Twisting your features into a mask of pain, you dig your heels into the soft grass. A rope tears into your palms. A clear, tiny voice speaks to you amid the many confused thoughts swirling in your head: “So-o-o-o... what am I learning from this experience?”

Well, if you’re like many who have done this exercise at a corporate retreat, you should be learning about teamwork. As others join you, the collective rope-pulling effort seems to demonstrate the point. Little by little, the boulder starts moving until it nudges over the 30-ft mark. Cheers erupt. You notice something, however: With each additional person who contributes to the effort, the boulder moves faster, but not as fast as you would have imagined. By the time the tenth person steps up, you feel that the group is barely pulling harder than when only six were involved, even though everyone seems to be working hard.

This well-documented phenomenon, known as social loafing, is an issue that plagues any group of individuals working together, but it isn’t the only one. Knowing what to look out for can be half the battle, so we hereby present the five biggest teamwork ills along with some prescriptions to help you avoid them.

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