The Team Network Effect: Exploring Key Themes from i4cp's Latest Research with Rob Cross and Katheryn Brekken, Ph.D.

The Next Practices Weekly call series has become a well-attended and wide-ranging discussion for HR leaders each Thursday at 11am ET / 8am PT. On this week's call, i4cp Senior Research Analyst Tom Stone hosted i4cp Senior Research Analyst Katheryn Brekken and i4cp Rob Cross, Senior Vice President of Research who shared key findings from their new research "The Team Network Effect™." This was a very rich session, so youare encouraged to download the PDF of the slides from the event, or watch the recording available above. Here are some highlights:

• The survey for i4cp's study Team Network Effect™ was conducted in Q1 of 2024. It included 1,400 organizations, and the findings also builds off of 200 interviews that Cross has conducted in recent years with high-performing leaders.
• Each of the studies' four key findings were discussed in some detail -- see the above recording and slides. The four key findings are:
  • 21st Century teams are goldmines of untapped productivity
  • Eight in 10 teams underperform due to collaborative dysfunctions
  • Leaders of high-performing teams architect networks precisely
  • Organizations sustain precision collaboration through people practices
• Some impressive data findings from this study include:
  • 39% - The productivity loss across organizations due to teams not collaborating effectively.
  • 80% - The percentage of teams struggling with dysfunctional patterns of collaboration, such as mis-aligned, priority overload, and overwhelmed.
  • 16X - The Lowest performing teams 16 times more likely to not engage in external collaborative practices.
• Cross detailed what the research found regarding the importance of energy and motivation and their connection with productivity. The following shows six cost-effective ways to improve 1:1 meeting structures to boost employee energy and motivation:

• We asked the following poll question of event participants: "Please indicate the behavior that colleagues should adopt more systematically when under stress or pressure to create an energized context (single choice):"
  • 25% Create room for meaningful participation
  • 16% Engage others in realistic possibilities that capture their interests
  • 15% Integrate work and personal connection
  • 14% Follow through on commitments
  • 8% Balance asks and contributions to others
  • 8% Show interest in others ideas
  • 8% Balance pushing towards goals and welcoming new ideas
  • 6% Maintain principles larger than self-interest
  • 1% Disagree by focusing on issue, not the individual
• Cross described the six types of team dysfunction. The image below summarizes these, and the full member report goes into great detail on each, with recommendations for addressing each.

• We asked the following poll question of event participants: "Please indicate one or two collaborative dysfunctions you see as most prominent in teams in your organizations."
  • 50% Priority Overload
  • 41% Overwhelmed
  • 26% Disenfranchised
  • 26% Maligned
  • 25% Hub and Spoke
  • 18% Isolated
• Following the four key findings of the study, i4cp's ultimate recommendations for leaders and organizations are:
  • Co-identify driving behaviors of teams’ collaborative dysfunctions
  • Pilot and practice precision collaboration
  • Co-identify and pilot solutions to address collaborative dysfunction
  • Co-identify and pilot solutions to address collaborative dysfunction

Links to resources shared on the call:

• Upcoming i4cp virtual events
• i4cp's Next Practices Now conference
• Information on i4cp Membership
• i4cp Report (members only): The Team Network Effect™
• i4cp Executive Brief (available to non-members): The Team Network Effect™
• i4cp’s TNE Case Studies (members only): Roche, Oliver Wyman, & Microsoft
• i4cp’s TNE: Leaders Guide to Optimize 1:1 meeting (members only)
• i4cp’s TNE: Friday Rose: A Trust and Innovation Exercise (members only)
• Article on this research at HR Executive: What Workplace Teams Need and How HR Tech Can Help
• Connect with Rob Cross on LinkedIn
• Connect with Katheryn Brekken on LinkedIn