teamwork

Want People to Cooperate? Play Happy Music!

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Music

If you ever find yourself in a tense meeting in which clients and coworkers are finding it difficult to work together or come to an agreement, you might want to try this simple fix – play some happy music.

Researchers at Cornell University recently discovered that study participants were much more likely to cooperate and work together when there was happy music playing in the background. (The happy tunes that were played included things like “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison and “Yellow Submarine” by the Beatles.) In contrast, participants were less likely to cooperate when angry music was playing (anything in the heavy metal genre). The heavy metal music tended to make them behave in a more selfish and stingy manner. Similarly, participants were less likely to cooperate when no music was playing at all.

I think it would be so interesting to see if this phenomenon would work outside of a research setting. If you played upbeat music during a tense team meeting, would it really make a noticeable difference? I would love to find out! So if you decide to give this a try, please share the results of your experiment in the Comments section below!

 

Wolper, J. (2016). Teamwork tunes. Talent Development, 70(12), 14.

 

How to Be a Team Player When You Like to Be in Charge

By in Learning No Comments Tags: ,

Good_Team_Players

How do you feel when you’re assigned to work on a team project? Do you feel anxious about not being in complete control of the end-product? Do you secretly wish that you could just do the project yourself?

If that sounds like you, it’s likely that you find team projects to be a little challenging. Trying to control every aspect of a group project can be difficult, stressful, and sometimes impossible. You could end up taking on an unmanageable amount of work (because you don’t really trust anyone else to do it). And you could end up annoying your teammates who may not appreciate your attempts to take charge and make all of the decisions.

So what should you do if you like to be in control but you need to work with a team? Follow these four steps:

  1. Identify your shortcomings – No one is perfect. Even though you’re probably awesome in many ways, there are almost certainly areas in which your skills are not as strong. Recognize that there may be other people on your team who are more capable in those areas.
  2. Admit to your need for control – Be honest with your teammates about how you like to be in control. And ask them to reign you in if you start to go too far. They’ll appreciate your honesty and help to keep you in check.
  3. Recognize that there is more than one way to do something – You might have a preferred way of doing things. But there are probably other approaches and techniques that would work just as well. Try to be open to the way other people do things. If you feel like someone is using the wrong approach, make sure you fully understand what that person is doing before expressing your concerns (or trying to take over).
  4. Use your powers for good – There are certainly areas in which YOU are the expert and in which you really should be in control. Figure out what those areas are, and focus your efforts on them. You’ll feel good about the contributions that you’re making and the whole team will benefit from your efforts.

 

Boogaard, K. (n.d.). The control freak’s guide to being a team player (because this isn’t a high school group project). The Muse. Retrieved from https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-control-freaks-guide-to-being-a-team-player-because-this-isnt-a-high-school-group-project

 

The Nature of High-Performing Teams

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High_Performing_Team

Some groups of people just work so well together. They share ideas, listen to each other, and contribute whenever they can. They’re welcoming, creative, empowering, and productive. They make any project seem like it can be easily managed – no matter how challenging it might be!

High-performing teams come in all different varieties. Yet, they do tend to have certain characteristics in common, including the following:

  • Team members trust each other and support the team’s mission.
  • Everyone on the team feels free to share their thoughts and ideas.
  • Team members respect each other.
  • Team members all know the processes that are followed to get tasks done.
  • Everyone on the team has the same goal.
  • Team members know what is expected of them.
  • All team members contribute to the project.
  • Team members are relaxed and informal when interacting with each other.
  • Project decisions are discussed, and everyone on the team is given the chance to contribute.
  • Team members are encouraged to point out problems and voice dissenting opinions. Working through problems and disagreements ultimately helps to make the end product stronger and better.
  • When the team is unable to reach a decision, decisions are made by the team lead.
  • Team leadership can shift from one team member to another if it will benefit the overall project.

So if you’re forming a new team, these are definitely qualities to encourage and aspire towards! It can also be helpful to create a “team charter” at the beginning of a project. It’s a document that outlines basic things like the purpose of the team, how often the team will meet, and the desired end result of their efforts.

 

Wiese, C., & Ricci, R. (2012, July 22). 10 characteristics of high-performing teams. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-wiese/10-characteristics-of-hig_b_1536155.html

 

What Makes a Team Effective? Two Things.

By in Communication No Comments Tags: , ,

AnotherHappyTeam

Does your job require a lot of teamwork? Are you often assigned to work with groups of people to get various projects done? If so, then you’ve probably experienced what it’s like to be on a successful team. Successful teams are friendly, creative, empowering, and productive. They make any project seem like it can be easily managed. No obstacle is too great!

But I’m sure there have been other times when you’ve been a part of a team that hasn’t been so successful. With unsuccessful teams, there’s often a lot of tension, misunderstandings, and a frustrating lack of progress. When you’re a part of one of these teams, a project can often seem insurmountable and never-ending.

So what makes a team successful? Research indicates that it really boils down to just two things:

  1. On successful teams, team members take turns talking. Everyone gets the chance to talk, and each team member speaks for roughly the same amount of time. No one is dominating the conversation, and everyone has the chance to share his or her thoughts and opinions.
  2. People on successful teams are good at determining how other team members are feeling. They’re able to pick up on the verbal and nonverbal cues that indicate when certain team members are feeling frustrated or left out. And if they sense that a team member is unhappy, they’ll work to remedy the situation.

These two qualities help to create an environment in which team members feel encouraged to speak and share their opinions. The team members know they won’t be belittled or judged. Basically, they feel safe.

And it’s as simple as that! When people feel safe, are allowed to contribute, and feel confident that their opinions will be respected and valued, the team will be more successful. They’ll have a much easier time communicating, working together, and getting things done.

 

Duhigg, C. (2016, February 25). What Google learned from its quest to build the perfect team. The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/magazine/what-google-learned-from-its-quest-to-build-the-perfect-team.html

Woolley, A. W., Chabris, C. F., Pentland, A., Hashmi, N., & Malone, T. W. (2010). Evidence for a collective intelligence factor in the performance of human groups. Science, 330, 686-688.

 

We Started a Blog

By in JHU, Technology 1 Comment Tags: , ,

photo

Under the direction of our fearless leader, Louis, our team here at The Johns Hopkins University has taken off with the idea of starting a blog. This first week of posting is really where the rubber meets the road, so to say.

When we first started this project, we were full of ideas and visions, and we quickly developed a skeleton of a structure. But as we got deeper into the actual creation of the blog, we realized just how many things there were to consider. We found ourselves asking questions like:

  • What’s the best publishing platform for our purposes?
  • What type of content should we be publishing?
  • Will people actually read this?
  • What are some best practices of successful blogs?
  • What will we call it?

Who would have thought there would be so many things to consider when it’s a ten-second process to sign up on WordPress/Blogger/Tumblr/etc. and begin posting content?

We were careful to take the time to consider first and foremost – our purpose. What are we trying to do with this? Our objective for this blog takes a page out of our university’s mission statement. It is our intent to educate, promote life-long learning, and bring the benefits of discovery to the world. We intend to do this by covering a wide range of topics and posting material that is relevant to what we see, what we do, and who we are.

Each member of our team has a hand in this project. We will all play the roles of contributor, reader, and participant of the learning community we hope to create with this space. We look forward to the challenge of posting fresh ideas and new perspectives, and being agents of learning for ourselves and the community we serve at this institution.

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