After a successful run with Team Alpha, Alex has just transferred to Team Beta, expecting a similar dynamic there. Both teams have comparable levels of talent, training and experience. Yet within days, it’s clear that something is missing. The new team isn’t incompetent – but it seems to lack a certain energy or camaraderie. Asked what feels different, Alex says: ‘My old team had team spirit. This one doesn’t.’

Most teams find themselves struggling with this problem at some point. The good news is that it’s never too late to turn things around. Whether you’re part of a newly formed team or one that’s been together for years, in a workplace or in other contexts, you can use research-backed strategies to improve how the members of your team function together.

What is a team, and what is team spirit?

First, let’s be clear about what a team actually is: a group of interdependent people working toward a specific, shared goal. If there’s no clear shared goal, it’s not a team. And, if someone can get the job done solo, then they are not depending on the skills, talents and expertise of others. Thus, a team is defined by interdependent work toward a defined objective. For one team, that objective might be launching a new product or serving a client; for others, it might be producing a film, planning a community event, or competing in a tournament.

In this Guide, I’ll share some tested strategies you can use to build team spirit as you and your teammates work toward your own shared goals. In management science, team spirit is commonly described using concepts such as ‘team cohesion’. Both terms refer to the psychological glue that holds members together – the extent to which they trust and respect one another, feel a sense of belonging, and are motivated to stay engaged. When team spirit is high, it sets the stage for higher team productivity and performance. When it’s low, members feel inhibited and uninvolved. Neither team leaders nor other members should be passive when it comes to teamwork. Team spirit is like physical fitness: you can lose it if you ignore it, but you can also rebuild it with the right regimen.

The essential building block of team spirit is trust. Mutual trust allows people to speak up without fear of embarrassment, to share half-formed ideas knowing they’ll be heard, and to step in to help one another without being asked. Decisions move faster because no one is wasting energy on second-guessing motives or guarding territory. The atmosphere feels lighter, not because the work is easy, but because people believe their contributions matter and their teammates have their backs.

So, a key to building team spirit is encouraging trust to grow and knowing how to intervene when trust is threatened. The guidance that follows will offer concrete ways to do both.

Team leaders have the greatest power to introduce and sustain the practices I’ll outline. But even if you’re not the one in charge, you can still spark change: in that case, you’ll want to approach your team leader respectfully, expressing your desire to help the team become even more effective. If the leader seems to share that goal, you can confidently propose some of the ideas that follow. If they seem defensive or apathetic, try to understand why: are they overwhelmed? Uncertain how to begin? Concerned about losing control? Understanding their resistance can help you tailor your approach – whether that means piloting one idea in a smaller sub-team, finding allies who share your vision for improvement, or just personally modelling some of the behaviours I’ll describe.

Craft a team charter

A team charter is a written (usually one-page) agreement that spells out the principles by which team members agree to abide. An effective team charter is a blueprint created *by *the team *for *the team. It answers three questions:

• What’s our goal?
• Who’s doing what?
• How will we work together?

In other words, to be effective, a team charter should describe a clear goal or mission; the responsibilities each member has on the team; and the norms around how members are expected to behave and interact with each other. Importantly, the team charter should be co-created by all members of the team. To create one for your team, you could set aside 30 to 60 minutes to work through each key element together: your mission, individual roles, and the norms that will guide how you interact and make decisions. Encourage open discussion, ensuring that everyone has a voice in shaping the document. When team members help define the rules, they feel a sense of genuine ownership, and that is the first step toward true team spirit.

To give you an example, I once worked with a product-launch team who had been missing deadlines and duplicating work. They paused to draft a charter. In a couple of hours, they answered three questions. What’s our goal? In this case, it was to launch a new product by the end of the second quarter, with a 95 per cent customer-satisfaction rating. Who’s doing what? Specific members would be responsible for the messaging to customers, some would manage rollout logistics, and others would track adoption. How will we work together? They agreed to brief weekly check-in meetings and a ‘no surprises’ rule whereby team members would quickly raise any potential issues. Within a few weeks, deadlines were back on track and morale improved noticeably.

The same process could help various other kinds of teams. For example, a surgical team might define its goal (successful completion of procedures with zero preventable complications), assign clear roles (lead surgeon, anaesthesiologist, circulating nurse), and set norms (‘Speak up immediately if something looks off’). Whatever the context, the power of a team charter lies in making interdependence explicit, so everyone knows what success looks like and how to achieve it together.

It’s a good idea to revisit the charter periodically. Even the best-written charter can become irrelevant if a team’s goals, constraints or membership change. Teams should treat their charter as a living document, revising it as needed to strengthen their commitment and catch any misalignments.

Encourage the free flow of ideas

Team meetings are often seen as a giant waste of time, no matter whether teams are making decisions, solving a problem, or brainstorming. Many leaders underprepare for meetings, expecting that smart, motivated people will have enough to contribute. But it is not sufficient to simply announce that ‘people should speak up’. One reason why meetings are inefficient and energy-sapping is that a minority of people often consume a majority of the team’s time. Some people do all the talking while others feel left out. Left unchecked, this becomes self-reinforcing, where certain people feel that they need to speak and the quieter people give up on being heard.

Approaching meetings with greater structure and focus can make them more efficient and fun. What ultimately builds team spirit through this process is line of sight. When people see a clear connection between their own ideas and how the team operates, their commitment deepens. To help make this happen, consider the following best practices for brainstorming and its variants, ‘brainwriting’ and ‘speedstorming’.

Brainstorming

Many people use brainstorming in their teams and expect members to generate ideas on the spot. Yet in observing business teams, my colleagues and I have found that most violate one or more of the cardinal rules of brainstorming, adapted here from the work of the advertising executive and brainstorming developer Alex F Osborn. A brief endorsement of each of these rules can have a profound impact:

• Expressiveness. Encourage people to verbalise any ideas, even those that seem odd or impractical. Silly ideas and implausible ideas sow the seeds for viable ideas.
• Non-evaluation. Announce that, for a brief period, say 15 minutes, no one will focus on the merits of ideas. The goal is to generate, not judge.
• Non-judgment. Remind the group that there are no ‘bad’ ideas or ‘wrong’ directions during the brainstorming period – just raw material.
• Building on others’ ideas. Invite people to link, extend or combine ideas, much like adding pieces to a Lego structure.

Even simple statements of these rules by a leader or facilitator can set a tone of psychological safety and freedom, allowing ideas to emerge. One classic study compared groups who were informed about the four cardinal rules of brainstorming with other groups who were simply instructed to ‘brainstorm’, finding that the informed groups suggested more and better ideas.

Once the session wraps up, the real win is having generated a broad range of ideas. What matters next is making sure they don’t vanish. A leader should capture the output – such as by compiling digital notes or photographing whiteboards – and circulate it to team members. Seeing their contributions preserved and visible reinforces a sense of ownership and keeps momentum alive.

Brainwriting

One risk with brainstorming sessions is that vocally dominant people might drown out the others with their suggestions. What can the team do in that case? The research-backed answer is brainwriting, a written sharing of ideas wherein multiple people simultaneously contribute to a document, whiteboard, spreadsheet or other repository. Brainwriting can have advantages over brainstorming because there are fewer barriers to suggesting ideas. In one example of this, a team gathered in a conference room and placed their individual ideas (written on Post-it notes) on a whiteboard, with specific instructions to not try to discern the author of any idea. Instead, the focus was on the volume of ideas. Soon, there were more than 100 suggestions on the wall, and the team used an app to photograph and digitise the notes.

Speedstorming

Another option for generating ideas is speedstorming, which you can think of as a mash-up between brainstorming and speed dating. Team members are paired up for a short amount of time (eg, 3 to 5 minutes) to brainstorm together, and then rotate so that, eventually, every team member has quality one-on-one time with every other team member. This approach combines some of the best features of brainwriting and brainstorming: people can communicate freely while also having structured, in-person time with teammates. It ensures that quieter voices are heard, and ideas can build momentum across pairings. At the end of the session, a designated team member collects written notes or summaries from each round and compiles them into a shared document, so the full range of insights can be reviewed and refined.

Set the stage for healthy conflict

Cohesive teams aren’t conflict-free – they just know how to argue productively. Avoiding disagreement altogether is a problem because it risks groupthink, or excessive like-mindedness in a team. But unmanaged conflict risks a breakdown in cohesion. A team must both normalise disagreement and structure it so that it’s about ideas, not identities.

Healthy conflict focuses on the group’s task, whereas dysfunctional conflict is laden with emotion, resentment and personal attacks. Often, people attempt to engage in a healthy argument but unwittingly insult or hurt other group members. Healthy conflict is a learned skill. Teams should include conflict norms in their charter (eg, ‘Polite disagreement is expected and valued’), but that is not enough on its own. What else can team members do to set the stage for healthy conflict?

One approach is to engage in structured debates, featuring two parts: a ‘boxing ring’, where issues are argued and debated; and a ‘campfire’, where team members reaffirm their connection to one another. Practically speaking, the boxing ring is a dedicated time – even just 10 minutes – for team members to raise concerns, challenge assumptions, and debate ideas openly. It works best when everyone knows that disagreement is expected and valued. The goal isn’t to win an argument once and for all, but to surface different perspectives while the stakes are still low. Afterwards, the campfire is a few minutes for team members to reflect on what they’ve learned, acknowledge differing viewpoints, and reaffirm their shared purpose. This helps reduce any lingering tension and reminds people that they’re still on the same team.

One nonprofit board that I worked with began adding a brief boxing-ring segment to each monthly meeting, where members took turns challenging one strategic decision on the agenda. Afterward, they gathered for a short campfire discussion to summarise what they agreed on and what needed more exploration. Within weeks, conversations became more candid, and trust grew stronger.

Celebrate the wins and mourn the losses together

When a team fails, it can shatter egos and threaten the vitality of the team. How can you help build a team that’s capable of bouncing back when team spirit sags?

First and foremost, wins and milestones should be celebrated. Key players need to be recognised for their efforts and achievements. One of the most affirming things that team members (and particularly a team leader) can do is to recognise progress in real time. At the end of each meeting of the team, you might take a minute to highlight any milestones reached and call out the team members who helped achieve them. For example: ‘We resolved the budget issue, thanks to Franz,’ or ‘We moved forward on dealing with this longtime concern, based on Yaz’s suggestion.’ These small acknowledgments reinforce the team’s shared identity – the sense that ‘we’ accomplished something together. They remind members that their contributions matter and that progress is a collective achievement. Over time, this habit builds the trust and shared pride that define true team spirit.

When setbacks occur, the same visibility matters. Rather than going quiet, teams should talk openly about what happened and what they’ve learned. That transparency can help turn disappointment into momentum – and ensure that morale and connection grow even through failure.

The Chicago Cubs baseball team adopted a simple ritual when they were in contention for the 2016 World Series: celebrate each win for 30 minutes, mourn each loss for 30 minutes, and then focus on the next game. It’s a powerful model for any team. Acknowledge the emotions, extract the lessons, and then redirect energy toward what’s ahead. Leaders can activate this mindset by asking two short questions: What did we expect to happen? and What will we do differently next time? Other team members can contribute by sharing what they personally found challenging or surprising. The goal isn’t to assign fault but to process the experience together so that the team can move forward cohesively.