Setting Boundaries and Building Successful Teams Across Cultures
Successful teams thrive on a balance of autonomy, collaboration, and clear expectations. As Google’s Project Aristotle highlights, structure and clarity are essential for teams to perform effectively. Knowing their roles and objectives keeps team members focused and on the right direction.
Consider a bakery where roles and priorities are not specified: the head baker concentrates on baking bread for lunch, believing this is an urgent task; the assistant concentrates his efforts on pastries for an event, believing it’s the top priority; and the cashier exposes the leftover goods instead of exposing fresh ones. This results in resource waste and leads to frustration as team efforts overlap and conflict. Unclear priorities cause misaligned productivity, low productivity, and, often, conflict. Edmondson (2018) describes how, in her work on psychological safety, unclear roles can lead to low morale and disengagement; micromanagement follows, leading to burnout. A team that does not have clear boundaries usually misses deadlines because members fail to align toward their goals; the risk of burnout also heightens since the managers will want to micromanage to cover for any confusion.
Setting boundaries is equally important. Boundaries help the team members to focus on the task at hand and avoid overworking, especially where the teams are small and the roles seem to blur. For instance, in the case of the bakery, this would help them apportion their time efficiently between bread for lunch and pastries for the event. Clear boundaries create a sense of psychological safety—a necessary ingredient in Project Aristotle—yet allow members to open up without repercussions of overstepping their boundaries. Cultural differences play a significant role in how boundaries are set. In Western cultures, individualism and direct communication are valued, while in Eastern cultures, collectivism and hierarchy may lead to more implicit boundaries, as explored by Hofstede (2001) in Culture’s Consequences. However, whether in a Western or Eastern context, clarity and structured collaboration remain vital for team success, ensuring that boundaries are respected while fostering effective teamwork.
Ultimately, successful teams, be it at the bakery or at a technology firm-must be founded on clarity, structure, and boundaries, which enable collaboration and individual productivity. As Google’s Project Aristotle demonstrated, teams that maintain clear roles and respect personal boundaries create an environment where collaboration can flourish, allowing individuals to perform at their best.
If you’re interested in this subject and want to find out more, take a look at our training for managers and in particular Module 3 of Area 5: SETTING AND MAINTAINING BOUNDARIES.
Sources:
- Google’s Project Aristotle. Google re:Work. (n.d.). https://rework.withgoogle.com/print/guides/5721312655835136/
- Edmondson, A. C. (2018). The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace.
- Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations.

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