The google model of Team effectiveness
What makes a Google team effective? Google's People Operations carried out a rigorous analysis of their data to answer this question.
Over two years they conducted 200+ employee interviews and looked at more than 250 attributes of 180+ active Google teams.
the five key team dynamics
The findings were groundbreaking. The researchers learned that in fact "Who is on a team matters less than how the team members interact, structure their work, and view their contributions."
The five key dynamics that set successful teams apart from other teams at Google were identified:
That means asking stupid questions, objecting common opinion or sharing crazy ideas is often avoided at workplace. Such behavior limits the ability of the team members to co-create, experiment and innovate, which is highly detrimental to the success of modern tech teams.
- Psychological safety: Can we take risks on this team without feeling insecure or embarrassed?
- Dependability: Can we count on each other to do high quality work on time?
- Structure & clarity: Are goals, roles, and execution plans on our team clear?
- Meaning of work: Are we working on something that is personally important for each of us.
- Impact of work: Do we fundamentally believe that the work we're doing matters?
That means asking stupid questions, objecting common opinion or sharing crazy ideas is often avoided at workplace. Such behavior limits the ability of the team members to co-create, experiment and innovate, which is highly detrimental to the success of modern tech teams.
Teams scoring high on the five key dynamics above are highly probably adding a lot of value to their organizations. And if some of the dynamics are not at their top for your team, take it as an incentive to take an action for improvement. Google provides guiding questions for the structured discussion with your team members on the key dynamics in this Team Effectiveness Discussion Guide.
Written by Alex