We equipped all the members of those teams with electronic badges that collected data on their individual communication behavior -- tone of voice, body language, whom they talked to and how much and more. With remarkable consistency, the date confirmed that communication indeed plays a critical role in building successful teams. I fact, we've found patterns of communication to be the most important predictor of a team's success. Not only that, but they are as significant as all the other factors -- individual intelligence, personality, skill, and the substance of discussions -- combined.
We found that the best predictors of productivity were a team's energy and engagement outside formal meetings. Together those two factors explained one-third of the variations in dollar productivity among groups.
It seems almost absurd that how we communicate could be so much more important to success than what we communicate.
Any company, no matter how large, has the potential to achieve this same kind of transformation.
What we had, then, was only a strong sense of the things -- good leadership and followership, palpable shared commitment, a terrific brainstorming session -- that made a team greater than the sum if its parts.
The data also reveal, at a higher level, that successful teams share several defining characteristics:
1. Everyone on the team talks and listens in roughly equal measure, keeping contributions short and sweet.
2. Members face one another, and their conversations and gestures are energetic.
3. Members connect directly with one another -- not just with the team leader.
4. Members carry on back-channel or side conversations within the team.
5. 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 selection individuals for their smarts of accomp0lishments but to learn how they communicate and to shape and guide the team so that it follows successful communication patterns.
