Think back to one of the best teams you have ever known. It might have been a volunteer group, a project team at work, or a sports team. Chances are, what made it exceptional was not just the skill of each person. It was the way people connected, trusted one another, and supported each other daily.
Great teams are not created instantly. They develop through relationships, shared routines, and a sense of safety and alignment. Collaboration is not simply about harmony. It is about creating conditions in which the group can achieve more together than anyone could alone.
The Feel of a Team: Organizational Environment
Every team has its own atmosphere. Organizational environment refers to the unspoken norms about how people interact, how work gets done, and what is valued.
Cameron and Quinn’s Competing Values Framework identifies four culture types, one of which is clan culture, where flexibility, trust, loyalty, and participation are central (Cameron & Quinn, 2011). In such an environment, teamwork becomes the default mode. Leaders focus on building relationships, and clients or stakeholders are viewed as partners rather than end-users.
Team Building Is Not a One-Time Thing
Some people view team building as a one-time event, such as a retreat or a ropes course. While these can be helpful, research shows that strong teams emerge through continuous attention to relationships, processes, and a shared purpose.
Dyer and colleagues (2007) found that teams grow stronger when they consistently focus on three areas. The first is trust and openness, where people feel safe sharing ideas and acknowledging mistakes. The second is coordination and role clarity, ensuring everyone understands their responsibilities and how they connect to the bigger picture. The third is process improvement, in which the team regularly examines how it works together and makes adjustments.
Effective teams make a habit of asking questions such as:
- Are our goals clear?
- Do we have the right people in the right roles?
- How can we better support each other?
These check-ins help keep the group aligned and adaptable even when priorities change.
Zoë Dehmer, MPS
The Nuts and Bolts of Collaboration
Even the most motivated team will struggle without good systems for working together. McIntyre and Salas (1995) describe these as action processes, which include the ways teams coordinate, monitor progress, and provide backup support.
Coordination behaviors involve maintaining a steady flow of information, sharing updates, flagging issues early, and adjusting quickly when circumstances shift (Yeatts & Hyten, 1998).
Monitoring behaviors allows the team to track progress, interpret results, and maintain a shared understanding of where things stand.
Backup behaviors are at the heart of teamwork. They include offering advice, coaching a colleague, or stepping in to help with someone’s workload when truly needed (McIntyre & Salas, 1995). These actions help the team maintain performance even when challenges arise.
Zoë Dehmer, MPS
Why It Matters
Collaboration is not a shortcut. It is a long-term investment in your team’s ability to perform well under pressure. Teams that build trust, communicate openly, and offer support freely can adapt faster, tackle larger challenges, and maintain performance over time.
In a world where demands often outpace resources, these qualities are not optional. They are a competitive advantage.
Zoë Dehmer, MPS
What stood out to you as you read this?
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Zoë Dehmer
Zoë Dehmer is a certified executive coach and organizational development specialist with a Master’s in Applied Industrial/Organizational Psychology. She thrives at the intersection of people and process. Whether she’s coaching leaders, managing cross-functional teams, or analyzing performance data, her goal is the same: to create professional clarity and impact so people can live happier, richer lives. Zoë has partnered with government agencies, large corporations, and nonprofits to improve operations, culture, and collaboration. She grounds her coaching practice in empathy, curiosity, candid analysis, and behavior change—offering clients a thoughtful, strategic partner in navigating growth.
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