Floodgates

I was on a newly formed team.

Over the first few weeks working on a new project, frustrations grew as several disagreements and conflicts arose between team members. There was little trust.

We should have realized that this is normal and often occurs when new teams are created.

We should have had open and honest conversations throughout.

We didn’t.

We avoided discussing our concerns, hoping that they would be resolved on their own.

I’ve never been more frustrated.

A couple months in, we quickly approached a major deadline and were far behind.

Because of the added pressure, along with weeks of buildup, the frustrations came to a boiling point.

The situation forced us to work through our issues if we wanted to get anything done.

With the help of our manager, we had our first open and honest discussion. The floodgates opened, and all the frustrations that had built up were finally out in the open.

This discussion was long and painful but it was an important first step to improving how we worked.

We had a constructive conversation about how to move forward. We weren’t able to resolve all the frustrations, but we determined clear next steps.

We (barely) met the deadline.

This started our long journey towards becoming a Performing team.

Foster open, honest and constructive communication.

Do not let frustrations linger without discussing them. It might be difficult to have those conversations in the short term, but avoiding talking about it will only make it worse later.