And I am not talking about the Olympics! There is a great article in August 2012 Harvard Business Review based on research from MIT about the communications in really great teams. I like it particularly because it reminds me of arguments that I had with my (prior) partner about how he said things rather than what he actually said. You know how it goes… I know that you said that it was alright, but is it really? We’re reading body language automatically and the body language or the tone of voice is not matching the words.
The full article is worth reading but the characteristics shared by successful teams, whether they were call centre or leadership teams was how they communicated. The summarisation is mine:
Everyone talks and listens roughly equally
Members face one another and they are energetic
Members carry on back channel and side conversations within the team
Members go exploring outside and bring information back.
Needless to say there is a lot more detail in the Harvard article which is well worth the read.

As well as the article, for those who are clients of CIO Connect or members of CIOnet we are discussing the Next Generation Leadership on the 25th August, 2012. We’ll be covering many aspects of finding, growing and sustaining the next generation of leaders in our organisations. If you want to join the conversation just drop me a line.