Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Rose Bryant-Smith, Grevis Beard, Wiley, $27.95.
It goes without saying that none of us want to show up every day to work in a team that is constantly distracted by in-fighting, dragging each other down, disrupting one another’s performance, performing poorly or engaging in unethical behaviour.
Working in a dysfunctional team is frustrating and stressful. If this sounds familiar to you, you are not alone!
Now you can transform team dynamics with practical, real-world tools for sustainable change
Bryant-Smith and Beard are co-founders of Worklogic, a workplace advisory firm, that works with employers to prevent and minimise the impact of inappropriate conduct in the workplace and to build a positive culture.
The authors provide you with the tools you need to rebuild relationships, address conflict and stop destructive behaviours. They bring a unique combination of legal nous, conflict management expertise, emotional intelligence and business experience to provide a wealth of valuable insights, with robust tools designed for easy implementation.
Fix Your Team is the manager’s essential and practical guide to diagnosis and intervention. Packed with expert insight acquired over decades of experience in workplace relations and conflict resolution, this book systematically addresses problems with team dynamics and provides a blueprint for moving forward.
For decades of experience in helping employers to identify and address team dysfunction, “we know that managers and supervisors are often frustrated by a lack of time, experience, resources or good advice on how o deal with these problems”.
“That’s why we wrote this book. Treat it like a workplace lifebuoy: keep it safe and always within reach.”
This book offers diagnostic guidance to help you analyse existing issues with confidence, and a clear framework for removing the dysfunction. It includes practical scenarios we can all relate to, and actionable guidance on building buy-in, executing the strategy and looking after yourself through tough transformations.
Structured for use flexibly and practically, the authors set out common situations that cause team dysfunction and identify some of the key problems you may be dealing with.
Also provided are case studies based on real-real-life scenarios from workplaces across the world to demonstrate what team dysfunctions look like. Addressing team dysfunction can be tough. You will be implementing change, having difficult conversations and telling some people what they don’t want to hear.
The final chapter, ‘Buckle up!’ sets out four strategies you can use to remain effective and stay same as you set about fixing your team.
