How agile teams use team building and integration

Mark Kouwenhoven – PRINCE2 Master and Trainer, nThen!

Agile thrives on collaboration. Teams are not a side element of delivery; they are at the heart of it. As the proverb goes: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
As PRINCE2 Master Trainer Mark Kouwenhoven explains, Agile approaches recognise that results come from people working together — building trust, sharing ownership and integrating their skills. Team building in this sense is not an optional extra, but a deliberate practice that makes delivery faster, stronger and more sustainable.

In agile, results come from collective effort. Agile encourages teams to not only complete work, but also to build relationships, share skills and ensure that everyone can participate.

PRINCE2 Agile supports this with practical tools, such as the team skill matrix, which helps clarify individual skills and highlights strengths or gaps within the team. However, structure alone isn’t enough. Simply following the guidance is insufficient – you must actively apply it. To build a cohesive team, you should take the time to get to know each other, engage in face-to-face communications, take coffee breaks together and support each other.

The combination of formal and informal interactions is important. Team building isn’t only about activities like raft-building or abstract fun; it’s about creating bonds while exploring the project itself. When teams understand both the work and each other, they establish the kind of trust that underpins real collaboration.

Project managers and team building

For project managers, effective team building begins with transparency. By introducing stakeholders, clarifying structures and creating fallback mechanisms, project managers provide the security that teams need to take ownership of their work.

It’s not about “command and control”; it’s about fostering an environment for collaboration. Sometimes, this can be as simple as providing coffee and cookies, allowing team members to connect and align on the job at hand.

However, leadership is not solely the responsibility of the project manager. Agile teams depend on various roles to maintain cohesion, including team coaches, agile coaches and product owners. Everyone has a part to play. Think of it like a football team: while the player scoring goals is undeniably important, the players making the critical passes that lead to those goals are equally vital. The real challenge lies in getting the ball to that point.

The role of senior leadership

Senior leaders also play a crucial role in shaping team culture. Their responsibility is not to issue instructions from above, but to lead by example, demonstrating transparency, authenticity and engagement. When leaders present themselves as people, rather than just authority figures, teams respond in kind. This mutual openness strengthens collaboration and helps teams understand not only the formal responsibilities of leadership, but also the human pressures and context behind them.

At board level, tools such as the agile enablement workshop offer leaders a valuable opportunity to step back and assess how agile principles can be applied within their specific context. These workshops go beyond merely exploring processes; they encourage the board to use the Agilometer to examine a number of factors, such as the ‘agile environmental conditions’ which would include the following elements: how to foster teamwork, create safe environments and promote psychological safety across the organisation. By experiencing agile principles firsthand, senior decision-makers are better equipped to champion behaviours that empower teams rather than restrict them.

In contrast, a command-and-control style leads to disengagement. Teams that feel constrained tend to deliver only the bare minimum, waiting for the next instruction rather than proposing ideas, opportunities or creative solutions. The result is waste, lost motivation and untapped potential.

Agile is the opposite: it encourages people to think, explore and go beyond merely “doing the job”. If a person simply follows procedures, they’re effectively acting like a robot. Agile promotes people working together, collaborating and striving for the same goal.

Cross-team integration

Few agile teams operate in isolation. They frequently collaborate with more traditional, process-driven teams. In this context, integration is not about imposing agile terminology or methods on others. Instead, it involves communicating in ways that make sense to everyone and building transparency step by step. In essence, you can be more agile without using all the agile jargon.

This pragmatic approach fosters more natural cross-team collaboration. As transparency increases, so does trust, leading to a greater willingness to share knowledge, take appropriate shortcuts and work towards common goals. The result is a combination of efficiency and enjoyment. When work is more enjoyable, it requires less energy and ultimately improves quality.

How PRINCE2 Agile helps

PRINCE2 Agile provides a structured approach to team building and integration through clearly defined roles, processes and artifacts. Its guidance on skill matrices and decision-making methods, such as delegation poker, establishes a foundation for distributing responsibilities in a fair and transparent manner.

The method also encourages teams to focus on shared goals. In agile, the “business case” evolves beyond a mere document and, tailored in the form of the “project canvas”, it transforms into a motivational tool, reminding teams why their work matters and who will benefit. This perspective keeps energy and morale high, especially when delivery stretches over multiple iterations.

PRINCE2 Agile is not limited to projects alone. Its practices can be applied in business-as-usual contexts, where transparency, alignment and collaboration are equally critical. It’s worth noting that agile teams are having more fun and delivering better. Teams should try to accomplish those learnings in their current situation, even if they’re in business-as-usual surroundings.

Building trust to unlock value

Ultimately, agile team building goes beyond just group exercises or process charts. It focuses on establishing trust – within the team, with leadership and across the wider organisation. When trust is present, team members feel comfortable expressing uncertainty when they don’t understand something, sharing their honest opinions and uncovering the genuine needs that lie behind superficial solutions.

Too often, stakeholders present solutions as if they are the requirements. However, agile teams, supported by PRINCE2 Agile, are encouraged to dig deeper. They should ask: What is the real need? Are there alternative options that might meet this need more effectively, sustainably or affordably? Teams that feel trusted and connected are better prepared to ask these important questions and to deliver results that exceed expectations.

The true essence of teamwork

Agile team building is a continuous practice of communication, openness and alignment. PRINCE2 Agile provides the structure to support this, but it is the people themselves who create the trust and collaboration that unlock real value.

When project managers, leaders and team members all contribute, teams can achieve results that exceed the sum of their individual contributions. That is the essence of teamwork and the foundation of agile success.