Things that will kill a small team

by jeffhilimire on October 5, 2010

Last week I wrote a post on why I love working in a small team.  I thought I’d follow up with a post with my thoughts on the things that can kill a small team.  This is in no order and each point could be debated, but this is where my head is right now.

- Process for process sake.  Because “a mature company” has a fully-baked, inflexible-by-necessity process.  BS.  Some process is always necessary. But one of the benefits of a small team is allowing that team to find its own way, to find the process that works best for that team.

- Adding members to the team too quickly.  The wrong person can kill a small team.  It’s like adding grapefruit to a fruit salad.  Sucks the whole thing up ;)

- Politics.  Oh how I hate politics within a company.  And within a small team, you might as well stick a fork in it because its done.

- Negativity.  I’ve always believed that having a positive attitude is essential to being successful.  It’s also essential for a small team.  Much like the grapefruit, one person with a bad attitude in a small team can suck it up for everyone.

- Lack of a vision/mission for the team.  A team can start with enthusiasm and energy, but over time if there isn’t a unifying purpose for them to focus on as a group, different agendas will emerge and what you’ll have is a bunch of really great, energetic individuals working near each other.  And that’s not a team.

What else?

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Tagged as: small teams

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  1. Why I like small teams
  • Andrew Jones

    Crap, I think I failed the negativity test. And I hate grapefruit ;)

  • http://twitter.com/interpolate Raghu Kakarala

    “Process?, Process!!!, your talking Process?!!?!!” – sorry just had to say that.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDBR2L5kzI

  • GrierTSmith

    I’d add lack of a reward system. Completing a challenging project deserves a reward. May be small, such as a pat on the back or maybe even a catered in lunch, but some sort of “job well done” always seems to increase productivity and keep motivation high.

    Just my thoughts…

  • http://twitter.com/tonykinard Tony Kinard

    This might be thrown in with the “lack of vision” paragraph, but I feel it’s important to expand it to include “lack of passion/belief for the cause”. Sure. Everyone on the team might understand the vision, but if there isn’t a whole hearted buy in by each team member, you’re potentially doomed. A small team often needs more than a paycheck and an understanding to achieve great results. Belief in what you are doing is a powerful motivator, but the achilles heal can very well be those who don’t share in that belief.

  • http://www.cynthiakocialski.com Cynthia Kocialski

    (1) When you hire the wrong person, you need to fire them as soon as possible. Letting them sit around will have a negative impact on the other members of the team. (2) Likewise, not correcting bad or inappropriate behavior immediately will propogate it. (3) In a small team, there’s no such thing as “It’s not my job”. Employees may need to be the masters of many skills. You don’t always get to do what you want to do, you do what must be done to ensure the best odds of success for the company. You can’t pass something on to someone else because there is no one else. (4) Not realizing in a small company you are being paid-for-performance. Results are everything.

  • http://www.jeffhilimire.com Jeff Hilimire

    Wow, these are great additions to things that kill a small team! Thanks!

  • http://welcometojmart.com/ Josh Martin

    Great point. I agree that a reward system is crucial. Many times, small teams are so busy that there is not enough time for the team to do something fun together. Even if it’s something like a small team outing outside of the workplace that the group can get together and just relax, taking the time to get away together goes a long way for the growth of the team as well as the individuals.

  • Rick

    Agree, especially about #1.

    The one that gets me is seeing a new process created to solve a problem when simply reminding or training someone better could be a remedy the issue.

    It’s kind of like how the NCAA creates a new rule to modify an existing rule instead of amending the existing rule, there’s that weird school of thought to avoid admitting one was wrong about something the first time around. With a small team, you can totally do that. No need to make processes just to be making processes, especially if they make getting work done inefficient…

  • http://www.jeffhilimire.com Jeff Hilimire

    I can always rely on @interpolate to throw in a reference to Iverson’s “practice” rant…

  • http://twitter.com/jayjhun jayjhun

    A couple i’d add …

    Sense of Entitlement … if you think you think anyone owes you anything on a small team, then you’re not really a team player.

    Lack of Walk-the-Walk Leadership: If you are leading a small team, you have to walk the walk. Talkers as leaders #fail every time b/c they have zero credibility, IMO.

  • http://www.jeffhilimire.com Jeff Hilimire

    I like these two additions. Leadership walking-the-walk is huge. HUGE. And probably even more important in a big team if you think about it.

    Entitlement, or lack thereof, is a core component of a small team dynamic. You see a lot of that in a big(ger) team.

  • http://www.jeffhilimire.com Jeff Hilimire

    Busted.

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