10 Facts about Team Effectiveness

We all know that ‘teamwork’ and ‘team effectiveness is essential for success; scientists have recently ‘cracked the code’ of what makes a team successful, Team Genius by Karlgaard and Malone have recently published their research which in a nutshell gives us the following fact about team effectiveness:

1. The ideal team size is between 5 and 9.

Contrary to the generally-accepted assumption that management can fix a problem by throwing people at it, adding team members beyond that point decreases the likelihood of success. There appears to be a point of diminishing returns!

2. “Good chemistry” makes teams less effective.

If there’s not enough diversity to create conflict, teams tend to fill into predictable ruts and in some situations psychological phenomena such as Group thing can occur.. What’s important here isn’t the appearance of diversity (i.e. quotas), but diversity of culture and ways of thinking.

3. Bonding with a team releases oxytocin.

That’s the same brain chemical that’s released (in much greater quantities of course) during a sexual orgasm. The takeaway here is that people enjoy work more when they’re on a good team.

4. The most effective teams don’t have leaders.

Teams work best when members listen and talk in equal measure. If one member takes control and begins to dominate the discussions, it creates resentment. The team falters.

5. Effective teams do need managers, though.

Diverse teams are more creative and get more done but they require a team manager (not an individual contributor) whose full time job is to help team members communicate and work together, despite their diversity.

6. Small teams outperform solo geniuses.

While Einsteins and Newtons do exist, they’re exceedingly rare. In real life, brilliant people are more effective and creative when working with others, especially those who are equally brilliant.

7. Conflict within a team is essential.

A certain amount of “creative abrasion” allows a team to identify alternative approaches. However, everyone must agree that conflicts won’t get personal and promise to surface the reasons behind their disagreements.

8. Men are insecure when in the minority.

Men feel dissatisfied and less committed to a project when assigned to a team consisting of more women than men. Women, however, are apparently unaffected by this ratio.

9. Mixed-age teams outperform youth-only teams.

Despite the stereotype that youthful energy trumps all, practical business experience turns out to be a useful thing to have on a team. However, mixed-age teams have more “creative abrasion” and thus require more active management.

10. Virtual teams are vastly overrated.

Even with all the technology available today, teams work better together and get more done when members are in close physical proximity. If a team must be virtual, it should have periodic in-person team meetings.

At Churchill Square Training and Development we know how important teamwork and effective teams are to businesses profitability and ultimately the bottom line of businesses. We use Insights Discovery to help teams improve rapport, relationships and profitability to enable teams to achieve common goals, Insights Discovery can help reduce conflict, inspire cusses and unlock potential of teams and individuals within them.

Insights Discovery Team Effectiveness programmer is ideal if you want to

• Identify your team’s strengths and challenges
• Create space for open and honest dialogue within the team
• Overcome an obstacle that’s holding the team back
• Develop action plans for continuous improvement

Based on the Insights Discovery colour energy model, Insights Team Effectiveness can help you diagnose problems, action plan, investigate current effectiveness, pinpoint blind pots and improve the team’s effectiveness.  The Insights Discovery team effectiveness programme encourages greater understanding, improves morale and engenders team spirit all within a one day workshop.

If you would like to know more details please don’t hesitate to contact us today on 023 92 160840 or 07811 946315 or email enquiries@churchillsquareconsulting.co.uk for more details or simply check out our website to see how Insights Discovery can help transform your business today.