---
reference_type: Principle
reference_id: P02
name: Create a Collaborative Project Team Environment
version: "1.0.0"
status: Deprecated
edition: PMBOK7
pmbok8_source: "PMBOK8 Standard §3.2 — Create a Collaborative Project Team Environment"
authority: PMI-derived
---

# P02 — Create a Collaborative Project Team Environment
**Type:** Principle
**PMBOK8 Source:** PMBOK8 Standard §3.2 — Create a Collaborative Project Team Environment
**Version:** 1.0.0

## Definition
PMBOK 8 Standard §3.2 establishes that project teams perform most effectively when they operate in an environment that actively supports collaboration. Collaboration is not assumed to emerge naturally — it must be deliberately cultivated through shared purpose, clearly defined roles and responsibilities, psychological safety, open communication channels, and mutual respect among team members. The team environment encompasses the cultural norms, operating agreements, interpersonal dynamics, and physical or virtual conditions that enable each person to contribute fully to project outcomes. Practitioners are responsible for both establishing and sustaining this environment throughout the project lifecycle.

## Key Characteristics
- **Shared purpose and clarity:** A collaborative environment requires that team members understand and are aligned on project goals, expected behaviors, and their individual contributions to collective outcomes (§3.2).
- **Psychological safety:** Team members must feel safe to raise concerns, share ideas, challenge assumptions, and report problems without fear of retaliation or marginalization (§3.2).
- **Defined roles and operating agreements:** Explicit role clarity and documented team operating norms — including decision rights, communication protocols, and conflict resolution approaches — underpin effective collaboration (§3.2).
- **Inclusive and respectful culture:** Collaboration requires that all team members are treated with dignity, that diverse perspectives are welcomed, and that contributions are recognized equitably (§3.2).
- **Enabling conditions:** The project environment — tools, processes, physical or virtual workspace, and organizational support — must be configured to enable rather than inhibit team collaboration (§3.2).
- **Continuous reinforcement:** Building a collaborative environment is not a one-time act; it requires ongoing attention, reinforcement, and adjustment as the team evolves (§3.2).

## Relationship to Other Principles
| Principle | Relationship |
|---|---|
| P06 — Demonstrate Leadership Behaviors | Leadership is the primary enabler of collaborative team environments — leaders model inclusive behaviors, resolve conflict constructively, and create the psychological safety that collaboration requires. |
| P03 — Effectively Engage with Stakeholders | Team members are a primary internal stakeholder group; collaborative team environments improve the team's collective capacity to engage external stakeholders effectively. |
| P01 — Be a Diligent, Respectful, and Caring Steward | Stewardship of human resources includes creating the conditions for team members to contribute their full capability — wasting human potential through poor team environments is a failure of stewardship. |

## Artifact Connections
| Artifact | Connection |
|---|---|
| A25 — Team Operating and Responsibility Record | The primary artifact expression of this principle — documents team roles, operating agreements, communication norms, decision rights, and collaboration protocols that define the team environment. |
| A07 — Stakeholder Register and Engagement Strategy | Team members appear in the Stakeholder Register as a primary internal stakeholder group; their engagement needs, interests, and influence must be understood and managed as part of building a collaborative environment. |
| A26 — Resource Capacity Record | Supports collaborative environment planning by tracking team member availability, capacity, and resource constraints that affect how collaboration can be structured and sustained. |

## Skill Connections
| Skill ID | Skill Name | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| SKL-01-03 | Set Source Authority | Establishes the team operating model and source authority structures that define how collaborative decisions are made and how team norms are documented and maintained. |
| SKL-04-04 | Develop Team | The primary skill expression of this principle — developing team members' capabilities, fostering collaboration, building trust, and creating the conditions for high performance. |
| SKL-04-05 | Manage Team | Operationalizes the collaborative environment by managing performance, resolving conflict, providing feedback, and sustaining team norms established under Develop Team. |

## Questions to Ask in Practice
1. Do team members feel genuinely safe to raise concerns, share dissenting views, or report problems — or does the team culture suppress honest communication?
2. Are roles, responsibilities, and decision rights clear enough that team members can collaborate without confusion about who owns what?
3. Have we explicitly defined the operating agreements and norms that govern how this team works together, or are we assuming alignment that may not exist?
4. Are the tools, processes, and work environment — including virtual infrastructure for distributed teams — actively enabling collaboration or creating unnecessary friction?
5. What signals tell me that the collaborative environment is healthy, and what would I do if those signals indicated deterioration?

*Authority: PMBOK8 Standard §3.2 — Create a Collaborative Project Team Environment · Source type: PMI-derived*
*Repository: https://github.com/fakhruldeen/PMOSkills*
