The Lost Art of Team Coordination

One of the most overlooked factors in high-performing teams isn’t talent, motivation, or trust. It’s coordination.

Coordination is what makes work flow. It’s not glamorous or loud, and it rarely shows up in the company values poster — but it’s the invisible force that determines whether a team’s collective effort creates impact or friction. At its core, coordination is about timing and sequencing — when things get done and how tasks fit together. It’s how information, decisions, and actions move across people, projects, and departments. In essence, coordination is the choreography of work.

And in today’s environment, that choreography is harder than ever.

Teams That Don’t Sit Still

Most teams today aren’t stable. They form, dissolve, and re-form around projects, priorities, and crises. Boundaries shift constantly, creating what researchers call dynamic teaming — fluid collaborations that cut across functions and time zones. This constant flux changes everything. Work no longer happens within one static, well-defined unit; it happens across multiple overlapping teams. Each has its own goals, tools, and pace. The result is friction — not because people don’t care, but because the workflow can’t keep up with the structure.

What we’re seeing in many organizations isn’t a lack of effort — it’s the growing complexity of doing interdependent work. Tasks that used to belong to one department now require the coordination of three. What used to be handled in a hallway conversation now requires alignment across systems. The result? Teams that are busy, but not always moving together.

The Role of Silos

When teams talk about their coordination challenges, one word surfaces again and again: silos. In organizational life, a silo describes a situation where departments or teams operate in isolation — communicating little, protecting their territory, or simply focusing on their own priorities. Silos are often blamed for everything from slow decision-making to culture breakdowns. But the truth is, silos aren’t inherently bad.

They exist for a reason. Silos provide clarity, expertise, and accountability. They allow teams to go deep, build specialized knowledge, and execute reliably within their domains. In a healthy system, silos help work get done well.

The problem isn’t that silos exist — it’s when they become traps.

• Healthy Silos: Clarity, specialization, and ownership.

• Trapped Silos: Information hoarding, “us vs. them” mindsets, and slow handoffs.

When silos become trapped, they interrupt the flow of information, delay decision-making, and create duplication of effort. The work gets heavier, not better.

The goal, then, isn’t to collapse silos — it’s to make sure information, ideas, and decisions can move through them when needed.

That’s the essence of coordination. It connects the dots between silos.

Coordination vs. Efficiency

Teams often mistake coordination for efficiency, but the two serve different purposes.

Efficiency is about speed. It asks, “How can we do this faster or with fewer resources?”

Coordination is about impact. It asks, “How can we make sure the right people, actions, and timing align to create the outcome we want?”

A well-coordinated team may not always move the fastest, but it moves with purpose. It knows when to slow down to share context, when to pause for input, and when to sequence work for maximum effect.

When coordination is strong, impact follows — whether that impact shows up as:

• Innovation (sometimes requiring duplication of effort),

• Efficiency (streamlining and sequencing resources), or

• Resilience (balancing resources over time).

  
  

Four Levers of Coordination

When coordination breaks down, it’s usually because one of four things is missing.

1. Communication and Information SharingTeams need timely, accurate, and relevant information to make decisions and stay aligned. This includes verbal updates, written reports, dashboards, or even informal check-ins. Coordination starts with visibility — knowing who’s doing what and where the work stands.

2. Clear HandoffsEvery project has transition points — moments when responsibility passes from one person or team to another. These handoffs are where coordination often fails. Clarity on who owns what, when responsibilities shift, and what’s expected at each stage reduces rework and delays.

3. Shared Tools and ProcessesTools are the infrastructure of coordination. Shared systems make workflows visible, create accountability, and help people stay connected across silos. The right tool doesn’t just organize work — it reveals the interdependence behind it.

4. Resource AllocationCoordination also means assigning tasks and resources based on strengths, expertise, and workload — not just titles or reporting lines. The most effective teams distribute resources dynamically, adjusting as priorities shift.

   
   

When these four levers are aligned, work flows smoothly across silos, and teams can adapt quickly to change.

The Leadership Mindset for Coordination

Effective coordination doesn’t emerge by accident — it’s designed and led.

Leaders set the conditions that make coordination possible: they clarify interdependencies, encourage information flow, and remove friction between teams. They pay attention to timing and sequence, not just goals and metrics.

The best leaders know when to lean on structure and when to reach across it.

Because silos give us clarity and expertise — but coordination gives us impact.

High-performing teams don’t avoid silos; they learn how to move fluidly between them. They understand that the future of teamwork isn’t about stability — it’s about the ability to work well in motion.