10 Reasons Why A Team Fails

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In spite of the best of intentions, a team can fail. Mishaps occur, and although they can be corrected, there is no such thing as a perfect team. Here are 10 reasons why a team fails.

1. Miscommunication

Poor communication between the leader and the members of the team means the members act on wrong instructions which in turn lead to a breakdown, and therefore failure.

2. Poor Leadership

Leadership is absolutely crucial to any team’s success. A weak leader without any authoritative qualities, regardless of the abilities of its members, more often than not results in failure.

3. Structure and Hierarchy

The structure of any team must have a proper set up of supervisors and a project leader. It often depends on the size of the team. If their ratio of members to supervisors is too large, keeping a track of each member’s progress becomes harder.

4. Lack of Planning

Planning is fundamental to any successful project. Being unable to set up the foundations only sets the team up for failure.

5. Lack of Accountability

Everybody in a team needs to join together and do their jobs. Being prepared to accept the consequences of a failed job is a vital quality required in all the members of the team. The team leader must also be able to point out the weak links in the team and set it right.

6. Chemistry

Smooth and calm progress in a project requires members to work in sync with each other. Poor chemistry can often result in disagreements and conflicts which are obviously counterproductive.

7. Work Ethic

This is indirectly connected to how motivated each member of the team is. Poor work ethic can result in extended deadlines and poor quality of work.

8. Unclear Role Designation

One of the duties of a person in charge is to delegate roles and ensure that each person fulfills their side of the bargain. This is a classic case of how the smallest of broken cogs in the machine can result in a breakdown and the failure of the entire team.

9. Unrealistic Timeframes

Keeping a realistic timeframe and specific objectives that need to be completed within it is crucial in defining whether a project can be ultimately achieved or not.

10. Individual Weakness

Depending on the abilities and thought processes of different team members, bad decisions and poor judgment can contribute to the failure of a team.