How Do We Bridge Divides to Build Collaborative and Winning Teams?
Author: Julie Chance, Founder of Action Strategies by Design
Summary: Your team brings together different personalities, experiences, and backgrounds—a mix that can spark creativity and fresh ideas. But when those differences cause division instead of connection, progress slows and tension rises. The good news is that leaders can use practical strategies to unite a divided team and turn challenges into opportunities for collaboration and success.
As a leader, you’ve probably had this thought: “I have a great team, but they just don’t work together! They don’t collaborate and communicate effectively, or share a common understanding.” Individually, these team members are exceptional. As a group, the sum of the parts isn’t greater than the whole.
I know you’ve heard this before, that teams that collaborate effectively consistently outperform those that don’t across every aspect of the business. In the words of Helen Keller, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.1 Collaboration is hailed as the key to better decisions and stronger outcomes, and that’s true, but only when teams are united.
Division within a team creates competition, silos, missed deadlines, and frustration, and can lead to decreased productivity, lower morale, and higher turnover. If employees don’t feel involved or invested, in my view, it has the potential to make the problem worse. Research suggests that up to 86% of failed initiatives are linked to poor collaboration2. If you’re a leader working with a divided team, what then should you do to build collaboration?
Getting out of the middle is essential, but how do you do it in a way that builds accountability?
5 Ways to Get a Divided Team to Work Together
Effective collaboration isn’t just a “nice-to-have” — it’s a critical driver of organizational success. According to a 2022 State of Collaboration Report, 76% of employees say they enjoy working collaboratively. When they do, productivity improves, job satisfaction rises, and innovation follows. But collaboration doesn’t happen by chance. It requires deliberate effort from leaders who know how to bring people together.
Below are five practical ways leaders can transform a disjointed group into a cohesive, high-performing team:
1. Set Clear Expectations
Teams rarely align without clarity. Leaders need to define and communicate what good teamwork looks like in practice, rather than assuming employees “just know.” Spell out the specific behaviors that are expected — for example, checking with colleagues whose work will be affected before making a decision. Just as important: make sure the consequences of ignoring these behaviors outweigh the discomfort of following them.
Early in my career, a mistake from someone in the department slipped into an employee newsletter. Instead of hiding it, our team immediately admitted the error. The fallout was minor compared to what it would have been if someone else had discovered it later. Leaders who punish honesty unintentionally create cultures of fear where people conceal mistakes. By contrast, when leaders reward transparency, they build trust and accountability.
2. Align Around a Shared Purpose and Vision
Disjointed teams often pull in different directions because they lack a unifying goal. A strong shared purpose aligns people and reduces conflict. Misaligned objectives — such as rewarding production teams solely on volume while quality teams are measured on defect rates — almost guarantee finger-pointing and silos.
Leaders must clearly define what “winning” looks like for the whole organization. At the executive level, this often means focusing on purpose, values, and long-term goals. For frontline teams, it’s more about how each role contributes to the bigger picture. When the same yardstick measures success, departments stop protecting turf and start working toward collective outcomes.
3. Encourage Healthy Conflict
Unity doesn’t mean uniformity. Great teams argue — but productively. Patrick Lencioni, in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, identifies fear of conflict as a common roadblock to performance. Leaders should set the tone by welcoming debate, modeling constructive disagreement, and making it clear that challenging ideas (not people) is expected. This kind of conflict creates innovation, strengthens ideas, and avoids the “groupthink” trap.
4. Identify Interdependencies
Collaboration strengthens when team members see how their work depends on one another. The challenge is to pinpoint where input is essential, rather than slowing progress by seeking consensus on every decision. One exercise I use to highlight these connections is asking each team member:
- What do you wish others understood about your work?
- What frustrates you about how others interact with you?
- What could you or your team do differently to improve things?
This process highlights friction points, builds empathy, and clarifies when collaboration is essential versus when autonomy makes more sense.
5. Remove Systemic Barriers
Even the best intentions can be undermined by systemic obstacles such as competing priorities, outdated structures, or misaligned incentives. Leaders must be willing to call out and address these barriers. That might mean reassessing goals, updating systems, or ensuring equity and inclusion practices are not just “policies on paper” but felt realities for employees. By creating environments of psychological safety and belonging, leaders give people permission to bring their whole selves to work, and collaboration naturally follows.
Ready To Build A Better Functioning, More Unified Team?
When employees feel connected, they naturally work together toward shared goals. But collaboration only thrives when it’s continuous, purpose-driven, and supported by the right tools and processes. Our leadership and team development programs help organizations to create this kind of high-performing, collaborative culture. If you’d like to talk about your specific requirements, please contact me here.
Frequently Asked Questions
What strategies promote healthy conflict and minimize unhealthy conflict in teams?
Healthy conflict comes from setting norms that focus on debating ideas rather than criticizing people. Leaders can create space for different viewpoints, step in to stop personal attacks, and build psychological safety so people feel comfortable speaking up. Striking this balance keeps debates constructive instead of divisive.
What tools or technologies can help teams collaborate more effectively?
Our structured leadership and development programs give leaders and teams actionable strategies to strengthen collaboration, resolve conflict, and build a high-performing, unified culture.
How do you align team members around a common purpose and shared goals?
Alignment requires clearly defining what the team’s collective success looks like and linking individual roles to that outcome. Leaders must clarify the “why” behind shared goals, then translate them into relevant objectives for each group and individual within the team. Commitment is strengthened when team members understand how their work contributes to the bigger picture. Regular communication and updating goals to reflect changing circumstances also sustain alignment.
How can leaders rebuild trust in a team that’s been divided?
Leaders can rebuild trust by acknowledging past issues, setting clear expectations, and consistently following through on their commitments. Creating small wins where team members depend on one another helps strengthen relationships over time. Trust grows deeper when leaders model honesty, own their mistakes, and respond constructively. Tools like the DISC assessment can also shed light on different personality and behavioral styles, enabling team members to better understand, appreciate, and leverage their differences.
1. Baron, S. (2014). CLA: The Voice of Catholic Libraries and Library Workers. The Catholic Library World, 84(4), 232-233.
2. https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/team-decision-making
