The Power of Team
Emerges in Having Everyone
On the Same Boat
We can experience the genuine power of team through the fundamental aspects of
Trust
Communication
Collaboration
Respect
Accountability
Adaptability
Shared Vision
Teams bring a range of perspectives and experiences to problem-solving and decision-making, which can lead to more effective solutions. Additionally, teams can provide support and encouragement to their members, boosting morale and motivation.
Effective teams are able to leverage the strengths of their members and build on their collective knowledge and expertise. This creates a synergistic effect where the team as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Teams can be more adaptable and resilient in the face of challenges or changes than individuals working alone. By pooling their resources and working together, teams can find solutions to problems and overcome obstacles that might be insurmountable for an individual.
The power of a team emerges in its ability to bring together diverse skills and perspectives towards a common goal, creating a strong sense of unity and purpose that can drive success in a way that would be impossible for an individual to achieve alone.
What the science says
Why do some teams consistently deliver high performance while other, seemingly identical teams struggle? Led by Sandy Pentland, researchers at MIT’s Human Dynamics Laboratory set out to solve that puzzle. Hoping to decode the “It factor” that made groups click, they equipped teams from a broad variety of projects and industries (comprising 2,500 individuals in total) with wearable electronic sensors that collected data on their social behavior for weeks at a time.
With remarkable consistency, the data showed that the most important predictor of a team’s success was its communication patterns. Those patterns were as significant as all other factors—intelligence, personality, talent—combined. In fact, the researchers could foretell which teams would outperform simply by looking at the data on their communication, without even meeting their members.
The data reveal, at a higher level, that successful teams share several defining characteristics:
Everyone on the team talks and listens in roughly equal measure, keeping contributions short and sweet.
Members face one another, and their conversations and gestures are energetic.
Members connect directly with one another—not just with the team leader.
Members carry on back-channel or side conversations within the team.
Members periodically break, go exploring outside the team, and bring information back.
The data also establish another surprising fact: Individual reasoning and talent contribute far less to team success than one might expect. The best way to build a great team is not to select individuals for their smarts or accomplishments but to learn how they communicate and to shape and guide the team so that it follows successful communication patterns.
by Alex "Sandy" Pentland
Alex (Sandy) Pentland is the Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences with the Media Lab, Sloan School of Management, and College of Computing at MIT. Sandy directs MIT’s Connection Science and Human Dynamics research laboratories, advises the OECD, UN, and previously AT&T, Google, and American Bar Association, and co-led the World Economic Forum Personal Data initiatives.