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Project Aristotle has managed to study 180 Google teams, conduct 200-plus interviews, and analyze over 250 different team attributes. Unfortunately, though, there was still no clear pattern of characteristics that could be plugged into a dream-team generating algorithm.
As described in an article in The New York Times, it wasn't until Google started considering some intangibles that things began to fall into place.
"As they struggled to figure out what made a team successful, Rozovsky and her colleagues kept coming across research by psychologists and sociologists that focused on what are known as "group norms" - the traditions, behavioral standards, and unwritten rules that govern how teams function when they gather... Norms can be unspoken or openly acknowledged, but their influence is often profound."
With a new lens and some added direction from a research study on collective intelligence (abilities that emerge out of collaboration) by a group of psychologists from Carnegie Mellon, MIT, and Union College, Project Aristotle's researchers went back to the drawing board to comb their data for unspoken customs. Specifically, any team behaviors that magnified the collective intelligence of the group.
Through Google's Re:Work website, a resource that shares Google's research, ideas, and practices on people operations, Rozovsky outlined the five key characteristics of enhanced teams.
1. Dependability. Team members get things done on time and meet expectations.
2. Structure and clarity. High-performing teams have clear goals, and have well-defined roles within the group.
3. Meaning. The work has personal significance to each member.
4. Impact. The group believes their work is purposeful and positively impacts the greater good.
5. Psychological Safety. A situation in which everyone is safe to take risks, voice their opinions, and ask judgment-free questions. A culture where managers provide air cover and create safe zones so employees can let down their guard. That's psychological safety.
Engineering the perfect team is more subjective than we would like, but focusing on these five components increases the likelihood that you will build a dream team. Through its research, Google made the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle proud by proving, "The whole can be greater than the sum of its parts."
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How can leaders help employees find meaning at work? What workers need, to feel engaged in and satisfied by their jobs, is an inner sense of purpose. As Deloitte found in a 2016 study, people feel loyal to companies that support their own career and life ambitions — in other words, what’s meaningful to them.
Leaders can foster this inner sense of purpose — what matters right now, in each individual’s life and career — with simple conversation. Regular check-ins that use five areas of inquiry can help employees explore and call out their inner purpose. Leaders can ask:
- What are you good at doing? Which work activities require less effort? What do you take on because you believe you’re the best person to do it? What have you gotten noticed for throughout your career? The idea here is to help people identify their strengths and open possibilities from there.
- What do you enjoy? In a typical workweek, what do you look forward to doing? What do you see on your calendar that energizes you? If you could design your job with no restrictions, how would you spend your time? These questions help people find or rediscover what they love about work.
- What feels most useful? Which work outcomes make you most proud? Which of your tasks are most critical to the team or organization? What are the highest priorities for your life and how does your work fit in? This line of inquiry highlights the inherent value of certain work.
- What creates a sense of forward momentum? What are you learning that you’ll use in the future? What do you envision for yourself next? How’s your work today getting you closer to what you want for yourself? The goal here is to show how today’s work helps them advance toward future goals.
- How do you relate to others? Which working partnerships are best for you? What would an office of your favorite people look like? How does your work enhance your family and social connections? These questions encourage people to think about and foster relationships that make work more meaningful.
It’s not easy to guide others toward purpose, but these strategies can help.
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We talked to several CEOs who shared the biggest myths employees believe about CEO’s jobs. Here are some details that might help you rethink how you view the person at the top.
1. CEOS HAVE GLAMOROUS LIVES
From private jets to five-star restaurants, CEOs live a life of luxury, right? Not so, says Alex Shootman, CEO of Workfront, a project management software provider.
2. CEOS ARE LONELY
It’s easy to see why people think CEOs are lonely. But businesses weren’t meant to be run alone, adds Shannon Miles, co-CEO of BELAY, a virtual workforce provider. “Successful CEOs surround themselves with people who share in their vision and can help execute on it,” she says.
3. CEOS HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS
Unfortunately, they don’t, says Amanda Lannert, CEO at Jellyvision, an employee communication software provider. “But we have an ability to find the answers through our teams, networks, and research,” she says. “We’ve learned how to learn.”
4. CEOS EARN MILLIONS EACH YEAR
Some might, but the reality is most CEOs are fairly compensated based on the size of the company they work in and its industry, says Mark A. Gilmore, CEO and president of Wired Integrations.
5. CEOS ARE WORKAHOLICS
The idea that CEOs have to work 100 hours a week or more isn’t true. Andrea Goulet, cofounder and CEO of the software-remodeling firm CorgiBytes says, “My job as a CEO was not to work the most hours, it was to make the right decisions at the right time."
CEOs also make time for family, says Seth Birnbaum, CEO and cofounder of EverQuote, a website that aggregates insurance quotes. “The biggest myth I’ve heard is that CEOs are too busy to attend valuable family events,” he says. “I always make time for my family and children."
6. CEOS ARE NOT APPROACHABLE
Many employees assume that the CEO is withdrawn and rude, says Paul English, cofounder of Kayak and CEO of business travel app Lola. Instead of being aloof, English believes CEOs should have confidence in their ideas, humility to realize that you will often be wrong, and curiosity around other people’s ideas in solving your customer problems.
7. CEOS HAVE NO BOSSES
Employees have remarked about how great it must be to work without a boss, but that’s not true, says Sarah Lahav, CEO of SysAid Technologies, a help desk software provider. She says. “CEOs do report; they report to the board of directors and shareholders and they have to be accountable for the full company’s performance.”
In a sense, the CEO has many other bosses—the employees. “Every move, decision, and communication is being evaluated by the employees since this the way the company performs impacts them directly as employees,” she says.
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