While recently reading a book by Barbara Fredrickson on positivity, one of our team members came across a fascinating research project about what makes businesses successful.
Research by Marcial Losada, Director of the Center for Advanced Research (CFAR) in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, investigated the characteristics of high performance business teams.
Losada and his research team observed 60 different business teams undertaking business-focused meetings through a two way mirror to ensure a limited effect on their natural flow. During these meetings they tracked the statements of those taking part.
These observations were focused upon four key characteristics:
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The frequency of positive and negative statements
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Whether the focus of statements were on the speaker and their ideas/thoughts/interests or on others
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The frequency and style of whether statements were based on inquiry through asking questions
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Advocacy where they were based on defending a point of view
Following the observations the teams also classified as high or low performing. This was evaluated through three aspects:
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Perceptions of peers, subordinates and senior leaders in their organisation
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Customer satisfaction
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Profitability
Of the 60 teams researched, 25% were classified as high performing, 30% as low performing and the remaining 45% as having mixed performance (lack of consistency). With this data, the research team then reviewed their findings and identified some key differences in the way the business meetings were conducted. At one logical level, the results will seem obvious. The challenge for many of us operating in business teams is how to get our teams to follow the practices identified in a genuine and integrated way.
Losada’s research team identified the following:
The teams rated as being
high performers had the following behaviours during their business meetings:
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They demonstrated high positivity in the way they framed their statements and discussions, i.e. 6 positive statements were made in the meeting to 1 negative statement
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They demonstrated a high level of connectivity, i.e. they were responsive to one another and asked questions as often as they defended their own views
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They demonstrated an equal balance of attention outward (benefits/effect on others outside the team), as much as inward (benefits/effects on the team and individuals within it)
Mixed performance teams on the other hand, had positivity ratios of 2 to 1 in the way they framed their statements and discussions i.e. 2 positive statements were made in the meeting to 1 negative statement.
In the case of
low performance teams, the following occurred: the positive/negative ratios were well below 1 to 1, members of the meeting were far less connected to one another, and asked almost no questions. The business meetings undertaken by low performing teams exhibited no outward focus.
A side product of these results was the observed reaction of these differently performing teams under pressure. Whilst the mixed and low performing teams tended to crumble under pressure, the
high performing teams exhibited the capability to keep going in a flexible and resilient way, i.e. asking questions of each other, thinking through ideas and working closely together until they achieved a successful result
In summary, the quickest way for us to determine how well our team is performing into successfully achieving our business outcomes is to review the way our team operates and whether we are achieving 6 positive to 1 negative comment throughout our meeting.
(Word of warning!!! A 6:1 ratio does not mean a “Pollyanna” style of meeting!)
Rigorous debate and challenge is vital to a successful team outcome. However, if it is done through the respectful asking of curious questions, and focusing on the outcome and its effect on others, the balance of 6:1 will be almost unconsciously met.
At Leadership Dimensions, we work with teams to assist them achieve and maintain high performance through such mechanisms as:
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Objective observation and feedback of team decision making processes
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Coaching of leaders in facilitating effective meetings
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Developing and conducting programs that enhance leaders’ emotional intelligence capabilities
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Process facilitating strategically important meetings to allow the team to concentrate on the issues at hand
We have worked alongside board, executive, management and supervisory teams to assist them to become self managing in meetings in ways that lead them to high performance outcomes.
