Why Teams Fail

Difficulty with teams is often blamed on a cultural emphasis in the United States on individual accomplishments versus shared responsibility and success. But problems are also caused by inadequate organizational support structures: Reward systems, for example, often reinforce individual performance.

Numerous reasons have been noted for why teams often fail to reach their full potential. Among them:

• Failure to integrate cooperative work methods into the organizational culture.
• Lack of organizational systems necessary to support the team process.
• Minimal up-front planning of how the organization plans to utilize teams.
• Failure to prepare managers for their changing roles.
• Failure to prepare team members for their new roles.
• Inappropriate reward and compensation systems.
• Inadequate training.
• Impatience of top management with the time needed for maturation.
• Incomplete understanding of group dynamics.

Excerpted from Duke Okes and Russell T. Westcott, editors, Certified Quality Manager Handbook: Second Edition, ASQ Quality Press, 2001, pages 37-41.