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And, perhaps most important, teams can be taught how to strengthen them. These dynamics are observable, quantifiable, and measurable. At MIT’s Human Dynamics Laboratory, we have identified the elusive group dynamics that characterize high-performing teams-those blessed with the energy, creativity, and shared commitment to far surpass other teams. This mystery reinforced his assumption that team building was an art, not a science. Why, then, did the manager at a major bank’s call center have such trouble figuring out why some of his teams got excellent results, while other, seemingly similar, teams struggled? Indeed, none of the metrics that poured in hinted at the reason for the performance gaps. Just about every aspect of team performance is easy to measure: number of issues resolved, customer satisfaction, average handling time (AHT, the golden standard of call center efficiency). The tasks involved are clear-cut and easy to monitor. The skills required for call center work are easy to identify and hire for. If you were looking for teams to rig for success, a call center would be a good place to start. Even more significant, he has seen that when teams map their own communication behavior over time and then make adjustments that move it closer to the ideal, they can dramatically improve their performance.Īrtwork: Andy Gilmore, Chromatic, 2010, digital drawing

Drawing from the data, he has precisely quantified the ideal team patterns for each. He has identified three key communication dynamics that affect performance: energy, engagement, and exploration. In this article Pentland shares the secrets of his findings and shows how anyone can engineer a great team. In fact, the researchers could foretell which teams would outperform simply by looking at the data on their communication, without even meeting their members.

Those patterns were as significant as all other factors-intelligence, personality, talent-combined. With remarkable consistency, the data showed that the most important predictor of a team’s success was its communication patterns. 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. 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.
