What is Sabotaging Team Performance?

Managing a team is like herding cats… while juggling flaming swords. You’re constantly trying to keep everyone on track, but there’s always that one problem—no matter how hard you try, your team’s performance just isn’t where it should be. Deadlines are missed, projects go sideways, and everyone seems perpetually frustrated. Sound familiar?

You’re not alone. Many people-managers face the same uphill battle. Team dysfunction can feel like an insurmountable obstacle, but there’s often a hidden foe at play: strengths misalignment. When team members’ strengths don’t align with their roles or the team’s goals, performance plummets, and dysfunction takes root. Let’s dive into why this happens and, more importantly, how we can fix it.

The Cost of Misalignment

Research shows that teams operating with a high level of strengths alignment are more productive and have higher morale. Gallup’s State of the American Workplace report reveals that employees who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged on the job, and teams that focus on strengths every day have 12.5% greater productivity. Conversely, misaligned strengths can lead to stress, burnout, and ultimately, a toxic work environment.

The Two Faces of Alignment

When faced with the leadership challenge of a dysfunctional team, it’s important to recognize two different facets of team alignment.

1. Aligning Employee Strengths to Roles: Ensuring that each team member’s natural talents and strengths are leveraged in their specific role.
2. Aligning Team Strengths to Project Strategy: Making sure the collective strengths of the team are harnessed to meet the strategic goals of projects.

A Common Tale of Misalignment

Here’s a story we see all too often, as human capital consultants. A company starts by hiring based on resumes, relying heavily on past experience as the main predictor of success in a role. This resume-based hiring skips the process of understanding what behaviors are needed for success in a particular role. Think about a call center position. You might guess that talking on the phone requires extraversion and your candidate has this past experience in spades. But actually, this position requires more thoughtful listening to support customers, instead of building relationships to sell over the phone. Case in point–strengths are not matched to the job. An employee is brought on board and immediately feels the pressure to perform behaviors outside their natural style and given talents. This stress leads to burnout.

Burned out and overstretched, the employee’s performance begins to falter. Negative feelings and behaviors creep in, relationships at work sour, and before you know it, the entire team is struggling. The leader, seeing the dysfunction, doubts their ability, wondering why they can’t turn things around. They’re thinking, “What am I missing? Why is this so hard?”, but they’re beating their head against a wall. There are several potential root causes: ineffective communication, lacking the insight to motivate properly, and even strengths misalignment.

A Step-by-Step Approach to Improving Team Performance

1. Get Behavioral Data on Your Team

Use a scientific, data-backed people analytics tool like the Predictive Index. This helps team members understand their own strengths and how to apply them at work, plus how to work more effectively together. Your team will view any miscommunication with a new lens and provide more grace for the occasional “oops”. As a leader, you’ll also get insights to understand the unique strengths of each team member, how they are most productive, and how to motivate them. While these are all positive results, think of this as a “bandaid” approach—necessary for immediate relief, but not a long-term fix.

2. Re-Evaluate Job Demands

Each role has specific behaviors that contribute to success. These behaviors need to be defined so employees can achieve high performance. Use tools like the PI Job Target to create clear expectations for each role. This helps in identifying the precise behavioral traits required for each job.

3. Realign Responsibilities

Sometimes, leaders need to move responsibilities based on employees’ gifts and strengths. This isn’t about shuffling people around aimlessly, but strategically placing team members where they can thrive. Realign your team member’s responsibilities to match natural strengths, ensuring everyone is in the right seat.

4. Coach to Strengths

Use the PI Coaching Guide to address behavioral gaps and coach team members based on their strengths. This targeted coaching can help employees overcome challenges and perform at their best. Why? The employee will feel heard and appreciated when their leader takes time to be so personal and focus on their development. As a leader, you’re speaking life into your employee with targeted, 1-on-1 attention that is strengths-focused.

5. Align Team Strengths to Projects

You don’t need to re-architect your team, but you should ensure each team member is the right person in the right seat for the project at hand. Look at the collective team strengths and use tools like the Predictive Index Team Discovery to align your team with the project strategy, resulting in better collaboration and accelerated performance.

Moving Forward, Together

So, where do you start? Get behavioral data on your team members first, so that you can understand their work style, tap into their strengths, and improve team collaboration. We all know that managing a team isn’t easy, but by addressing the root cause of dysfunction we can pave the way for future success. By leveraging tools like the Predictive Index and realigning roles based on natural strengths, we not only solve current issues but also set the stage for long-term growth and innovation.

At MindWire, we’re here to help make this easy. Whether your goal is in-person, hybrid, or virtual talent optimization, MindWire can guide your team dynamics and help you quickly align strengths to ensure everyone is positioned for success. By taking these steps, you’ll see a transformative impact on your team’s performance and overall work environment.