign mentors, sponsors, and coaches to help new members integrate faster. Clarify norms, decision-making patterns, and implicit expectations. Assign mentors, sponsors, and coaches to help new members integrate faster. Leaders feeling like outsiders: Check your narrative. Stay engaged, ask for support. Don't let the dynamic define your value or contribution. Check your narrative. Stay engaged, ask for support. Don't let the dynamic define your value or contribution. For the team as a whole: Normalize talking about inclusion—not just at the org level, but within the team itself. Who speaks most? Who rarely gets the floor? What patterns are we not seeing? Team belonging doesn't just happen. It's created—by the team and by every individual on it. Too Much Going On Limits Executive Team Performance Today's executive teams are pulled in more directions than ever—global priorities, cross-functional initiatives, urgent issues, never-ending decks. As a result, conversations stay surface-level. Meetings devolve into report-outs. Strategic discussions get cut short. We run out of time before we get to the real work. This isn't a discipline problem—it's a design and structure problem. Fix it: Redesign meetings around value. Limit updates to pre-reads. Dedicate time for strategic conversation—and protect it. Ask: What's the most important thing only this team can solve together this week? Then focus there. Final Thought: Build A High-Performing Team Before You Need It Most executive teams are under unbelievable pressure, so it's easy to be reactive and focus on team performance only when there's visible dysfunction or a crisis. But high-performing executive teams don't wait for a breakdown—they build their capability ahead of time. A high-performing executive team doesn't just manage the business—it multiplies its value. That doesn't happen by chance. It happens through intentional work, shared goals, and continuous practice. If your team isn't creating the value you know it could, it's not a failure of talent. It's a signal to invest in how you work together.
