A dysfunctional team can destroy productivity, kill morale, and send your best employees running for the exit. Research shows that 57% of employees have left a job because of a bad team dynamic. Worse yet, dysfunctional teams cost companies billions in wasted time and poor decisions.

So, what makes a team dysfunctional? It’s more than just clashing personalities. Dysfunction runs deeper—teams stall out in endless debates, misinterpret information, or struggle to get things done. When this happens, meetings feel pointless, conflicts go unresolved, and even top performers start checking out.

The good news? You can fix dysfunction, but it won’t happen by accident. This article gives you a clear, step-by-step strategy to diagnose and fix your team’s biggest challenges. You'll learn how to spot early warning signs, uncover hidden behavioral patterns, and put practical fixes in place. If you’re ready to turn things around, let’s get started. 🚀

Diagnosing the Root Cause of Team Dysfunction

If your team isn’t working well together, it’s tempting to look for a single problem—a difficult employee, a weak leader, or a lack of talent. But most dysfunction isn’t about the people. It’s about how the team operates.

Poor teamwork happens when a group’s working style clashes in ways that create friction. Maybe decisions take forever because everyone wants a say. Or maybe information doesn’t flow well, leading to confusion and missed deadlines. Fixing dysfunction starts with identifying those deeper patterns.

This is where the four key team behaviors from TeamDynamics can help. They explain how your team communicates, processes information, makes decisions, and executes work. Once you see these patterns, you can diagnose problems at their source.

Communication Breakdown: Too Structured or Too Unstructured?

Some teams share information in a highly ordered way—scheduled meetings, formal reports, detailed documentation. This works well in regulated industries or large organizations. But it can also slow things down, making people feel bogged down by process.

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Other teams are informal—they share information on the fly, through casual conversations or Slack channels. This keeps things fast and spontaneous, but it’s easy for important details to get lost or excluded from key stakeholders.

Signs of dysfunction:

• A team that’s too ordered may struggle with slow communication or unnecessary bureaucracy.
• A team that’s too informal may suffer from misalignment and missed details.

Decision-Making Conflicts: Too Much Consensus or Too Much Control?

Does your team debate decisions endlessly, or do a few voices dominate all choices?

Teams that use concordant decision-making aim for consensus. While this can build buy-in, it can also lead to decision paralysis—where nothing moves forward because no one agrees.

On the other end, authoritative teams have a clear decision-maker who calls the shots. This speeds things up, but it can leave the rest of the team feeling unheard or disengaged.

Signs of dysfunction:

• A team that’s too concordant may struggle with slow or indecisive leadership.
• A team that’s too authoritative may experience resentment and lack of team buy-in.

Information Processing: Facts vs. Relationships

When evaluating ideas or proposals, some teams focus purely on logic—data, evidence, and rational arguments. Others take a more relational approach, giving weight to the perspectives of those they trust most.

Logical teams tend to be straightforward but can overlook relationship dynamics. A relational team fosters strong collaboration but may sideline unpopular opinions or avoid direct criticism.

Signs of dysfunction:

• A team that’s too logical might dismiss emotional intelligence or personal concerns.
• A team that’s too relational might play favorites or struggle with tough conversations.

Execution Issues: Moving Too Fast or Too Slow?

Some teams are deliberate—they map out detailed plans, follow structured workflows, and prefer stable, well-managed projects. Other teams are spontaneous—they move quickly, adapt on the fly, and shift priorities as needed.

Each approach has risks. A highly deliberate team can be resistant to change, while a highly spontaneous team may lack direction or consistency.

Signs of dysfunction:

• A team that’s too deliberate might struggle to pivot when priorities shift.
• A team that’s too spontaneous might feel chaotic, with no clear roadmap.

How to Pinpoint Your Team’s Biggest Issue

Most dysfunctional teams don’t fail in just one area—they struggle with a combination of these behaviors. One team might suffer from slow decision-making and rigid execution. Another might be spontaneous but lacks clear leadership.

Instead of guessing, managers can use the TeamDynamics assessment to classify their team’s behavior across all four dimensions. By understanding your team’s natural working style, you can apply the right solutions instead of generic fixes.

Now that you know what’s causing dysfunction, let’s get into how to fix it.

How to Fix Team Dysfunction – A Step-by-Step Strategy

Fixing team dysfunction isn’t about motivational speeches or forced team-building exercises. It’s about making the right structural changes. A dysfunctional team struggles not because of who is on it but because of how it operates. Follow these steps to rebuild trust, improve collaboration, and get work done more effectively.

Step 1: Rebuild Trust and Open Communication

If you don’t fix broken communication, nothing else matters. When team members don’t feel comfortable speaking up, key information gets lost, bad ideas go unchallenged, and misunderstandings multiply.

How to Fix Your Team’s Communication:

• Encourage direct, open conversations. Model this by giving honest feedback and asking for it in return. If a project is going off the rails, the team should feel safe bringing it up without fear of judgment.
• Match communication structure to your team’s needs. Some teams thrive on organized written updates (Ordered Communication), while others work best sharing information spontaneously in Slack or hallway conversations (Informal Communication). Identify what works best and make it explicit.
• Regularly check in one-on-one. Some people won’t voice concerns in a group setting. Give them a space where they can.

📌 Hot Take: Over-structured communication kills transparency. If every update has to go through layers of approvals, teams will start hiding problems instead of solving them.

Step 2: Align on Decision-Making Processes

Decisions are where many teams fall apart. Do you need full agreement before moving forward, or can a leader make the call? If this isn’t clear, teams get stuck debating minor issues or steamrolled by top-down decisions that don’t stick.

How to Fix Your Team’s Decision-Making:

• Decide when to use consensus vs. authority. Some teams get trapped in endless discussions (Concordant Decision-Making), while others resent having orders handed down without input (Authoritative Decision-Making). Balance both by defining when collaboration is needed and when leadership makes the call.
• Make decision-making frameworks clear. Are big choices made by group discussion, manager sign-off, or data-driven analysis? There’s no “right” way—only what works for your team. Define yours explicitly.
• Give ownership. If every decision has to be approved at the top, you’re slowing down execution and demotivating your team. Let people own their areas of expertise and make calls when appropriate.

📌 Hot Take: A team that needs unanimous agreement on everything is a team that’s going nowhere. If you’re spending more time debating than executing, fix it.

Step 3: Improve Execution and Accountability

A well-communicating team with great decision-making can still fail if no one follows through. Dysfunction often shows up when teams either cling too tightly to rigid plans or constantly switch priorities without finishing what they start.

How to Fix Your Team’s Execution and Accountability:

• Set clear goals—but stay flexible. High-performing teams balance structured planning with adaptability. If your team follows a strict plan no matter what (Deliberate Execution), you’ll struggle with change. If you're always shifting priorities (Spontaneous Execution), nothing gets done. Find the right mix.
• Assign clear ownership of tasks. No more, "I thought someone else was handling this." Write it down, say it out loud, and follow up.
• Hold regular retrospectives. Make it a normal part of the process to assess what’s working and adjust. Dysfunction creeps in where feedback is absent.

📌 Hot Take: If “we’ll figure it out as we go” is your default strategy, expect chaos. If “we must follow the plan no matter what” is your mindset, expect stagnation. Find the middle ground.

Your Shortcut to Fixing Team Dysfunction

Most managers tackle team dysfunction one symptom at a time—fixing communication today, decision-making next month, and accountability a year from now. A better approach? Identify which of TeamDynamics’ 16 team behavioral types matches your team and get targeted solutions.

🚀 Take the TeamDynamics Test Today and find out exactly how your team operates—and how to make it better. Start Here.

Long-Term Strategies for Improving Workplace Team Effectiveness

Fixing team dysfunction isn’t a one-time event—it’s an ongoing process. Even after solving immediate problems, teams can easily fall back into bad habits. To keep your team working well together, you need long-term strategies that reinforce good behaviors.

1. Hold Regular Team Check-Ins

No team can run on autopilot forever. Without consistent check-ins, small issues grow into big problems. A short team retrospective every few weeks can surface problems before they derail projects. Ask:

• What’s working well? (So you keep doing it.)
• What’s frustrating the team? (So you fix it before it leads to disengagement.)

If you don’t make space for structured reflection, frustration builds silently—until it explodes.

2. Establish Ongoing Feedback Loops

Too many managers wait for annual performance reviews to give feedback. By then, it's too late. Instead, create a team culture where feedback happens in real time.

• Good work? Acknowledge it immediately, so people know what to repeat.
• A misstep? Address it quickly and constructively, before it becomes a habit.

But here’s the part most managers forget: Feedback should go both ways. Ask your team, “What could I do differently to support you better?” Teams function best when leaders are coachable too.

3. Balance Structure and Flexibility in Your Processes

Every team struggles to find the right balance between structure and flexibility. Too much structure? Your team feels micromanaged. Too little? Chaos. The key is adjusting to your team’s natural style.

• Teams with an Ordered communication style thrive with structured meetings and clear documentation.
• Teams that are more Informal need space for organic conversations, like open Slack channels or impromptu huddles.

Adjusting workflows to fit your team’s natural tendencies will improve adoption and effectiveness.

3. Keep Decision-Making Rules Clear

Ever been in a meeting where no one knows who’s making the call? Some teams fall into “decision paralysis,” where they can’t get anything done. Others struggle with leadership making all the calls from the top, leaving the team feeling unheard.

Avoid this by having clear rules for who decides what:

• Team-wide decisions? Decide as a group—but set a clear deadline.
• Department or function-specific decisions? Trust the expert.
• Big strategic moves? That’s you, as the manager—with input from the team.

When teams know how decisions are made, they stop fighting over how to move forward and focus on getting things done.

4. Use Personality and Behavioral Assessments Wisely

Most managers turn to personality tests like MBTI or StrengthsFinder to improve team performance. That’s fine—but personality tests focus on individuals, not teams.

A high-performing team isn’t just a bunch of talented individuals. It’s a group of people who work well together. That’s why tools like TeamDynamics are crucial. Instead of telling you what kind of person each team member is, TeamDynamics helps you understand how your team functions as a unit.

It shows whether your team struggles with communication gaps, decision-making paralysis, or execution breakdowns—so you can actually fix the root issues.

Conclusion: Take the First Step Toward a Healthier, More Effective Team

Dysfunctional teams don’t fix themselves. As a manager, it’s your job to spot the warning signs—lack of trust, poor communication, slow decisions, endless conflicts—and take action. The good news? Most team problems aren’t about who is on the team but how the team works together.

Instead of guessing at solutions, take a structured approach. Fix communication issues by adjusting how your team shares information. Improve decision-making by balancing authority and consensus. Hold people accountable by setting clear execution expectations. These changes work, but only if they align with your team’s unique way of operating.

That’s why understanding team dynamics is so important. You wouldn’t manage a product without knowing how it functions—why manage a team without understanding how it thinks, decides, and executes?

Take the TeamDynamics test today. It will show you exactly how your team operates and where it’s struggling. With the right insights, you can go from managing dysfunction to leading a high-performing, engaged team.