With this year’s POWERTRAIN EXPO right around the corner, I can’t help thinking about teamwork. Every year, I marvel at how ATRA’s IBO and GEARS Magazine Teams so seamlessly pull all the pieces together to create the amazing experiences attendees consistently enjoy by attending our industry’s premier event.
This article provides the perfect backdrop for illustrating the 5 Faces of Teamwork that are exemplified by ATRA’s team culture.
Walk into any auto shop, and you’ll find more than wrenches, lifts, and diagnostic equipment. You’ll find people. And wherever there are people, there are dynamics – invisible systems at work shaping performance, productivity, and morale. We tend to call it “teamwork,” but we rarely slow down long enough to ask ourselves what kind of teamwork we actually have or want.
Let’s talk about five models or phases of working relationships that affect teamwork: Dependence, Independence, Co-dependence, Interdependence, and Intra-dependence. Each one shows up in our shops, usually all at once, but which one will get us where we want to go? Knowing the difference and building toward the right one might be the most profitable thing you do this year.
Dependence: The Apprentice Mode
Dependence is where we all start. It’s the entry-level stage, and there’s nothing wrong with that – at first.
Think of a brand-new tech, fresh out of school, staring at a valve body like it’s a Rubik’s Cube from outer space. They need guidance, training, checklists, and your time. They’re dependent, and that’s okay. It’s the natural launch point of any career path.
But here’s the problem: some people never leave this stage. They get comfortable being told what to do. They’d rather ask a dozen questions than make one decision. You find yourself micromanaging not because you want to, but because they make it necessary.
Shops with too much dependence feel like daycare centers with toolboxes. Productivity stalls. Morale sags. The owner burns out. Why? Because dependence sucks oxygen out of a business. The more dependent your people are, the more dependent your business is on you.
Key question: Who are you training to outgrow dependence? And what are you doing to help them get there?
Independence: The Lone Wolf Illusion
At first glance, independence looks like a big win. The tech who doesn’t need or want help. The advisor who handles their job like a pro. The parts-guy who knows the parts room better than the sales rep who stocked it.
We like these people. They get stuff done. They don’t complain. They don’t require babysitting. They’re the “self-starters” we dream about in interviews.
But independence has a dark side. When someone says, “I’ve got this,” they usually mean, “I don’t want your input.” The lone wolf might be fast, but they’re running their own race. Not yours. You don’t have a team – you have talented soloists or worse, prima donnas.
And soloists don’t help scale your business by helping develop their co-workers. They don’t collaborate. And when they leave, they take their processes and unshared talents with them.
Key question: Are your independent performers building a team… or just a reputation?
Co-dependence: The Dysfunctional Dance
Now we’re getting into the mud. Co-dependence is that awkward dance where two people need each other for all the wrong reasons. It shows up in shops more often than we’d like to admit.
Maybe it’s the tech and the advisor who constantly cover each other’s mistakes. Or the manager who tolerates subpar performance from a long-time employee because “he’s been here forever.” Or worse, it’s the owner who’s secretly afraid to lose that toxic-but-productive master tech because no one else knows how to rebuild that hard-to-build transmission.
Co-dependence feels like loyalty, but it’s not. It’s fear disguised as partnership. It’s dependency wrapped in excuses. And it always, always, always costs more than you think.
Key question: What relationships in your shop are being maintained out of fear, not function?
Interdependence: The Sweet Spot for Synergy
Now we’re talking! Interdependence is the magical Goldilocks Zone.
This is the world of 1+1=3. It’s where individuals bring their strengths to the table and combine them into something bigger and better than they could ever produce alone. It’s the advisor who consults with the tech before writing the estimate – not because he has to, but because he wants to get it right. It’s the parts manager who spots a parts quality issue and flags it before it becomes a comeback. It’s the owner who lets his team run day-to-day operations because they’ve earned the trust to do it well.
Interdependent teams are aligned. They make decisions faster. They solve problems together. They’re resilient and resourceful – when one teammate falters, the others adapt and support.
But here’s the catch. Interdependence doesn’t just happen. It must be built. It requires systems to clarify roles, standards to guide behavior, and culture to glue it all together. Most of all, it requires leaders who understand the difference between authority and influence. If you need the title to get compliance, you haven’t earned interdependence.
Key question: Where is your team already showing signs of synergy, and how can you grow it?
Intra-dependence: The Next-Level Team Mindset
Now let’s take it one step further. Intra-dependence is a term borrowed from the world of elite teams – Military Special Forces units, surgical teams, and pit crews where the bond isn’t just professional, it’s internalized. Intra-dependent teams don’t just work well together. They think as a unit.
It’s the advisor who anticipates the tech’s next move before he even says it. It’s the front desk who preps the schedule to match the rhythm of the bay. It’s that unspoken cadence that happens when a team has logged enough missions together that they just click.
These teams don’t talk about trust. They embody it. They don’t hold grudges. They course-correct in real time. They don’t just share goals, they share identity. “We” is bigger than “me.”
You can’t fake intra-dependence. You can only earn it by building an environment where high expectations, mutual respect, and emotional safety coexist.
Key question: What would it take for your shop to go from high-functioning to high-performing?
Putting It All Together: Building the Right Culture
Now let’s bring it down to brass tacks.
If you’re leading a shop, you’ve got all five of these dynamics at play right now:
- Your newbie trainee tech is still dependent.
- Your grizzled A-tech might be fiercely independent.
- Your shop foreman and front-desk manager might be unintentionally co-dependent.
- Your service team might show signs of interdependence on a good day.
- And if you’re focused, your leadership might be inching your team toward intra-dependence.
So how do you move the needle?
Step 1: Diagnose Honestly
You can’t fix what you don’t name. Ask yourself (and your team), “Where are we now?” Not as a judgment, but as a starting point. Use the five levels like a map, not a measuring stick.
Step 2: Train and Empower
Dependence only becomes independence through training. And independence only becomes inter-dependence through trust. Start with the basics: SOPs, checklists, training tracks. Then layer in authority and let people make decisions and own the results.
Step 3: Break the Co-dependent Cycle
Draw a line in the sand. Loyalty is earned through performance, not tenure. Address the emotional entanglements that keep underperformers protected. You don’t have time for relationships that drag the team down.
Step 4: Celebrate Collaboration
Create rituals and routines that reinforce interdependence. Daily huddles. Cross-department lunches. Peer-to-peer recognition. Get people talking – not just about work, but about how they work together.
Step 5: Model the Mission
Intra-dependence starts at the top. If you want your team to function like a unit, you need to show up like a leader who has bought in, not burned out. Lead by example, not by urgency. Be proactive, not reactive.
Final Thought: The Team You Have Versus the Team You’re Building
Every shop has a team. But not every shop has a team worth building around. That part’s up to you.
So, take a hard look at the five faces of teamwork. Figure out where your people are. And then, step by step, start moving them toward something better. But don’t make the mistake of thinking you can do business with the team you wish you had. For now, you need to work with the team you have.
It’s not always easy, but it’s the only way you win long-term.
After all, your greatest asset isn’t your lifts, your bays, or your backlog. It’s your people. And when your people become a team, everything changes.
Here’s a tip about a special seminar scheduled for this year’s EXPO and a shameless plug for my son, Jonathan Tschetter. He’s presenting a seminar called “Mission Accomplished.”
Jon is a decorated leader who has served as an Airborne Ranger, Green Beret, ODA (A-Team) Commander, and Special Forces Company Commander. He conducted more than 85 combat operations behind enemy lines during his career.
Jon will explain how to apply “Special Forces” leadership tactics in your shop to build an intradependent team.
If you want to learn more about teamwork and other surefire technical and management topics to boost your shop’s performance, this year’s slate of speakers will blow your socks off! Don’t miss the 2025 POWERTRAIN EXPO this September 3rd – 7th in San Antonio, Texas!
About the author — Thom Tschetter has served our industry for over four decades. His article topics come from our readers and Thom’s years as a speaker, writer, certified arbitrator, business consultant, and his own in-the-trenches experiences. Thom owned a chain of award-winning transmission shops in Washington State, and ATRA presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his years of training for the transmission industry.
