A French company, specialized in creative business events, faced significant collaboration challenges between its French and UK teams during international expansion. The tension between the two teams escalated into power struggles, mutual distrust, and ineffective communication, leading to inefficiencies and conflict.
The head of international expansion realized that without resolving these issues, further UK expansion would be at risk, prompting him to seek external support from B15 to address the dysfunctional collaboration.
The intervention began with a focus on understanding the emotional and psychological drivers behind the teams' behaviour. During interviews, members of both teams expressed frustrations around communication breakdowns, lack of trust, and conflicting values. Drawings made by participants revealed perceptions of territoriality, fear of loss of control, and anxiety over recognition and authority.
The French team was concerned about maintaining control over the business concept they had developed, while the UK team felt marginalized and dependent on decisions made in France. These differences created a culture of defensiveness and blame. A working note was developed, summarizing the findings and laying out hypotheses about the underlying fears, assumptions, and defence mechanisms driving the teams' behaviour.
The next step involved bringing both teams together in a safe, reflective setting to explore the findings and working hypotheses. The aim was to move beyond superficial fixes and address the root causes of the dysfunctional collaboration. Quantitative data from the surveys was also shared, highlighting low levels of trust, ineffective communication, and misaligned goals.
In this session, participants engaged in open dialogue, with a focus on creating a shared understanding of the problems and fostering mutual empathy. The discussion revealed key behavioural patterns, such as the French team's tendency to intervene at the last minute, undermining the UK team's decisions. This collaborative session allowed the teams to explore these dynamics, shift their focus from defending their positions to co-creating solutions, and recognize the need for better alignment on goals and decision-making processes.
Following the joint workshop, structural and behavioural strategies were developed to improve collaboration. The teams worked on creating clearer governance structures, aligning decision-making processes, and setting up mechanisms for better communication. Both teams also agreed on common organizational objectives, shifting their focus from internal competition to shared success.
Behavioural strategies were introduced to help individuals manage emotions and improve interpersonal relationships. The leaders from both teams played a crucial role in facilitating this transition by fostering open dialogue and reinforcing trust-building behaviours. Continuous follow-up coaching ensured that these changes were embedded into daily operations, with ongoing monitoring of communication quality, relationship dynamics, and trust levels.
The intervention resulted in significant improvements in the collaboration between the French and UK teams. By addressing the deeper emotional and psychological barriers to cooperation, the teams were able to shift from a mindset of competition to one of mutual support.
Trust increased, and communication became more transparent and timely. Both teams were now aligned on common goals, and their collaboration became more efficient, allowing them to refocus their energy on business growth rather than internal conflicts.
Trust increased significantly between the two teams, replacing defensiveness and blame with mutual support.
Communication became more open and timely, with clearer governance and aligned decision-making processes.
Both teams refocused from internal competition to common objectives, freeing energy for business growth.
Resolving cross-team conflict requires going beyond structural fixes. Addressing the hidden emotional and psychological dynamics — fear of loss of control, identity, and recognition — is what enables lasting collaboration and business growth.