Inspiring Workplaces: How to Create a Smarter Team

Published: Wed, 04/13/16

Humor at Work

ISSUE 626 - Apr. 13, 2016


			How to Create a Smarter Team

	An M.I.T study published in 2010 in the journal Science looked at what makes some teams smarter than others. Surprisingly, the average IQ of the teams made little difference, instead they found that the smartest teams were distinguished by the following three characteristics: 1. There was a more equal contribution from team members: Discussions weren't dominated by just one or two individuals. 2. Team members scored higher on a test called Reading the Mind in the Eyes, which measures a person's ability to read emotional states in others and is related to demonstrating greater empathy. 3. The smarter teams had more women on them (which is thought to be partly connected to characteristic #2 since women tend to score higher on Reading the Mind in the Eyes tests). You may not be in a position to immediately increase the number of women involved in your team discussions (although I bet if you tried you could), but what your teams can actively work on is improving the empathy of team members (at the very least raising awareness around the issue) and work on structuring and facilitating your meetings in a way that encourages more equitable participation from all team members.

		Mike's Fun at Work Tip

April 14 is International Moment of Laughter Day. (Seriously. Would I kid about something this monumentally important?) So gather your team at some point tomorrow and - as Laughter Yoga Clubs around the world encourage their followers to do - simply start laughing for no reason to remind yourself how good it feels to laugh. And since laughter is so contagious set a goal to see if you can actually get people laughing and giggling for real. Or turn it into a laugh-off contest and award prizes for the funniest laugh, the loudest laugh, the quirkiest laugh, the most maniacal laugh and the most contagious laugh.
		Quote of the Week

"Having an open door policy at work isn't about the door." Deri Latimer
		It's a Wacky World

A Swedish tourism group has created a wacky promotion: Dial-a-Swede. They've created a hotline where you can connect to a random Swede. It's not totally random - people have volunteered for the honor - however the volunteers have not been vetted in any way, nor have they been given a script. So if you called a random Swede, what would your question be?

Thanks for Speaking Up! Thank you for all the responses to last week's question about what might prevent employees from speaking up at work. I'll post a follow-up on the website in a few weeks.

Mike is speaking at the GoodLife Health & Wellness Leadership Summit, Calgary, May 16: We've found a few more specially priced tickets for people who know Mike (like you) available until April 22nd!

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Mike is quoted in the Business Insider article: What to Do When You Realize Your Job is Destroying Your Marriage

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