What are the Telltale Signs of Meaningful Camaraderie?

Camaraderie – the spirit of goodwill, rapport, and loyalty – is the magical essence of a robust team. It is a sense that you are “in it together” and “have each other’s backs”.

If you have experienced it, you know the feeling and impact it can have. It’s not achieved through a happy hour or one-off team building session (although shared activities can plant the seeds for more cohesiveness). True camaraderie is not at the expense of others (i.e. “us vs. them”). Instead, it exhibits the following conditions:

1.     Collaboration. The willingness and ability to work together, to contribute to each other and to a common goal.

2.     Trust. The presence of mutual trust in each other’s knowledge, skills, and character.

3.     Respect. Holding each other in high regard, an admiration for a team member that might be demonstrated by asking for their advice or perspective and listening attentively.

4.     Care. A desire for the best for each other and empathy for each other’s journey.

5.     Connection. A deeper understanding and acceptance of each other – achieved through substantive, honest, and vulnerable conversations.  

When we work with team members with whom we trust and respect, it fuels a kind of synergy that produces great work and a sense of satisfaction. The process is energizing and the outcomes enhanced.

It takes intentionality to build real camaraderie, especially in hybrid work environments. A recent McKinsey & Company study suggests that remote workers are aware of the need for connection and the difficulties of virtual work, with 44% of employees fearing the loss of community and connection to colleagues, and 43% fearing reduced collaboration.

A workplace culture of camaraderie does not imply having total ease or alignment, or the making of friendships at the expense of achieving work objectives. It’s not “Kumbaya”, it is a shared commitment with worthy collaborators.

 Collaboration Made Eas(ier)

The idea of collaboration seems like a no-brainer. We operate in teams. We need each other’s strengths and experiences to deliver on our big picture visions. We should be better together – and if we are not, we need to figure out how to be better together because it has the potential to be a game changer in morale and an organization’s effectiveness.

Collaboration can ignite creativity and innovation; it can level up our inspiration and our collective ability to solve sticky issues and bring about change.

And the truth is, collaboration takes effort and practice. It requires the ability to let go of full control (and our ego) and be open to co-creating the experience. Teams that operate in the context of co-creating invite diverse opinions without feeling threatened.

Collaboration also takes passionate curiosity, commitment to a shared goal, and an understanding of the interdependency in which you operate. Working collaboratively requires master level skills in communications and emotional intelligence!

Working in Silos: The Antithesis of Collaboration

If we struggle with our teammates, we might find ourselves resisting what others offer, working in silos, hoarding information, and feeling unsupported and uncomfortable in offering out-of-the-box ideas. In that kind of environment, working independently can feel more satisfying as we have more control, more creative freedom, and more autonomy – even if our ultimate impact is limited.

Silos can happen when people bury their heads into their own tasks, without paying attention to the common goal or the interplay among co-workers. Silos can happen within a department – each person focused solely on their respective responsibilities, or they can happen between departments.

Internal Team Silos

If there are unclear processes or responsibilities and limited shared projects, individual team members might default to focusing strictly on their own role; even slipping into “that’s not my job” mentality. And yet, a team of superstars will not make great strides if they don’t operate in sync. Egos, unwillingness to help each other, inability to see the interconnectedness of their efforts (workflow, mission, etc.) get in the way.

Teams have a collective and shared reputation – a brand. The integrity of their brand is dependent upon the stakeholder experience of each team member. In other words, internal and external customers will often judge the effectiveness of a team as a whole.

Departmental Silos

It’s not uncommon for sales to create stress on operations (bringing in too much or too little work), or operations on sales (efficiency or quality issues that impact the customer experience), yet clearly, they need each other. I have seen teams be strong together at the expense of another department, as if having a foe is their bond.

Follow the unaddressed friction and it will show you where the fissures exist in your organization’s team dynamics.

How can you raise your collaboration game?

Transitioning from operating in silos to high-performing teams requires intentional cultural, structural, and behavioral shifts. A practical roadmap:

• Awareness. Acknowledge the presence of silos and openly discuss how they hinder collaboration, innovation, and efficiency. Use examples of missed opportunities, duplicated work, or credibility within the organization to illustrate the impact.

• Assessment. Conduct a team assessment to establish a baseline of organizational health in the domains of collaboration, trust, respect, care, and connection.

• Map out existing workflows and decision-making processes. Understanding how things get done and each person’s contribution can help people step into a collaborative spirit.

• Align teams around a common purpose, objective or initiative. Ensure goals are interdependent – not achievable by one person or one team alone. Cross functional teams become the structure for delivering results.

• Create expectations of working effectively together. Bring team members together to communicate, brainstorm, and solve problems.

• Reward team behavior, highlight the interdependence demonstrated in any win.

• Normalize feedback as a way of learning together and defining team norms. This includes regular appreciation and course correction of team dynamics.

A culture of camaraderie is a culture of belonging. Deep camaraderie creates space to contribute to each other – a giving and receiving – from a place of care. The rewards are worth the effort!

It's not my job ... or is it?

The phrase “not my job”, has long been a pet peeve of mine. I remember early in my career when I was the marketing director for a general contractor. It was bid day and a bit tense around the office. I was retrieving my mail from the front desk when I overheard the project manager responsible for the bid inform the controller that the fax machine wasn’t working (Back then, that was how we received subcontractor bids). She shrugged her shoulders and blandly responded, “That’s not my job.”

My younger self was not so skilled in the art of communications and I am pretty sure I snapped at her, declaring something like, “I don’t care if the estimating team needs a $%@ cup of coffee, it’s our job to support them on bid day”.

No doubt the “not my job” mentality bristles against my predisposition for helpfulness and my Midwestern work ethic. I also worry that it can also rob people of the camaraderie experienced when there is an “all-hands-on-deck” task to execute. Doing what it takes to get the job done and having each other’s backs have been the epitome of teamwork for me. As someone who hasn’t always been great at asking for help, a culture that promotes lending a hand also makes it easier to ask for and accept support.

I realize the annoyance for me is more about the attitude I perceive behind it. The reality is that it’s more complicated than that. There are ways in which the “not my job” mantra can be invoked, in a professional manner, for smart operational management – bringing clarity and accountability to roles, responsibilities, and workflows. There are times when “not my job” provides a reality check on an organization’s true resource capacity. (When we stretch ourselves too thin, upper management just sees work getting accomplished and may not see the labor it is taking to get there).

Having worked with hundreds of organizations navigating growth and change, I have witnessed how muddied roles and responsibilities can get and how quickly communication breaks down.

Confusion in roles and responsibilities can plant the seeds for frustration and resentment – and often precipitate a decline in productivity and quality.

Expectations + Accountability + Firefighting

People want to understand what is expected of them and for what they will be held accountable. If it falls outside of their domain, they can still contribute on occasion, but it is not a regular ask.

If someone tries to delegate an undesirable task that is theirs, it might be appropriate to redirect their efforts. A classic example I see is when a manager identifies an employee who needs a performance improvement plan (PIP). Oftentimes, that manager informs the employee that Human Resources will be putting them on a PIP. HR is your business partner, there to guide and support you, but it is not their job to manage the employee. You can’t delegate a relationship!

If your organization is experiencing daily firefighting, it is worth examining how clear people’s authority is in their role and how well known and followed are the procedures and protocols? Ironically, it is often in slowing down that you can begin to catch up. #GoSlowToGoFast

 Ownership and Boundaries

It’s healthy to own our role and be accountable for our work. It can be inspiring to tackle tasks that are not in our lane, but that build our knowledge and skills – and our empathy and understanding of how the broader organization functions. It can fuel our creativity to help a colleague navigate a challenging problem. Lending support can foster a more resilient work community.  (Note: I recommend thoughtfulness when embarking on something not in one’s lane as it can be perceived as interfering, controlling, and/or untrusting).

It’s unhealthy when we say “yes” when we need to say “no”. We can feel overworked, underappreciated, and overwhelmed. Consistently overcommitting (no boundaries) deteriorates trust and leads to burnout.  

If we don’t have boundaries for our workload, our own work may suffer, and we may be masking underlying organizational ailments. Is the organization under resourced? Is it tolerating vague, haphazard, and unpredictable workflows? Is it asking people to do work that they are ill-equipped to execute? Is it ignoring poor performance by having top performers pick up the slack?

Sometimes saying “Let me help you with that” is the right offer at the right time. Sometimes, a boundary is exactly the right response.

You may come up against requests of you that are legitimately not your job and require conversations to navigate. Consider it your job to speak up, to articulate your needs, your capacity, be your own advocate, redirect a request, be a team player, and contribute to problem solving.

For example, I’m afraid I don’t know anything about the fax machines, that’s Terry’s expertise. Let me bring her into this conversation. Or “Actually, as your HR Business Partner, I don’t manage the Performance Improvement Plan. I can however coach you through the process so you can mentor your team member.”

Helping our colleagues can be an immensely satisfying experience. When we share a common goal and have our fingerprints on the work, we get to celebrate in the collective wins. It can foster a sense of being needed, appreciated, and belonging. If we are regularly asked to do more than our fair share, it can feel exhausting and generate feelings of being taken for granted.

Healthy boundaries at work can keep us from getting into unhealthy dynamics.  What can you own as your job?