FAILURE TO LIVE UP TO AGREEMENTS

MY TEAMMATES ARE hypocrites. We get together and talk about all the ways we could improve, but then people don’t do what they agreed to.”

The Danger Point

The worst teams walk away from problems like these. In good teams, the boss eventually deals with problem behavior. In the best teams, every team member is part of the system of accountability. If team members see others violate a team agreement, they speak up immediately and directly. It’s dangerous to wait for or expect the boss to do what good teammates should do themselves.

The Solution

If your teammate isn’t doing what you think he or she should, it’s up to you to speak up. We realized this after watching a group of executives that agreed they’d hold off on all discretionary spending to help free up cash for a short-term crunch. This strategy sounded good in the warm glow of an off-site meeting, but the very next day a team member rushed back and prepaid a vendor for six months of consulting work—work that appeared to be “discretionary.”

A team member who saw the executive prepare for and then make the prepayment didn’t realize this was the crucial conversation that would determine whether the team would pull together or fall apart on this issue. Instead, he decided it was up to the boss to hold this person accountable. He said nothing. By the time the boss found out about the transaction and addressed the issue, the policy had already been violated and the money spent. Motivation to support the new plan dissipated, and the team ran short of cash.

When teams try to rally around aggressive change or bold new initiatives, they need to be prepared to address the problem when a team member doesn’t live up to the agreement. Success does not depend on perfect compliance with new expectations, but on teammates who hold crucial conversations with one another when others appear to be reverting to old patterns.