Atmosphere in the Team

In many teams you laugh often, in others, never, many talk a lot, others little. And when new members join, they usually adjust to the existing atmosphere quickly. Why is that?

Teams must synchronise the relationships of their members. This must happen in a way which is not dependent upon constantly talking about it. The most effective form of synchronisation of people’s emotions and actions happens by means of atmospheres. Everybody knows this: in churches one is quiet, in the stadium one suddenly yells (even if, usually, one has no tendency to do this) and during a sunset one becomes sentimental. The tuning to an atmosphere serves a team by reducing the complexity of human peculiarities, by easing the members’ feelings of belonging and feeling at home and by giving those who struggle with the atmosphere of the team clues that maybe they are in the wrong place.

Such atmospheres arise. They are not decided or introduced by anyone. They are, as one says, part of the culture. Therefore, they are not easy to change but easy to recognise again (everybody knows how it is at their grandparents’ place!). And they may or may not be helpful in the processing of the team goal and the preservation of the team.