Overcoming the Five Roadblocks to Teamwork is a fable-based story about Kathryn Petersen, the new CEO of DecisionTech. She joins a company with a more experienced and talented executive team, more cash, better technology and a stronger board of directors than any of its competitors, but is lagging behind its competitors in both revenue and customer growth.

After she met with the board of directors, executive team, and employees, attended meetings, and observed developments, she held a two-day off-site meeting with the executive team. She announced that the reason for the company's poor performance was team coordination imbalance, and there were a total of five reasons.

When we try to create a high-performing agile team, where should we start and what should we focus on? In addition to the "Agile Manifesto" and "12 Agile Principles", "Overcoming Five Obstacles to Team Collaboration" also provides valuable framework references.

This is the biggest obstacle to team success. Trust is the basis for an organization to have real success.

Trust between teams means that all members can show their vulnerability and vulnerability without fear of being judged or ridiculed. Without this trust, it becomes difficult for team members to be open to new ideas and makes it challenging to come up with their own ideas. A team without trust is just a group of people who feel the need to be right and safe.

The first priority in creating trust is communication. We note that geographical distances have gradually shrunk with globalization and technological advancement. But the distance between people continues to expand.

Personal Map - is a tool introduced in "Happiness Leadership", a companion volume of "Management 3.0". Find a piece of white paper and write the name of the person in the middle. Next, list the categories of interests around the person's name, such as residence, education, work, hobbies, family, friends, goals and values, etc. You can add other information to expand this personal map. Does he/she love you the most?? Are you and her college alumni? Does he want to travel? Write it all down.

When you first start creating a personal map for your team, you will find that you know very little about your team. Let’s get connected!

When people trust each other and have a common goal, a good debate will always produce results. There's nothing worse than having a team made up solely of people who tell you what you want to hear. Conflict is the lifeblood of innovation and progress.

Constructive conflict can be very productive when you are debating company practices, processes, services, and products. Conflict turns into criticism when people attack each other.

Trust leads to the ability to exploit conflict effectively. Without this foundation of trust, conflict becomes another obstacle rather than a healthy way to interact and create. As long as a team is afraid of conflict, it will be difficult to break new ground, gain an overall understanding of decision-making, and lead people to avoid any conflict.

When trust does not exist:

Leaders must encourage debate and teach people that conflict can be a positive thing. Once a team starts to see that conflict is not worth worrying about, they will become a healthier, more productive team. Because they push beyond their comfort zone with the support of their leader and other team members, creative conflict will be accepted as a normal part of the team process.

Encourage healthy conflict in meetings by establishing a "Team Charter" to promote frank, passionate debate. Then have your teammates sign it and bring it to every meeting. Sample "Team Charter": "We will address conflict-ridden issues and resolve differences through vigorous debate. We will not withhold comments when discussing team issues..."

We recommend having some experienced Use Agile Coaches and Scrum Masters to develop these skills in your team.

In business, lack of commitment equals bankruptcy.

Working on a strategy, product concept or new business line is critical. Healthy debate teams will have conflicts, but once a solution is decided upon, all team members are committed, even if they are on the other side of the decision.

When teams utilize productive conflict, they are more likely to commit to and accept decisions. No debate, no commitment. If people feel like their opinions and ideas aren't being discussed, they won't buy into it. A lack of commitment will prevent consensus among the team, leading to boredom, resentment, and stagnation.

In agile organizations, we often discuss some solutions during retrospective meetings. The last step of the retrospective meeting is to form an action plan. Everyone selects the action items they want to improve most to ensure that the team is committed to the next step. Issues discovered during the retrospective can be implemented within a sprint. At the beginning of the next retrospective meeting, also show what everyone has accomplished.

The Review meeting in an agile meeting is also a form of commitment. The Review meeting is a demonstration of the team's commitment to the product owner (PO) and relevant stakeholders.

The larger the company, the more likely this phenomenon is to occur. Some people just push the things they are responsible for to the other side, pass the responsibility to others, evade responsibility, and get paid.

Healthy teams assign responsibilities, hold their members accountable, and help them when problems arise.

This happens when a company lists 50 things they are focusing on, but none of them seem to be getting done. Teams that don't focus on what matters lose. In business competition, you either win the deal or you lose the deal. First place equals profit, while second place equals bankruptcy. This is the harsh reality, and why the team focuses on results and identifies no more than five short-term investment themes.

Team members without a sense of responsibility will always put their own interests before the interests of the team. Unless the entire team agrees on the desired outcome, nothing of value will happen. With accountability, a focus on team results comes naturally and creates stronger bonds between team members. Leaders ensure expected results are clear and end results are shared and rewarded in a team environment.

Link individual rewards to team results to keep teams focused on team results (rather than individual results). For example, team members get an extra day off at the end of the month only if the team hits their monthly goals. Team Rewards: Remind team members that if the team doesn't win, no one wins.

In agile teams, the team celebrates successes and failures collectively. Focus on progress in each sprint.