Building Resilient Team Culture Together

A guided resource for co-creating relational, reflective, and resilient teams

Culture Is Built, Not Assumed

Whether you’re launching a new team, leading through change, or joining an existing group, culture doesn’t just happen; it’s shaped, often quietly, by shared behaviours, expectations, and systems of care.

This toolkit helps teams reflect on how they collaborate, communicate, and show up for each other across differences. It can be used in academic departments, project teams, learning communities, and cross-disciplinary collectives. Think of it as a living document, not a fixed agreement, something to revisit, refine, and grow with over time.

Define What “Culture” Means to Us

Every team has a culture, even if it’s unspoken. Let’s begin by naming what matters.

☑ Reflect on:

What behaviours feel respectful and supportive in this space?
What kind of environment helps us do our best thinking or learning?
What do we want to normalise, and what do we want to shift?

✍ As a team, we value ________, ________, and ________ because they help us ____________________________.

🟦 Prompt for clarity:
What does “professional,” “inclusive,” or “collaborative” actually look like here, and how might it vary by person?

Co-Create Agreements That Reflect Our Values

Ground your culture in shared, evolving practices, not just abstract ideals.

☑ Consider:

How do we handle conflict?
What communication norms support accessibility and care?
How will we give and receive feedback?

Value We Share	What That Looks Like in Action
Clarity	We outline expectations before tasks or decisions.
Respect	We avoid interruptions and honour different time zones.
Inclusion	We rotate roles, check for access needs, and avoid jargon.
Care	We check in, not just check tasks.

✍ One new agreement I’d like to propose is ____________________________ because ____________________________.

🟦 Prompt for inclusion:
Who hasn’t been part of these agreements yet, and how can we bring them in?

Map Out Roles, Rhythms, and Responsibilities

Culture is shaped by structure. Make the invisible visible.

☑ Define:

Who facilitates meetings, and how often does that rotate?
How are decisions made and documented?
What’s our rhythm for reflection and check-ins?

✍ Our team meets ________, with rotating facilitation every ________.
✍ We check in the process around every ________, using ____________________________.

🟦 Prompt for equity:
Are some people holding invisible labour, and how can we name or redistribute it?

Normalise Repair and Learning

Even with the best intentions, misunderstandings and misalignments happen. A healthy team culture makes space for repair.

☑ Discuss:

How do we approach feedback when something doesn’t land well?
Can we distinguish intention from impact, and respond with care?
What support do we need to restore trust when it’s shaken?

✍ One phrase we might use to open difficult conversations is:
“I’d like to talk about something that felt off to me, and I’m open to hearing your view.”

🟦 Prompt for empathy:
What systems or norms do we need in place to make repair possible, not personal?

Create Practices of Ongoing Reflection

Culture isn’t fixed. Your team is allowed to change, evolve, and adapt over time.

☑ Check in regularly:

What’s working well, and why?
What’s feeling unclear or difficult?
What do we want to pause, continue, or try?

✍ We’ll revisit our team culture every ________, using ____________________________ as our reflection process.

🟦 Prompt for resilience:
What would it look like to build a culture flexible enough to grow with us?

Final Reflection: Culture Is What We Choose to Practice

Team culture is shaped by what we do consistently, not just what we say we care about. When we build practices that reflect our values, we create spaces that are more courageous, more curious, and more caring.

✍ One shift I want to make in how I show up on this team is ____________________________.

✍ A value I’d like to help us strengthen together is ____________________________.

🟦 Prompt for intention:
If someone new joined tomorrow, what would they experience as “normal” here, and is that the culture we want to offer?

You’re always welcome to view Gwenin for a selection of frameworks, or pop over to Spiralmore’s extended PDF collections. In addition, you’re always welcome to explore our more relaxed corner: the informal blog.