Hello and welcome to the tenth edition of Getting Teamwork Right!

Working in teams is all about getting the maximum effort out of people so that you can perform and achieve the goals that you have set. Central to this is creating the right conditions so that people voluntarily make the choice to do the best work that they possibly can. And one of the most important ways that we can do this is to ensure that people feel like they belong in your team.

It is a very miserable state of affairs if you are part of a team where you don't feel like you belong, where you feel alone, unsure, and unclear about what you are there to do. Trust me on this because I speak from personal experience!

It is therefore vital that teams create the right atmosphere where people feel like they can belong and be themselves. In this episode I'm going to explore the topic of belonging and share some ideas about how we can make this a reality in your team.

I'm also sharing a video I made about the important topic of psychological safety, which feeds into this sense of belonging. As ever if you would like to speak to me about how to do this in your team, I'm always happy to have a chat.

Why Hybrid Teams Struggle to Feel Like a Team

When you're not in the same room, connection has to be built rather than assumed. This post looks at why hybrid and distributed teams often feel less like a team than co-located ones, and what's really driving the disconnect.

Psychological Safety

Belonging and psychological safety go hand in hand. In this video I unpack what psychological safety actually looks like in practice, and why it's the foundation everything else in this issue is built on.

Building Belonging When Your Team Never Meets in Person

Belonging doesn't happen by accident when your team is spread across time zones. This post sets out practical, low-effort ways to build genuine connection when your team rarely, or never, shares a room.

Try This With Your Team This Week

This week, start one team meeting with two minutes of no-agenda catch-up, cameras on, no work talk allowed. It feels small. For distributed teams, it's often the only unstructured connection they get.

Ask Andy

Do you have a question that I can help you with? Send it to me on the link below and I will answer it. I'd like to publish one answer every fortnight — so that any readers with a similar concern can benefit. I will ask if you are OK for me to use your question, and I will make you and your situation anonymous before I share it.

Book a Call

If you want to find out more about how we could help your team or organisation, I'd love to hear from you. You can book a Microsoft Teams call with me here: