Studies repeatedly show that teams tend to innovate, solve problems, and spot mistakes faster than individuals—and that people working in teams report higher job satisfaction. But what kind of team do you think performs best?


A. A team whose members—each an expert in their own area—speak strictly on their area of expertise, eschew sidebar chitchat, and part right after meetings; or

B. A mixed team of executives and middle managers whose members contribute an equal amount, who are attuned to one another's  communication nuances, and who hang around after meetings to chat about their personal lives.

Five years ago, Google became focused on constructing the ideal team. Its “Project Aristotle” scrutinized everything about the interactions of a vast number of the company’s teams and reviewed a half-century of academic studies. In the end, Project Aristotle researchers concluded that understanding and influencing group norms were the keys to improving Google’s teams—and that successful teams shared the norms of “conversational turn-taking” (over time, everyone speaks an equal amount) and high “social sensitivity” (members were skilled on intuiting how one another felt based on voice tone, facial expressions, and other non-verbal cues).

Long story short: If you have a chance to create or participate in a team, opt for Team B. Team A may be filled with high performing individuals, but the problems is that they remain individuals. Their team norms discourage equal speaking, and there are few exchanges of the sort of personal information that let teammates pick up on what people are leaving unsaid.

We want to hear: Are you part of a team that resembles Team A or Team B? What do you see as its advantages or disadvantages? To join the conversation, click "comments" on our Community of Practice Forum.
 
If you would like to read more about creating a habit around masterful communication, check out our book: Be Quiet, Be Heard: The Paradox of Persuasion.

“Roughly 20 percent of adults report being chronic procrastinators,” says Adam Grant, professor of management and psychology at the Wharton School. ”But while procrastination is a vice for productivity, I’ve learned — against my natural inclinations — that it’s a virtue for creativity.”

Grant adds that for years he suffered from “pre-crastination”—the urge to start a task immediately and finish it as soon as possible. But a few years ago, one of his most creative students questioned his habits, saying her best ideas came to her when she put things off. Later, as a professor at the University of Wisconsin, that student conducted research in which she asked people to come up with new business ideas. Some were randomly assigned to start right away; others were given five minutes to first play Minesweeper or solitaire. Independent raters scored all ideas for originality, and the procrastinators’ ideas were described as 28 percent more creative.

It wasn’t playing games that increased creativity; it was the act of putting off the task. It turns out that procrastinators engage in divergent thinking. Letting their minds wander, they are more apt to spot novel solutions or unexpected patterns.

Think this is counter-intuitive? Try delaying a creative task for a bit. You’ll be in good company. According to Grant, chronic procrastinators include Steve Jobs, Bill Clinton, Aaron Sorkin, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

We want to hear: If you are a pre-crastinator, what is the most difficult part of delaying a task? What happens when you do procrastinate? Do you ever surprise yourself with your creativity? To join the conversation, click "comments" on our Community of Practice Forum.
 
If you would like to read more about creating a habit around masterful communication, check out our book: Be Quiet, Be Heard: The Paradox of Persuasion.

Good leaders can learn a few things from improvisational comedians.  That’s why Second City, Upright Citizens Brigade, and other improv troupes have adapted their trainings for the corporate world.
 
Writing in the Harvard Business Review Tom Yorton, CEO of Second City Works and author of Yes, And: How Improvisation Reverses ‘No, But’ Thinking and Improves Creativity and Collaboration, shares three key principles as applicable to business as they are to creating an engaging scene:
 

1. Always take care of your partners: Like members of a stage ensemble, your teammates need your cooperation and support. Pay attention and don’t grandstand!
2. Take responsible risks: Even in the best improv theatre, not every scene works. Accepting little failures paves the way to big success, especially if you share the risk with team members who can help when things go off track.
3. Follow the Follower: When a scene is working, the audience can’t tell who is “leading” it—and doesn’t care. Even if you initiate an idea, be willing to follow someone who takes it in a different direction.

 
We see another huge similarity as well: Whether in the comedy world or the corporate world, no ensemble or team will thrive unless members truly listen to one another. 
 
We want to hear: Watch a comedy sketch, for example, from Saturday Night Live to Monty Python. Can you see how the ensemble members support one another by listening and building on ideas? Are you part of a work team that does the same? To join the conversation, click "comments" on our Community of Practice Forum.
 
If you would like to read more about creating a habit around masterful communication, check out our book: Be Quiet, Be Heard: The Paradox of Persuasion.

More companies are embracing daily micro-meetings—a.k.a. "huddles" or "check-ins"--as a way of keeping colleagues in sync. A business practice long used everywhere from Capital One to the Ritz-Carlton, huddles got a boost in the small-business community from Verne Harnish, who called them a “must” for growth companies in his 2002 book Mastering the Rockefeller Habits. Short daily meetings, says Harnish, keep companies focused on strategic goals, ensure timely answers to pressing questions, and enforce accountability because everyone knows who is doing what.

A recent Inc. article describes huddles as “too streamlined to irk even hard-core meeting grouches” because they use the following ground rules:

•    They last no longer than 15 minutes
•    They begin on time
•    They prohibit “problem solving”

Beyond this, huddles are customizable: They can occur at any agreed upon time of day; they can follow a formulaic agenda or be more improvisational; they can include all staff or key leaders.  
"If you're a small organization, not doing this is crazy," says Patrick Lencioni, author of Death by Meetings. "When you're small, you can develop connections among staff that make you more nimble. Daily check-ins help you build a culture of unity and sustain it as you grow."

We want to hear: Does your organization use huddles, and what do you see as their benefits? If not, Do you think their addition might be valuable? To join the conversation, click "comments" on our Community of Practice Forum.

If you would like to read more about creating a habit around masterful communication, check out our book: Be Quiet, Be Heard: The Paradox of Persuasion.

With so many words to choose among, which ones we choose say a lot about us. Linguists and psychologists have long posited that things like the number of active verbs in our sentences or which adjectives we use reflect personality traits. 
                       
Now, according to NPR , IBM researchers have taken the personality dictionaries already created by scientists, dropped them into Watson (the Jeopardy!-winning computer), and are applying its analyses to people’s posts on Twitter, Facebook, and blogs—forming a digital database of people and personality types (try a demo here). Over time, more text from more of us will help Watson get smarter.
 
In its own studies, IBM found that characteristics derived from people's writings can reliably predict some real-world behaviors. For example, people who are more open to experiences are more likely to click on an ad, while people who score high on self-enhancement (i.e., seeking personal success) are more likely to read articles about work.
 
Needless to say, understanding people in this way can have countless business applications, such as targeted marketing. And there are obvious privacy concerns. Beyond all this, though, it interesting to note that the words we select provide such insights into our personalities, Choose them wisely!
 
We want to hear: Do you notice you have a penchant for certain words or phrases?  What do you think your word choices say about you? To join the conversation, click "comments" on our Community of Practice Forum.
 
If you would like to read more about creating a habit around masterful communication, check out our book: Be Quiet, Be Heard: The Paradox of Persuasion.