The organizational and team environment represents all conditions beyond the team’s boundaries that influence its effectiveness. The environment is typically viewed as a resource pool that either supports or inhibits the team’s ability to function and achieve its objectives. Team members tend to work together more effectively when they receive some team-based rewards, when the organization’s structure assigns discrete clusters of work activity to teams, when information systems support team coordination, and when the physical layout of the team’s workspace encourages frequent communication. The team’s leadership also plays an important role, such as by supporting teamwork rather than “star” individuals and by valuing the team’s diversity. Along with being a resource, the environment generates drivers for change within teams. External competition is an environmental condition that affects team dynamics, such as increasing motivation of team members to work together. Another environmental driver would be changing societal expectations, such as higher safety standards, which require teams to alter their norms of behavior. These external forces for change not only motivate teams to redesign themselves, they also refocus the team’s attention. For instance, teams develop better ways of working together so they provide better customer service.
