Recently, a study that started in 2011 presented an actual scientific link between high-performance teams and the level of happiness of their members. We find the results extremely eye-opening, especially since the study focused on teams from the USA, Netherlands, UK, Taiwan, China, and Australia.
Although different countries were being taken into consideration, the result was the same. This means that people are alike on how they perceive their jobs despite the cultural differences.
If the conclusion had ended here, we would still have considered this finding important. However, there is more to be discussed.
The researchers found that when it comes to work groups, the state of well-being becomes a collective feeling, regardless if we are talking about happiness or unhappiness. Because of this shared perception, it takes just one person to positively or negatively influence the whole team's satisfaction level.
For instance, if one person is reluctant to cooperate with their colleagues, that will draw the whole team into feeling wary regarding the project’s meaning. On the other hand, if a team member comes to work with a positive vibe and desire to progress, their thriving appetite will spread and be amplified. This applies especially to the team leaders as they are the spine of the whole team.
Furthermore, the connection between team members and how they manage to work together is directly influenced by how people socially interact with one another at both a professional and a personal level.
But how can you measure a team's productivity as there is no actual unit for this purpose? By simply looking at concrete outcomes such as profit, return on investment, and sales. All these realizations are achieved by the group as a whole unit and not by each individual. This means, once more, that every member can stir the wheel towards success or failure.
We were very aware of this final bullet point before, but now, since it is backed by science, it is more relevant than ever - this climate we were talking about is very much determined by the kind of role model the team leaders are and how good they are when offering advice. Actually, the team leader is the only one who has the power to assist each member of the team to emerge and become engaged in their collective purpose.
So, after reading this study, we have drawn two conclusions:
To wrap things up, it is our strong belief that it is your job as a team leader to let each member of your team understand how important they are for the project and make sure they interact as best as possible with their colleagues.
Take your time to appreciate if the people you’ve teamed up, are compatible and suited to work with one another. Having two very good specialists in a team doesn’t automatically mean they will be good for the project. More importantly, take your time to learn what makes your team members unhappy and try to solve it together because, for maximum performance, all team members need to be happy. And this was scientifically proven.
