Marketing is pushing for a new campaign.
Sales is trying to hit its quarterly targets.
Product is working on a tight development schedule.
Each team is focused on its own goals, but no one is talking to each other.
The result?
Marketing launches a promotion that Sales wasn’t prepared for.
Customers ask about a product that isn’t ready yet.
Deadlines slip, frustration builds, and fingers start pointing.
This kind of disconnect happens a lot. Teams work in silos, focusing on their objectives without considering how their work affects others.
Information gets lost, decisions are made in isolation, and projects slow down because teams aren’t aligned.
Instead of working together, departments operate like separate islands, each managing its own priorities without a clear view of the bigger picture.
Why does this happen?
Often, it starts with a lack of communication.
Teams don’t have a shared space to exchange updates or clarify expectations. Leaders set goals for their own departments but don’t align them across teams.
Sometimes, there’s a deeper issue—teams worry about losing control, recognition, or resources if they collaborate too much.
Without a strong reason to work together, it's human nature to default to protecting their own interests.
But when teams resist collaboration, the entire organisation suffers.
Work gets duplicated, leading to wasted time and effort.
Projects slow down because teams aren’t on the same page.
Decisions are made with incomplete information, increasing the risk of costly mistakes. And when things go wrong, teams blame each other instead of working toward a solution.
Over time, this erodes trust and makes collaboration even harder.
Fixing this isn’t about forcing teams to work together.
It’s about creating the right conditions for collaboration to happen naturally.
When teams share information openly, they make better decisions. When goals align across departments, work flows smoothly. When leaders encourage cross-team partnerships, trust grows.
The result is an organisation that runs more efficiently, adapts more quickly, and finds better solutions to complex problems.
The best teams don’t just work alongside each other—they work with each other.
Removing barriers between teams doesn’t just improve productivity.
It builds a culture where people take ownership, share ideas, and work toward a common goal.
That’s how organisations move forward.
We’ve developed a simple 90-minute experiential workshop to help you improve team collaboration.
It’s part of a new pack of 20 workshops we’re releasing next week.
Let’s get into it…
Collaboration in Action: Building Bridges Between Teams
Duration: 90 mins
Objectives
- Identify the causes of resistance to collaboration.
- Foster a mindset of trust, openness, and mutual support.
- Develop actionable strategies to encourage cross-team collaboration.
1. Welcome and Icebreaker (10 minutes)
Activity: Common Ground
- Pair participants from different teams and ask them to find 3 things they have in common (work-related or personal).
- Purpose: Break the ice and highlight shared connections across teams.
2. Understanding Resistance to Collaboration (15 minutes)
Activity: Barriers to Collaboration
- In small groups, participants brainstorm reasons why teams may resist collaboration (e.g., fear of losing control, lack of trust, unclear goals).
- Groups share their findings, and the facilitator records themes on a flipchart or whiteboard.
- Debrief: Discuss how these barriers impact organisational success and team morale.
3. The Benefits of Collaboration (15 minutes)
Activity: Collaboration Wins
- Each group identifies an example of successful collaboration (from their experience or hypothetical).
- Groups answer:
- What made the collaboration successful?
- How did it benefit the teams and the organisation?
- Share examples with the larger group.
- Debrief: Emphasise the value of collaboration and how it leads to better outcomes.
4. Overcoming Resistance (25 minutes)
Activity: The Collaboration Canvas
- Provide each group with a “Collaboration Canvas” template to complete:
- Current Challenges: What makes collaboration difficult?
- Desired State: What does successful collaboration look like?
- Action Steps: What specific actions can we take to improve collaboration?
- Groups present their canvases to the larger team.
- Output: A consolidated list of actionable strategies to foster collaboration.
5. Building Trust Across Teams (20 minutes)
Activity: The Trust Circle
- Teams discuss:
- What support do they need from other teams to collaborate better?
- What can they offer other teams to build trust?
- Write down and share commitments to support collaboration.
- Debrief: Reinforce the idea that trust is built through small, consistent actions over time.
6. Closing and Reflection (5 minutes)
Activity: One Step Forward
- Each participant shares one personal action they’ll take to improve collaboration (e.g., “I’ll schedule a regular check-in with X team”).
- Facilitator Note: Encourage accountability and ongoing dialogue.
Materials Needed
- Flipchart or whiteboard.
- Sticky notes and markers.
- Collaboration Canvas templates (printed or on large paper).
Follow-Up
Schedule a follow-up in 4 weeks to assess progress and refine the strategies developed in the workshop.
Conclusion
By using this workshop, you’ll never have to struggle with teams working in silos, missing key information, or duplicating efforts.
Instead, it becomes a simple process of aligning goals, improving communication, and building trust between teams so they collaborate naturally and effectively.
Well, that’s it for today.
I hope you found it useful.