I was reading one of my favorite magazines, Scientific American Mind and there was an interesting article written by Steve Kozlowski and Daniel IIgen. The article is titled, The Science of Team Success. Since part of my speaking and training business revolves around how to improve both individual and team performance I was intrigued on how science could prove successful team. This article pointed out some key distinctions in creating enhanced team performance. One key is that most organizations reward individuals based on individual performance rather than team performance. These rewards can often inhibit team members’ willingness to work together and help one another, even when the success of the team depends on it.

This doesn’t seem like what a team is supposed to do, however our society is trained to foster individual achievement thinking that it will improve the entire team. With my trainings I have found the balance between improving individual skill set and training leadership to put the pieces together to achieve the desired goal. The two keys for team success still boil down to skilled individuals coming together with the guidance of excellent leadership working for a common goal. The leader has to deal with the psychological and emotional parts of an employee knowing that one person can change the performance of the team both positively and negatively. Through the study of organizational psychology these authors like me know that a business’ success is more than just the skills of the employees. It is the ability of each employee to perform with the mental and emotional pressures that teams provide. These skills are not being emphasized enough in business training. The businesses continue to push sales skills and management skills, instead of the performance skills that improve the individual and the team. Those performance skills need to be experienced through team building exercises that go beyond the typical mission statement training. The authors give an example of virtual training to teach the essential skill of feedback. Giving feedback is certainly falls under the skill of communication, however it affects the individuals involved both mentally and emotionally which has a direct effect on performance. Look beyond the business skills to create team success.