Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • February 2003
  • Background Note
  • HBS Case Collection

Identity Issues in Teams

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer and Hillary Anger Elfenbein
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:10
ShareBar

Abstract

This note explains how identity dynamics underlie many of the observable interpersonal problems that team members encounter, ranging from lack of participation and low involvement to misunderstandings and dysfunctional emotional conflict. It provides a framework for understanding how to recognize and manage identity issues in teams, including sections on communicating identities, forming impressions, and the consequences of the resulting level of congruence between people's identities and others' impressions of them. Outlines action steps managers can take to increase the level of interpersonal congruence in their teams, which should, in turn, make their teams more effective.

Keywords

Framework; Managerial Roles; Outcome or Result; Performance Effectiveness; Groups and Teams; Conflict and Resolution; Emotions; Identity

Citation

Polzer, Jeffrey T., and Hillary Anger Elfenbein. "Identity Issues in Teams." Harvard Business School Background Note 403-095, February 2003.
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Author

Jeffrey T. Polzer

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • March 2025
    • Faculty Research

    Fostering Community at Airbnb (B)

    By: Jeffrey T. Polzer, Heather Whiteman and Sarah Mehta
    • March 2025
    • Faculty Research

    Fostering Community at Airbnb (A)

    By: Jeffrey T. Polzer, Heather Whiteman and Sarah Mehta
    • September 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Trilling Foods: Managing People with Data

    By: Alexandra C. Feldberg and Jeffrey T. Polzer
More from the Authors
  • Fostering Community at Airbnb (B) By: Jeffrey T. Polzer, Heather Whiteman and Sarah Mehta
  • Fostering Community at Airbnb (A) By: Jeffrey T. Polzer, Heather Whiteman and Sarah Mehta
  • Trilling Foods: Managing People with Data By: Alexandra C. Feldberg and Jeffrey T. Polzer
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.