Document Type : Research Article
Authors
1 PhD student in Public Administration, Human Resources Management, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
2 Professor of Management and Accounting/ Public Administration, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
3 Associate Professor of Management and Accounting/ Public Administration, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Purpose: The primary objective of this article is to identify and analyze the key factors influencing team resilience in organizational settings, thereby providing a deeper understanding of how this attribute is formed and strengthened within work groups. Team resilience is defined as the ability of groups to adapt to crisis conditions, maintain cohesion, and deliver effective performance in the face of challenges. This study seeks to assist organizations in enhancing their sustainability and competitive capacity in dynamic, uncertain environments by strengthening their work teams. Indeed, this research aims to address a gap in the team management literature, which has predominantly focused on individual or organizational resilience rather than on team-level resilience.
Design/ methodology/ approach: This research, aimed at identifying factors affecting team resilience and proposing a framework to enhance it in organizational contexts, adopts a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach. The study design is grounded in a systematic review of scientific articles and research published up to 2025, conducted using reputable databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Inclusion criteria encompassed theoretical, empirical, and analytical studies on team resilience, while articles solely focused on individual or organizational resilience were excluded.
Research Findings: This study's findings were derived from a systematic literature review that summarized research on the dimensions of team resilience. This review examines studies by various authors, each addressing distinct dimensions, components, and aspects of team resilience. The results of this analysis highlight a broad range of factors influencing team resilience and their critical role in enhancing group cohesion, flexibility, and performance under challenging conditions. Subsequently, the findings are presented in a structured manner based on the primary dimensions identified in the table.
Limitations & Consequences: This study provides a theoretical framework for better understanding team resilience by identifying its key factors and offers practical strategies, such as fostering trust, psychological safety, and improvisation, to improve team and organizational performance during crises. However, reliance on secondary data up to 2025, the absence of practical testing of findings in real-world settings, and the methodological diversity of reviewed studies limit the generalizability and depth of the analysis, underscoring the need for future longitudinal and field research.
Practical Consequences: This research, by identifying key factors of team resilience, offers numerous practical implications for organizations. Managers can enhance team cohesion by strengthening social support, mutual trust, and effective leadership, improve interactions through training in transparent communication and conflict resolution, facilitate innovation and crisis decision-making by promoting psychological safety, leverage improvisation capacity and skill diversity for creativity in challenges, boost team efficacy with motivational programs, empower teams using transformational leadership and resource provision, reinforce a sense of belonging through shared goals, accelerate recovery and learning via post-crisis reviews and documentation, and enhance preparedness for adversities through environmental monitoring and preventive strategies. These actions ultimately improve organizational performance, sustainability, and competitive advantage in difficult conditions.
Innovation or value of the Article: This article introduces a novel contribution to management literature by specifically focusing on identifying factors affecting team resilience, an area often overshadowed by studies on individual or organizational resilience. Through a systematic review of studies up to 2025 and the integration of diverse dimensions such as psychological safety, improvisation, and team efficacy, it establishes a comprehensive and innovative framework that bridges the gap in understanding dynamic team interactions. Its value lies in offering practical solutions for managers to enhance team cohesion, flexibility, and innovation, enabling organizations to operate more resiliently and competitively amidst complex challenges while laying the groundwork for future research to model these factors more precisely.
Paper Type: Original Paper
Keywords