In many organizations, micro-teams form organically—small, bonded groups with shared history, norms, and preferences. Micro-teams are often visible when two teams come together, however it is not rare to experience even in existing teams. They can be signs of people trying to find psychological safety or influence in a space where the team identity is not strong enough. While they offer speed and cohesion, they can also breed silos, tribalism, and misalignment. The leader’s responsibility is not to dismantle relationships, but to understand underlying drivers, re-engineer the social architecture so that primary loyalty shifts back to the broader team. It is often helpful to remember that factions often arise from fundamental human needs and organizational dynamics.

The most common reasons that create teams within teams are

·      Perceived Scarcity/Competition: The Zero-Sum Trap

This goes beyond simple competition for resources. It taps into the Zero-Sum Bias – the unconscious belief that one group’s gain must come at another’s expense. When resources (budget, headcount, recognition, promotion opportunities) are seen as finite and unevenly distributed, intergroup hostility emerge and sub-teams form as self-protective units to hoard or fight for perceived necessities, viewing other internal groups as rivals, not partners.

·      Lack of Shared Purpose: The Identity Vacuum

If the overarching team’s purpose and identity is not clear, it creates an “identity vacuum.” Without a strong, unifying collective identity, individuals gravitate towards smaller, more intimate sub-groups to fulfil these needs. These smaller “tribes” then create their own micro-purposes and loyalties, often at the expense of the larger whole.

·      Comfort & Familiarity: The Cognitive Ease of Homophily Individuals naturally prefer and gravitate towards those similar to them (Homophily). Under pressure, or when faced with complexity, interacting with familiar individuals (who share similar working styles, backgrounds, or perspectives) reduces cognitive load and perceived risk. This comfort, while benign in itself, can inadvertently lead to self-segregation and the formation of exclusive cliques that resist engaging with “outsiders” because it requires more effort and emotional energy.

·      Unresolved Historical Grievances: The Lingering Shadow of Past Conflicts Lasting scars can also arise out of unaddressed past conflicts, failed projects, or leadership changes that left deep emotional wounds. Collective negative experiences or long-held grudges (e.g., a controversial re-organization, a blame-filled project failure) can create divisions which get embedded over a period of time.

A leader can adopt a number of strategies to realign loyalties and focus energy on the collective objective, transforming isolated groups into interconnected nodes of a unified network.

1. Anchor the Team to a Superordinate Goal

Introduce a bold, shared challenge that no subgroup can solve alone. When a team aligns behind a higher, common cause, identity shifts from “us vs. them” to “all of us vs. it.” This taps into the Common Ingroup Identity Model, which show how shared goals reduce intergroup conflict and elevate collective identity.

2. Introduce “Boundary Spanner” Roles

Appoint rotating “boundary spanners”—individuals whose role is to connect micro-teams, carry insights across silos, and identify friction points or duplication. They are not formal liaisons; they are informal sense makers, challengers, and connectors.

When someone intentionally navigates between groups, they reduce knowledge hoarding, broaden perspective-sharing, and reshape relational trust across silos.

3. Introduce Thought Experiments

Thought experiments are powerful tools for breaking out of autopilot. By posing hypothetical scenarios, leaders help teams surface what has been taken for granted.

• Try asking:
• “If we had to rebuild this team from scratch, what would we keep or discard?”
• “What are the unspoken rules here—and who do they benefit?”

These questions force reflection on legacy systems, role clarity, psychological safety, and power dynamics. They open the door to redesigning the team experience more intentionally.

4. Challenge Habitual Dynamics

All teams develop patterns—who speaks, who decides, who gets credit. Often these are based on seniority, organisational knowledge, team size, proximity to customers etc. When these patterns go unexamined, they reinforce hierarchies and silence diverse input.

Leaders can begin to shift these dynamics by naming them:

“We often defer to the same people in decision-making—let’s name that and rethink how we include others.”

This type of framing keeps the conversation constructive. It invites shared ownership of the problem rather than placing blame. For deeper shifts, consider using tools like team observation protocols to reveal the less visible habits.

5. Run “Cultural Mirror” Workshops

Technique: Host facilitated sessions where each micro-team reflects on its unspoken rituals, inside jokes, working styles, or “rules of the road”—then shares them with other teams. The goal is not to critique, but to demystify and build mutual appreciation. By making their identity explicit teams can also loosen their grip on it.

6. Mix Up Meeting Formats

Meetings often reinforce team norms more than we realize. The same agendas, voices, and rhythms can create an echo chamber.

Disrupt the routine with fresh formats:

• Walk-and-talks to break physical stagnation.
• Reverse town halls where leaders listen, not speak.
• Role-flip sessions where junior team members or introverts set the agenda.

Even simple prompts like:

“If someone outside the team watched our meeting, what would they find odd?”

can create healthy self-awareness and spark reinvention.

7.Use Symbolic “Reset” Rituals

Create a symbolic moment that marks a reset of “teams within teams”—like co-writing a new shared charter, sunset a legacy dashboard, use a separate meeting room, or even host a “farewell to the silo” event. Humans need markers to cross thresholds. A shared disruption followed by a fresh commitment generates emotional buy-in and a new psychological contract.

8. Lead as One, Reward as One

Leaders must visibly model collaboration and co-elevation. Celebrate behaviours that advance cross-team success, not just isolated wins. Recognize those who contribute to the whole, not just their part.

By applying psychologically grounded strategies—from reframing identity around a shared challenge to ritualizing renewal—leaders just do not eliminate silos; they unlock the deeper coherence and intelligence of the collective.

Disruption, done right, is not destruction. It is design.

And in that design, we shift from “teams within teams” to one team—adaptive, inclusive, and truly aligned.