A Study of Lencioni's Model of Dysfunctional Groups

Personnel is an organization's most important resource, and it is important to manage them properly to provide maximum benefit to organizations. Many employees work in teams to create value. In the digital age, diverse teams are becoming the new norm. Diversity may be due to ethnicity, gender, culture, sexuality, or due to task-related knowledge, skills, opinions, and perspective differences. Many groups become productive over time, but some groups also become dysfunctional. This paper examines groups that work together and ultimately become dysfunctional to the extent that they have to be reassigned or dismantled. The authors use a three-stage model to explore why this happens. They use widely accepted Lencioni's five functional characteristics to study dysfunctional teams. In addition, they argue Lencioni's model should be revised to include an additional layer of lack of functional expertise. A revised Lencioni's model is proposed, and future research areas are also discussed. Managers should follow this model while creating groups to use resources at max.