In transaction processing business, any system failure especially at peak times will cause direct financial loses and customer dissatisfaction. Having various end-points and technical components managed by multiple stakeholders, a blame game becomes natural at times. A cooperation and larger team based responsibility / reward process is key factor transforming the blame into effective team work and collaboration. 1. Higher Percentage of system availability is rewarded to the whole team, hence an outage is every ones problem. 2. Higher revenue and transaction volumes is rewarded to the whole team, making them direct stakeholder as one team and not silos.

To address team members who blame others during system failures in peak periods, encourage a culture of accountability by encouraging open communication and collaboration. Emphasize that mistakes are learning opportunities rather than occasions for blame, and model this behavior as a leader by acknowledging your own errors. Implement regular team discussions to identify systemic issues and develop solutions collectively, reinforcing that everyone shares responsibility for outcomes. Ultimately, focus on creating a supportive environment where team members feel safe to express concerns and contribute to problem-solving.

Address blame during system failures by promoting a solution-focused mindset. Encourage accountability, reminding the team that blame delays resolution. Focus on collaboration, address concerns privately, and steer discussions toward solutions, not fault. Reinforce learning from mistakes to prevent future issues.

I'd do these four things.. Create anonymous channels for reporting issues Reward proactive identification of potential problems Provide technical training to address skill gaps Update incident response procedures to explicitly discourage blame

Shift the team's focus away from blame and towards resolving the immediate issue. Reiterate that the priority is fixing the system failure quickly and minimizing its impact on operations.

Remind the team that mistakes or failures happen, especially under pressure, and it’s more productive to understand the root cause than to assign blame.

Gather the team and discuss the failure openly. Encourage everyone to share their perspective in a safe environment, where no one feels attacked or singled out.

Help the team focus on facts and data rather than emotions. Present what is known about the failure (e.g., when and how it happened) to guide the discussion away from personal accusations.

It emerged that, during a critical system outage it becomes tense, and there is finger pointing. Instead of assigning blame, there was a creation of the no-fault zone and everyone in the team focused on developing a solution to the problem. Also, the switching of roles was carried out to get different views in every aspect. Finally, this change allowed for a solution to be reached more quickly than required, as frustration becomes teamwork.

When blame-shifting appeared during a breakdown, I implemented an AI Tool to log and display system contributions or tasks in real-time. In terms of their activity, we changed positions physically in order to have a different perception. On the psychological level, I commenced and launched peer support meetings. There were incentives provided for work productivity and to address the teams’ interactions in terms of the flow during a stressful time was also adjusted.