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If you’re a seasoned leader, you might think it’s easy to recognize a toxic team, but the more dramatic signs of dysfunction (verbal combat, attrition, infighting requiring you to be a referee) are relatively rare and usually happen after long-simmering hostility finally reaches a boiling point. In fact, the indicators that your team isn’t a happy, cohesive unit are often subtle enough to overlook, at least in the early days. Here a few behaviors that any leader, no matter how experienced, should take as red flags that they’re helming a dysfunctional team.
Meetings run a little too smoothly.
Short meetings aren’t always a sign of efficiency. When everyone agrees quickly or no one tends to contribute new ideas or bothers to play devil’s advocate, it’s a strong indicator that team members have checked out. Maybe they’re tired of their input being disregarded, maybe they don’t have any faith that speaking up will bring results or maybe everyone else is just sick of Brad dominating discussions and have decided to shut up and cede the floor. When almost all of your team meetings fall into the “quick and painless” category, you should start pondering if that’s really such a good thing.
Team members talk to you, not each other.
When young siblings fight, they often use parents as a go between when they decide to give each other the silent treatment. “Mom, you tell Charlotte that she’s mean and I’m never talking to her again.” This might be cute if slightly wearying when a six year-old does it, but it’s toxic behavior from a grown man or woman. If your team members are asking you to ferry messages to other team members (“Can you ask Lindsay if those mockups will be done this week?”) instead of dealing directly with each other or are bringing new ideas straight to you instead of raising them in a team setting (the better to hoard all the glory), you’ve got a serious communication breakdown among your staff. They may not be overtly icing each other out, but this type of backchanneling indicates that there’s a major lack of trust.
Collaboration is not voluntary.
A functioning team will, to a large degree, be self-organizing. Members will consult each other, ask for input and share ideas organically when there is collaborative work to be done. It may not always be conflict-free, but cooperation is the norm. If the only time your direct reports will work jointly is when you explicitly assign them to do so (and, even then, it’s rarely smooth or equitable sailing), you’ve got problems. You’re managing a team of lone wolves, who, for one reason or another, don’t respect each other’s expertise.
You’re fielding question about team health.
Just because your subordinates aren’t being vocal with you about their dissatisfaction, it doesn’t mean they aren’t talking to others. If colleagues are asking questions about how things are going on your team, take their interest (be it benign or malicious) as an indicator that something is off. Indeed, it’s gotten to a point that your team members are so frustrated that they’re venting to other coworkers instead of bringing their issues directly to you. They might be trying to save face in front of their boss or, worse, one or more of them might consider you part of the problem. If you feel like the last to know that your team is unhappy, you should do some serious reflection on how you let yourself get so far outside this critical loop.
