Often in society we are taught to praise individuals who exhibit signs of extreme intelligence or giftedness. As students we attend assemblies where awards are given to those with the highest GPA. As athletes MVP awards are handed to record beating athletes that show great talent and potential. However, one critical area that isn’t frequently talked about (and rarely praised) is the ability to effectively communicate. Which is why it was so impactful when one company worth over $500 billion, chose to prioritize hiring those who can communicate over those who were highly intelligent.
Google, one of the worlds largest leaders in groundbreaking technology and transformative productivity, dove head first into the task of creating the perfect team. This mission spanned of the course of ten years, involved countless studies, and millions of dollars poured into research that would analyze every aspect of hiring the ideal employees for their team. Not only did this involve in depth scrutiny of the potential employees experience and personal life, but it also required taking a less than traditional approach to the hiring process.
Project Aristotle studied hundreds of google teams to analyze which skills were exhibited by the most successful ones. More than technical brilliance, ambition and discipline, the study showed remarkable success rates among those who could effectively communicate with their team. Abeer Dubey, one of Google’s People Analytics Managers,noted “Teams were more effective when they were friends outside of work as well as in work”. The study found that this could most often be achieved by pairing introverts with introverts and extroverts with extroverts. Project Aristotle studied an aspect that hadn’t fully been looked into, how powerful relationships can create thriving teams.
While the answer may not have been obvious, it’s easy to see why teams that communicate well can excel over those with more traditional technical intelligence. A team that can effectively communicate may often come to a consensus over a disagreement, while teams without the skill can remain gridlocked on problems stalling any progress. Teams that thrived in communication also showed much higher workplace satisfaction, which led to decreased turnover rate in employees, another critical aspect of productivity.
With this information in hand Google set off to establish psychologically safe environments in which team members could feel safe enough to share candid thoughts and ideas with the rest of their team while being open to productive criticism.
Project Aristotle and it’s discoveries are part of the very foundation of which the Numina App and executive coaching sessions were built upon. By working through practices that strengthen powerful communication skills, teams can operate on even higher levels of productivity and growth.
The Numina App allows team members to work through their own challenges in a safe environment, while still forming strong connections with the rest of their team. Numina executive coaching sessions implement tested strategies catered to the direct issues your team may be facing. To get started, download the Numina App to your mobile device or request your free executive coaching session today.