A framework for creating effective team integration in interdisciplinary research

By Colleen Cuddy.

What kinds of integration are required in interdisciplinary teams to truly synthesize diverse knowledge and perspectives, creating meaningful outcomes? What are the key facilitators of successful integration?

Integration is a core team process in which “ideas, data and information, methods, tools, concepts, and/or theories … are synthesized, connected, or blended” (Repko, 2012: 4), combining diverse inputs that differ from and are more than the sum of parts (National Research Council, 2015). Integration is multifaceted, and interdisciplinary teams employ several types of integration, as shown in the table below. Social, knowledge, cognitive, and conceptual integration can be seen as a spectrum, with teams utilizing multiple types of integration, often concurrently, to reach team goals, and with innovative teams moving through the spectrum towards conceptual integration.

Four types of integration (Source: modified from Cuddy, 2023)

Integration facilitators

My research (Cuddy, 2023) has revealed three key facilitators of successful integration: being together, being intentional, and knowing each other.

Being together: Leveraging proximity and connectedness

Being together encompasses both proximity and connectedness: proximity of being in the same time and space as others, physically or cognitively, while achieving a state of connectedness of people, ideas, and work.

Proximity, especially physical proximity, creates a space where integration can unfold. It can be achieved in any setting, even virtual, when the team comes together. However, it is particularly useful in a learning setting such as a laboratory, where the intimacy of sharing an experience can help propel integration.

Connectedness requires team members to be available, responsive, and have common goals. Team members enact integration by participating in the synchronous exchange of ideas, concepts, and knowledge through connection. It happens best in the moment and in person, often through the action of team members learning how to do something together.

Bringing people together in different settings and encouraging them to “bounce ideas off of each other” can help. It is important to note that teams can be proximal and unconnected. For example, a team may work together in an open office or laboratory space, but if team members wear headphones, they may block out each other and limit the possibility of connection.

Being intentional: Strategic behaviors and planned integration

Integration rarely happens by chance (although if you’ve laid the groundwork it might appear that way). It requires deliberate and consistent effort through intentional behaviors, practices, and structured activities designed to help facilitate integration. Being intentional considers two elements: intentional behaviors and planned integration. Team leadership can be instrumental in creating and building planned integration activities to build a strong integrative culture.

Intentional behaviors include being available, responsive, and accountable, assuming good intentions in interactions, working on relationships, and helping others. Empathetic behaviors, such as putting yourself in other people’s shoes, giving people the benefit of the doubt, and exploring alternative interpretations of interactions, benefit integration. Other behaviors that promote integration are being open-minded to new ideas, considering new ways of doing things, and seeking and providing regular, constructive feedback.

Planned integration focuses on building relationships and providing opportunities that allow teams to practice integration by giving direction and keeping the team focused on goals. Team leadership can create opportunities for social integration through programming, such as a buddy program for new team members, team social events, and team retreats. These opportunities can help prioritize team values and create a culture of togetherness. Settings should be considered when planning integration opportunities; for example, weekly laboratory meetings can be structured with icebreaker activities to encourage social integration in addition to knowledge integration opportunities of scientific presentation and dialogue.

Knowing each other: Building relationships beyond expertise

Knowing team mates as individuals, beyond their professional roles, is pivotal in facilitating effective integration. Knowing each other as people is more important than knowing each other as experts/scientists for promoting integration in all integration types and settings. Prioritizing knowing members as people and utilizing social integration to facilitate project integration enables team members to connect more easily with each other and helps move research forward. Once a personal connection is established, team members often feel more comfortable asking each other for help and feedback; encouraging informal interactions can help build interpersonal trust. Strategies to help team members know each other might include celebrating personal milestones and diversity within the team and developing practices that blend personal and professional interactions.

Conclusion

Effective integration is built on knowing each other as people, not just scientists, and enacted through relationships and knowledge sharing that are intentional. Integration happens best when the team comes together physically or cognitively. Social integration forms the basis from which cognitive and conceptual integration flourish and is a building block for these other types of integration. Social processes are instrumental in helping a team establish common ground, group identity, and trust.

Three practical steps to encourage integration are:

• Foster regular interactions to enhance proximity and connectedness in your team.
• Plan and commit to intentional, structured integration activities.
• Prioritize relationship-building that goes beyond professional roles.

How do these facilitators resonate with your experience, especially if your experience is based on interdisciplinary teamwork outside the US? Are there aspects of this work that you could use to strengthen interdisciplinary teamwork in your current research?

To find out more:

Cuddy, C. (2023). Integration and team effectiveness: An exploration of the process of integration in an interdisciplinary academic STEMM team. Doctoral dissertation, Fielding Graduate University: ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global (no. 30638283). (Online – open access): https://www.proquest.com/docview/2861690474

Cuddy, C. (2025). Integration in action: Enhancing team science through collaborative practices, Interdisciplinary Integration Research Careers Hub (Intereach) webinar (February 11) hosted on the Integration and Implementation Sciences YouTube channel. (Online): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4iZK6bkZU0 (57min YouTube video)

References:

National Research Council. (2015). Enhancing the effectiveness of team science. (Eds.) N. J. Cooke and M. L. Hilton. The National Academies Press: Washington, DC, United States of America.

Repko, A. F. (2012). Interdisciplinary research: Process and theory. 2nd ed. Sage: California, United States of America.

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Statement: Generative artificial intelligence was used in the development of this i2Insights contribution to create an outline based on the author’s previous presentations of her research. (For i2Insights policy on generative artificial intelligence please see https://i2insights.org/contributing-to-i2insights/guidelines-for-authors/#artificial-intelligence.)

Biography: Colleen Cuddy PhD is an academic and researcher specializing in organizational development and team science. Based at Stanford University’s School of Medicine in California, USA, she strives to understand and improve the dynamics of team interactions in interdisciplinary research settings and other academic and clinical organizational structures by advancing and applying the science of teams. Her work integrates a variety of methodologies to study team processes with a focus on practical applications that enhance team effectiveness and foster organizational innovation.