The Neuroscience Of Collaboration: Why We Must Bring Back Team-Building Days

For years, organisations invested in team-building retreats to foster trust, camaraderie and collaboration.

And for good reason: it worked.

I still vividly remember leading a group of Executives and Senior Managers from LAN Airlines (now LATAM) to a beach resort for a team-building day.

We started with strategic discussions, then moved to a treasure hunt with obstacles, culminating in an all-out water balloon battle that left everyone laughing. What happened that day was transformational. Barriers dissolved, relationships strengthened and over the next 12 months, workplace interactions drastically improved. People who had been at odds were suddenly able to discuss perspectives more openly. A new brain synchrony had been born, before we even knew the science behind it.

The Science Of Synchrony: How The Brain Builds Collaboration

Fast-forward to today, and neuroscience now explains what we experienced firsthand. The Neurolive Project, a cutting-edge study, found that when people engage in shared, live experiences, their brain waves synchronise. This is not just a metaphor; our brains literally align when we are present together in an immersive activity.

What does this mean for collaboration?

• Shared experiences lead to neural synchrony, fostering deeper understanding and connection among team members.

• Neural synchrony enhances communication, making it easier to interpret non-verbal cues and intentions.
• It builds trust, as synchronised brains promote the release of oxytocin, the “trust hormone.”

This is why team-building days were so effective, they weren’t just “fun” events; they were biological rewiring sessions, aligning our mental frameworks for better collaboration.

The Hidden Barrier to Collaboration: The Rise of Conflict in Hybrid Work

Now, let’s consider the flip side: what happens when we lack these shared moments?

Post-pandemic, many organisations have embraced hybrid and remote work, which certainly has its benefits. But something fundamental has been lost: face-to-face, in-the-moment human interactions that build trust and resolve misunderstandings before they escalate.

Neuroscience confirms this:

• Conflict increases in the absence of physical presence. Without in-person cues like tone, facial expressions and body language, misunderstandings multiply.

• The amygdala (our brain’s “threat detector”) becomes more sensitive when interactions lack social warmth. Text-based communication can easily be misinterpreted, leading to heightened defensiveness and stress.

• Teams are less likely to resolve disagreements promptly without real-time interaction. The lack of immediate feedback loops allows conflicts to simmer longer than necessary.

The Neuroscience of Conflict: Why Contempt Destroys Collaboration

Renowned psychologist John Gottman has extensively studied conflict resolution, identifying one particularly destructive force: contempt.

Unlike simple disagreement, contempt is poisonous to relationships. It manifests as eye-rolling, sarcasm and dismissive attitudes… and once it enters a team dynamic, collaboration erodes.

Contempt is the type of emotion that activates the amygdala’s threat response, making logical discussions nearly impossible. When this happens, the brain responds in a particular way:

• The prefrontal cortex (responsible for rational thinking and problem-solving) is overridden by emotion.

• The brain produces more cortisol (the stress hormone), reducing trust and increasing hostility.

• People stop listening and become defensive, leading to workplace silos and disengagement.

The Solution: Face-to-Face Engagement to Reset the Brain

I propose that to reduce conflict and enhance collaboration, teams need regular face-to-face interactions, even if it’s just a couple of days a week.

Live team-building experiences (like off-site, workshops or shared projects) create new brain synchrony and reset relationships.

In-person meetings help resolve misunderstandings faster, preventing unnecessary conflicts from escalating.

Structured conflict resolution training can teach teams to replace contempt with constructive disagreement techniques, such as active listening and perspective-sharing.

The Call to Action: Rebuilding Collaboration in a Hybrid World

Now that we understand what drives successful collaboration and what causes it to break down, it’s time to think how to improve workplaces.

Reintroducing structured, in-person team-building days isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a strategic necessity for fostering brain synchrony, trust and seamless collaboration.

Face-to-face engagement accelerates problem-solving, strengthens relationships and reduces unnecessary conflict that often arises in virtual environments.

By prioritising meaningful shared experiences, we create teams that don’t just work together but do better together.

The future of work may be flexible, but human connection remains non-negotiable.

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Sources:

• Neurolive Project – The neuroscience of live, shared experiences and neural synchrony in collaboration. McCrum, K. (2024, November 1). ‘It’s like collective daydreaming’: The giant study showing how dance affects the brain. The Guardian.
• Siegel, D. J. (2020). The developing mind: How relationships and the brain interact to shape who we are (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
• The Gottman Institute. (n.d.). The Four Horsemen: Contempt.
• Goleman, D. (2006). Social intelligence: The new science of human relationships. Bantam Books.