ONLINE TEAM ASSESSMENT STUDY REVEALS ACCOUNTABILITY CRISIS ON TEAMS

(Lafayette, CA)- The Table Group, the consulting firm of business author Patrick Lencioni, identifies a major trend plaguing teams today - team members readily avoid holding their peers accountable for both their performance and behaviors that might hurt the team.

The trend is a conclusion of The Table Group's Online Team Assessment, a 38 question online tool that evaluates teams based on the model outlined in Lencioni's New York Times best -selling book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Nearly 15,000 participants have taken the online assessment. A full 68% of teams scored "red" on accountability - or lowest on The Table Group's three tiered rating scale of green-yellow-red. Other red scores for the remaining four dysfunctions include: absence of trust (44%), fear of conflict (39%), avoidance of commitment (25%) and inattention to results (28%).

Lencioni's definition of accountability goes beyond just informing people about missing "their numbers." The essence of this dysfunction is the reluctance of team members to tolerate the discomfort that accompanies calling a peer on his or her behavior. Team members have a general tendency to avoid difficult conversations.

Ironically, the assessment scores showed that the higher the position in the organization, the more pronounced the problem. Of the 132 executive teams (comprised of nearly 1,300 participants), 80% of the teams scored "red", or poor, on accountability. Lencioni finds that members of an executive team typically have similar socioeconomic status and, therefore, don't feel justified commenting on a peer's performance.

Lencioni says, "Great teams do not wait for the leader to remind members when they are not pulling their weight." To overcome this dysfunction, he suggests leveraging peer pressure on a team by publicly stating the team's goals and standards, instituting regular progress reviews and rewarding team achievement (rather than individual contribution).

###


About Patrick Lencioni and The Table Group
Patrick Lencioni's five best-selling business books have sold over one million copies. After four years in print, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team continues to be a fixture on the Wall Street Journal and New York Times best-seller lists. The Dysfunctions model for teamwork has been embraced by a great variety of organizations, ranging from the NFL to the Blue Man Group to the 82nd Airborne Division to local schools and churches.

Lencioni consults to organizations including Southwest Airlines and Cox Communications and speaks to hundreds of thousands of people each year. Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager, refers to Lencioni as "Fast defining the next generation of leadership thinkers."

The Table Group is Lencioni's consulting firm, which offers products and services around team development and organizational health. www.tablegroup.com


Dysfunctions Online Team Assessment - The Five Dysfunctions online assessment is a practical tool designed for rapid application. Team members answer 38 questions online and receive a report detailing a given team's strengths and weaknesses as well as specific recommendations for overcoming potential team dysfunction. Assessment cost is $34.50 per person.