When a team becomes a source of gridlock rather than performance, understanding the underlying dynamics is essential to rebuilding cohesion. This guide will show you how to diagnose tensions, establish clear frameworks, adjust your management style, and transform conflicts into drivers of collective engagement.
How do you stay on course when your own team seems to be your biggest challenge?
Managing a difficult team is a bit like navigating in the middle of a storm: it's rough, it's tiring, but with the right tools and a good map, you can not only get through the storm, but also strengthen the crew. Conflicting personalities, a lack of buy-in, internal tensions, or resistance to change The causes are multiple, but solutions exist. This type of management requires much more than technical skills. It requires listening, patience, emotional intelligence, and above all a real ability to mobilize.
Understanding the causes of a difficult team
Identify internal dynamics
Before intervening, it can be beneficial to analyze one's own functioning before examining the team's relational system. Putting words to one's share of responsibility in the team's dysfunction helps avoid the pitfalls of unfounded accusations and demonstrates one's capacity for self-reflection. This sets an example of vulnerability and honesty. To facilitate this exercise, it is possible to seek support through [services/programs]. individual coaching For example.
Regarding the team, Dominique Chalvin, in his book "manager of
difficult personalities» He emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between occasional tensions and structural blockages. He specifically recommends identifying "problem personalities" (passive, domineering, unstable, etc.), but also dysfunctional interactions that hinder cooperation.
Challenges magazine indicates that personality clashes and ego conflicts constitute the primary source of conflict (49 %), ahead of stress (34 %) and work overload (33 %).
Based on the 5 dysfunctions according to Patrick Lencioni
Patrick Lencioni, for his part, in his book "Optimize Your Team"«, proposes to
to work as a team on the problem. He uses for this what he calls the 5
Team dysfunctions:
- Lack of trust,
- Fear of conflict,
- The lack of commitment,
- Avoiding responsibility,
- Inattention to results.
Identifying where the team stands in this dynamic is an essential first step to acting effectively.
I have facilitated several team-building seminars in using P. Lencioni's tool. What makes it powerful is its ability to allow team members to freely express where they are in the model and to give constructive feedback to other members without fear.
Recreate a clear and safe framework together
Clarify the roles and rules of the game
One of the manager's primary responsibilities, according to Dominique Chalvin, is to establish a structuring framework, both organizationally and relationally.
This involves clarifying roles, rules of the game, but also limits.
Lencioni reinforces this idea: a healthy team is based on trust founded on
vulnerability. This implies that the manager sets an example by acknowledging their mistakes, asking for feedback, creating an open atmosphere, and putting themselves in the shoes of each member of their team.
When we see that 40 % employees leave their jobs because of poor management, and 92 % would remain if their managers showed more empathy, That seems obvious.
Adapting your communication and managing conflicts constructively
In a difficult team, the authoritarian reflex may seem tempting. But it has been shown that Effective managers know how to adapt their communication style depending on the profiles, by balancing firmness and kindness. Including, in particular, the approach of the "« assertive messages »" : clear, direct, without judgment.
This ties in with the need to promote healthy, useful conflicts that are centered on ideas and not on people. The manager's role is then to encourage the expression of disagreements in a constructive manner.
I remember that during an animation of Teambuilding for an Executive Committee, The transparency and goodwill of the exchanges made it possible to detect and defuse...
conflicts between 3 people that were disrupting the work of the rest of the team.
To value, support, and recognize efforts
In addition to clearer roles and responsibilities and smoother communication, it's important for managers to recognize each team member and value their strengths and small victories. Evidence to support this, Employees who receive frequent recognition from their manager are 4.6 times more likely to feel engaged at work.
In this type of situation, the manager is advised not to face difficult situations alone.Using external support, a coach or behavioral assessment tools can provide a fresh and useful perspective. Once again, a leader who acknowledges their limitations gains credibility. It's not about having all the answers, but about knowing where and how to look for them.
Turning conflict into an opportunity for growth
Managing a difficult team is a demanding challenge, but profoundly formative. The insights offered by management specialists remind us that You don't build a high-performing team by avoiding tensions., but by treating them with lucidity, method and humanity.
A good manager is not one who avoids conflict, but the one who transforms them into
Opportunities for advancement. Behind every team difficulty lies potential
Untapped. It's up to you to reveal it.
So, what do you think? Does it help you? If it makes you want to be
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