lagkultur

Lagkultur refers to the culture within a team, particularly in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish usage. It describes the values, norms, behaviours, and practices that shape how team members interact, share information, and pursue goals. It is distinct from broader organizational culture, focusing on the micro-level dynamics of a specific team.

Contexts include sports teams, corporate project groups, startups, and other collaborative settings. Lagkultur influences cooperation, decision-making, resilience, and performance. A strong lagkultur emphasizes psychological safety, mutual trust, clear roles, and accountable leadership.

Key elements typically include psychological safety, open communication, trust and mutual respect, shared purpose, and a feedback culture. Rituals, routines, and agreed norms around conflict, decision-making, and information flow are common. Leadership that empowers members and fosters inclusion supports a healthy lagkultur.

Benefits include faster decision-making, higher engagement, and better problem solving, while reducing tensions that derail projects. Challenges include risk of conformity, hierarchies that stifle dissent, burnout, and misalignment with broader organizational culture. Improvement strategies involve regular debriefs, team-building activities, clear goals and roles, transparent feedback, inclusive decision processes, rotating leadership, and training in psychological safety.

The term is widely used in Scandinavian contexts and is often translated as “team culture” or “culture of the team.” It intersects with related concepts such as team dynamics, high-performing teams, and team climate.