The New Science of Building Great

Teams
TEAM PLAYERS:
•AKSHAY TYAGI
•ANAND MOHAN MISRA
•BABITA UPADHYAY
•KOMAL TALREJA
•PRETAM MONDAL
Introduction
The quality of teamwork is determined by how team members communicate (i.e., patterns of
communication). Researchers at MIT suggest that team performance can be improved by developing
patterns of communication where each team member communicates often, equally and energetically with
the team, with each individual team member, and with external entities that can bring fresh perspectives
to the team.

Why is this important?

Performance is less about what we communicate and more about how we communicate. The three
specific communication patterns that teams can use as a standard practice to assess team performance
and use as a guideline for what is needed to do differently. These patterns includes energy, engagement
and exploration.
Key Findings
Key to high performance lay not in the content of a team’s discussions but in the way
it’s been communicated.
Energy refers to how team members contribute and communicate with the team. It is
measured by the number and quality of communication exchanges among team
members.
Face to face was found to be the most helpful form of communication, followed by
phone or videoconference and then email or text. Both high energy and equally
distributed energy (each team member has similar energy levels) is important to
teamwork.
Engagement refers to how team members contribute to and communicate with each
another. It is a measure of the number and quality of communications between team
members.
Successful teams were found to have higher engagement (communicating with one
another more often) and more balanced engagement (all team members
communicate with one another equally instead of in cliques with others left out).
Some companies try in vain to improve engagement through social events, but the
research suggests that making the workplace more social has a greater impact.
Key Findings
Exploration refers to how teams communicate with other entities outside the team. It
is measured by the number and quality of communications between different teams.
High performing teams, especially creative teams, tend to have higher levels of
exploration. Exploration and engagement compete because they both take time and
energy and so should be balanced.
During meetings, high performing team members were found to listen and speak to
the whole team 50% of the time, and 1:1 the other 50% of the time.
On an individual level, the “ideal team player” is described as a “charismatic
connector” who connects equally with all team members through brief, high energy
(i.e., demonstrated through tone of voice, non-verbal communication like gestures,
etc.) exchanges that are characterized by a balance of sharing and active listening (so
that others have an opportunity to share and feel heard). They connect team
members and spread ideas, including ideas obtained outside of the group, but not at
the expense of engagement within the team.
It is observed that high energy and high engagement teams are the most efficient
ones.
Thank You