Google Discover how to build the perfect team
Google Discover how to build the perfect team
Years of research provide a major clue as to how to get the most out of your team.
Great companies are made up of great teams. It’s one thing to hire a bunch of rock stars, but it’s a completely different thing to get those stars to work together.
That’s why a few years ago, Google went on a mission: Discover how to build the perfect team.
The study was code-named “Project Aristotle,” a tribute to the famous philosopher’s belief that it’s possible to have a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Studying 180 teams, the researchers interviewed hundreds of executives, team leads, and team members.
After poring through the data, the research team isolated specific factors that influenced team effectiveness. But they clearly ranked one factor as most important:
Psychological safety.
Google describes it this way:
“Psychological safety refers to an individual’s perception of the consequences of taking an interpersonal risk or a belief that a team is safe for risk taking in the face of being seen as ignorant, incompetent, negative, or disruptive. In a team with high psychological safety, teammates feel safe to take risks around their team members. They feel confident that no one on the team will embarrass or punish anyone else for admitting a mistake, asking a question, or offering a new idea.”
In other words, Google discovered that for teams to work well together, team members must feel comfortable enough to be themselves. Then, and only then, can they contribute to their full potential.
What’s emotional intelligence got to do with it?
Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify, understand, and manage emotions. Put even more simply, it’s the ability to make emotions work for you, instead of against you.
But what does emotional intelligence have to do with Google‘s research on building great teams?
