Is your team silently divided?
One team. One goal. One mission.
^ that’s what the leadership gurus tell us a team should be, right?
But in reality… Sometimes, a team doesn’t really feel like one team at all.
Maybe it’s the original team vs. the new hires.
Maybe it’s different departments working in silos.
Maybe it’s the remote workers vs. the in-office employees.
Or maybe it’s a team that’s been merged in from another company.
Whatever the case, instead of working together, it can sometimes feel like they’re working purposefully working against each other.
And the results can look like…
Poor communication.
A toxic us vs. them mentality.
Passive-aggressive emails (or just silence).
Slow decision-making and resistance to change.
A culture where collaboration feels forced (if it happens at all).
So, what do you do when your team isn’t actually a team?
Here’s how to break down the walls and unite them into one high-performing group.
Step 1: Identify the secret divide
Before you even begin to fix a division like this, you need to truly understand it.
Most leaders assume that team division happens because of personality clashes. But more often, it’s about fear, power dynamics, or a lack of shared purpose.
Ask yourself:
What’s fuelling the divide? Is it an organisational change? A lack of trust? Differences in work styles?
How do they talk about each other?
Do they say things like: “They don’t get it”, “We have to pick up their slack”, or “They think they’re better than us”?Who benefits from the division? Sometimes, a few people gain power from keeping things separate.
Who is that? And if they control the narrative, you’ll need to address that head-on with them.
Step 2: Stop treating them like two teams
Truth bomb: If you continue to talk about them as “the different teams,” or “the old and the new people” they’ll act that way.
Even if you mention it in small, seemingly harmless interactions.
Us, as the managers, have to commit to closing that gap with our language.
What to do:
Use shared language. Stop saying “the two teams” and start saying “our team.”
Mix them up. Change seating plans, break down department-specific Slack channels, and restructure project groups so they work across both sides.
Have them solve a problem together. Give them a real challenge that forces collaboration. Not a forced, awkward team-building exercise. But something they can all dig in with together.
Example:
A retail company I worked with recently had a major divide between their in-store and office based teams.
So instead of treating them like two separate functions, I set up a project whereby people spent a ‘day in the their shoes’, where the office team spent a few days working in store, and the store workers in the office.
Working on a shared challenge forced them to see each other’s perspectives and gain empathy (it was also a bit of fun) - But almost overnight we started to see the divide fading.
We did this in the early days of GoProposal too, we had the dev team on the phones to customers answering support challenges, and the marketing team working with sales.
Step 3: Call it out (Don’t pretend it’s not happening)
The mistake I see so many leaders make here is ignoring the tension and hoping it ‘works itself out.’
Spoiler: It won’t.
Your team knows there’s a divide. If you pretend everything’s fine, they’ll assume leadership is either out of touch or unwilling to fix it.
How to Address It:
Acknowledge the split. Say something like:
“I’ve noticed that we tend to operate in two groups instead of as one team. I want us to change that.”
Frame it as a challenge to overcome together:
“Right now, we’re not working as well together as we could be. Let’s figure out how to change that.”
Ask for their perspective. Instead of telling them what’s wrong, ask:
“What’s making collaboration difficult right now? What should we do about it?”
Step 4: Create a common enemy (Yes, really)
One of the fastest ways to unite a divided team? A shared battle.
Here’s how I’ve done this before:
Find an external competitor and shift focus towards winning together.
Introduce a shared goal that can’t be achieved unless they work together.
Frame the division as the obstacle to success (not each other).
Example:
I saw a social media agency do this really well last year, they had two rival teams, their editors and social media managers, who constantly blamed each other when projects went wrong. Their manager introduced a performance metric where both teams had to hit a combined quality score for projects, one that only got raised when both teams chipped in together.
Suddenly, instead of pointing fingers, they had to work together to win.
Step 5: Reinforce the new culture. Over and over again
If you don’t actively reinforce this shift, old habits will creep back in.
How to Make It Stick:
Celebrate joint wins (not just individual team success).
Make collaboration part of performance reviews.
Keep calling it out. If you see division returning, address it early.
Final thoughts
A divided team isn’t really a team at all. But with the right leadership, you can break down the walls and turn them into one powerful, high-performing unit.
It doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when someone like you decides to step up and make a change.
Lead with clarity. Communicate with courage. And watch your team (and you) grow.
Peace,
H x
P.S. I’m running a series of live, online workshops (completely for free) to level up in leadership together.
Your Leadership Level Up Matrix - Book a slot here.
See you there!