Teams are not independent entities within the organization. There is a critical tension between the internal relations among team members and the relationship the team shares with the rest of the organization. Both are necessary; neither is sufficient to ensure long-term survival of the team. Depending on the nature of the task that the team is working on, structural solutions should be put into place to ensure that the team is integrated with other individuals and teams within the organization. This activity itself requires that some members of the team act as boundary spanners and gatekeepers to bring needed information to the team, as well as distributing knowledge outside the team.

Managing the internal and external dynamics in a team is a difficult task, requiring constantly changing focus. The frequency of external communication may come at the expense of attention to internal processes (the ability to set goals, coordinate members’ strategies, maintain cohesion, etc.).100 Given that managing the internal team process and managing the external environment are somewhat opposing processes, how can leaders optimize the probability of successful teamwork? An important first step is to talk with team members about the importance of both internal functioning and external relationships. A second step is to assign roles or talk about how to manage the dual processes of internal dynamics and external relations. This can go a long way toward minimizing the diffusion of responsibility problem that often haunts teams. A third step is to identify goals and indices of team success at the outset; this largely avoids rationalizing behavior after the fact. A final step is to develop a team charter—a document written by all members that focuses on internal and external management issues.