Science and healthcare are fields dedicated to improving the human experience. But behind every medical breakthrough and public health intervention are teams of scientists and healthcare professionals, real people, whose ability to work together can determine the results of their efforts. In business settings, team cohesion is recognized as a key driver of productivity and innovation. However, in scientific and healthcare fields—where team success is literally life and death—practices related to organizational culture, leadership development, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are often overlooked.
The Hidden Cost of Poor Team Culture
Scientific and healthcare teams are made up of individuals with different personalities, expertise, and lived experiences. Team structure and function rely on the team’s composition, leadership, and decision-making processes. These features can create cohesion or conflict, productivity or stagnation. However, in high-stakes settings like labs, hospitals, and clinics, taking time to focus on building and sustaining healthy, high-performance teams is dismissed as superfluous and distracting. While this may seem reasonable, a lack of attention to team cohesion can have disastrous consequences, yet doing so can lead to increased innovation and efficacy.
Teams in science and health are diverse in ways that directly impact communication and collaboration—team members may come from different cultural backgrounds, have various skills and expertise unrecognized by educational and professional backgrounds, or be neurodivergent or disabled. These factors shape how people process information, give and receive feedback, and interact in high-pressure environments. Yet, despite these complexities, attention to effective communication is rarely addressed.
As someone trained in bioethics, health equity, and medical anthropology, I’ve worked closely with scientists and healthcare providers and seen firsthand how poor team culture can create unnecessary tension. In most cases, team leaders in these fields, most of whom are brilliant experts in their work, are often unprepared as managers. Perhaps it is because of their brilliance that the provision of people management training is overlooked. Meanwhile, poor team management leads to misunderstandings, conflict, and disengagement. Leaders in these environments, principal investigators (PIs) in research labs, attending physicians in hospitals, and directors and leaders, are promoted based on their research expertise or clinical skills, leaving them to navigate complex interpersonal dynamics without the tools to do so effectively.
The consequences are real. Studies have shown that team conflicts in healthcare settings can lead to delays in patient care, decreased collaboration, and even compromised safety and effectiveness. One study found that 40% of workplace conflicts in healthcare have direct consequences on patient care, including treatment delays and failures in patient-centered care. Poor team cohesion also fuels burnout, absenteeism, and turnover—factors that further destabilize already overstretched scientific and medical teams.
The Role of DEI and Team Culture in Innovation
A growing body of research suggests that strong team culture—including intentionally inclusive organizational cultures—enhances progress and productivity. In research environments, teams that integrate structured decision-making, mentorship, and intentional inclusion of diverse perspectives are more successful in producing innovative results. Similarly, healthcare teams that engage in open, constructive dialogue and have clear processes for addressing conflict that include the support of an external mediator or leader are better able to coordinate patient care and make informed decisions under pressure.
Yet, too often, these strategies are missing. Many scientific teams operate under a model that assumes collaboration will naturally emerge, rather than being intentionally cultivated. Designing organizational culture in health and science settings means (a) there must be space for mentorship and knowledge-sharing, (b) team trust is intentionally developed, (c) shared values are collaboratively established, and (d) the inclusion of diverse perspectives and identities is fostered in such a way that constructive debates on practices and procedures is normalized. Teams that fail to purposefully attend to these dynamics are more likely to experience conflicts and less likely to maximize their potential impact.
A Call for Culture Change
If we want scientific and healthcare teams to succeed, we need to stop treating team culture as an afterthought. Organizations must invest in leadership training, conflict resolution programs, and initiatives to intentionally design culture specifically for these high-stakes environments. This means:
- Providing management and team dynamics training for scientists and healthcare leaders
- Implementing structured conflict resolution strategies to prevent disruptions in patient care and research progress
- Fostering environments that support both formal and informal knowledge sharing and recognizes and uses members’ existing skills
Without these changes, we risk not only harming the professionals who dedicate their lives to science and healthcare but also undermining the very outcomes we rely on them to deliver. The work of these teams is too important to leave their cohesion and culture to chance.
Dr. Jennifer Sarrett
Dr. Jennifer Sarrett obtained her PhD from Emory University in 2014 and continued at the university as a faculty member in the Center for the Study of Human Health. Her areas of study and research were bioethics, medical anthropology, disability studies, and public health. She now owns Disruptive Inclusion, a business consultancy focused on helping teams in health and science design inclusive, supportive cultures to foster better care and innovation.
