MIT Sloan Management Review Article on How Managers Can Support Business Unity

In sports, there are rarely fights in the winning locker room. But when a team loses, the finger-pointing sometimes begins — especially if the team management has broken down. The same is true in business.

People from different departments may be celebrating and high-fiving when things are going well. But when a quarterly target is missed, defenses go up — and different camps within the company often turn against each other.

This problem within organizational culture can be exacerbated in times of high stress or crisis. There were already concerns about a looming recession before the COVID-19 outbreak put those fears into overdrive. Businesses know they could face a tough time in the months ahead. It’s an extremely stressful time for people at all levels of an organization. In addition to its impact on our well- being and mental health, stress can also damage business relationships. And with millions of people suddenly working remotely, there’s currently the added challenge of needing to repair damage done to business continuity and relationships virtually.

It’s crucial that businesses work to achieve unity. The financial incentives of a unified, collaborative workforce are clear. Deloitte found that greater collaboration creates value and saves time inside organizations. This also leads to higher-quality work output.

But even companies keenly aware of these benefits can fall into the finger-pointing trap. I’ve seen it happen. My background is in both sales and marketing — two departments that notoriously have high levels of conflict. Similar strife can happen anywhere in an organization.

It’s up to leaders and managers to ensure that it doesn’t. That means running the business so that different departments are not just aligned, but integrated. This doesn’t happen simply through social activities and team bonding initiatives. Instead, it takes active efforts, year-round, to create a “one team” mentality.

Here are three key steps that can go a long way toward building collaborative relationships and ending the blame game in your organization.

About the Author

Max Altschuler (@hackitmax) is vice president of marketing at Outreach and author of several books, including Hacking Sales (Wiley, 2016).

Learn more about MIT SMR.