I’ve just discovered your site, so forgive me if this is a common question. I’m a recent addition to a group (team), that is fragmented. I’m looking for low key ways of building the team into a true “Team.” If the group thinks that a concerted effort is under way, they will resist any changes to existing behavior. Any ideas?

The Team Doc Says…

It sounds like this group needs to start from the basics of how to build a team properly. Your team leader should take the bull by the horns and get this done since fragmented teams are much less productive. But it doesn’t sound like that’s the case here.

You don’t identify what your role is on this team, so I’ll assume you are a team member.

Since you’re new, now is the perfect time to help bring this team together.

Your objective will be to determine the team mission, team goals, and team member roles and responsibilities. This can be accomplished through interviews with existing team members.

As the newbie, you can then take this information and share it with the rest of the team in the spirit of “getting clarification as the new team member.” Make sure that you share in a team setting (e.g. team meeting) and get some discussion going around whether you’ve interpreted the information correctly.

Most team members won’t be able to resist being part of the process so this should get you well on your way to becoming a real team again.

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