Ever wonder what factors play into turning a group of individuals into an engaged, high-performing team? In this session from the BetterWorks Goal Summit 2016, Google's VP of People Operations Prasad Setty dives into Google’s best practices and recent research on the driving forces behind team effectiveness. You’ll walk away with practical applications and ideas for your own organization.

1. Build Effective Teams Everywhere
Prasad Setty
VP, People Operations

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What comes to mind when you think of an
effective team?

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What makes an effective team
at Google?
Intergroup competition CohesionMental models Commitment
Goal settingGroup incentive systems
Group polarizationIndividual credibilityConformitySocialization
Team roles Inspiring mission
Behavioral approach Sharing informationSocialization Healthy norms
Organizational resources Team sizeWork-life quality Past experience
Communication Reward system ProximityCognitive ability

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Team effectiveness study design
180 250+201
35+3
interviews teams inputs
outputs stats models
run

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WHO is on the team matters less than
HOW the team works together
What we found

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MEANINGIMPACT &
Our team cares about making
education better and helping
teachers teach. It means a lot
to me to be working toward
these goals.
“Our work directly increases
the success of small business
and drives real economic
benefits to those outside
of Google on a global scale.
“

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Our team cares about making
education better and helping
teachers teach. It means a lot
to me to be working toward
these goals.
“
external validation internal validation
Our work directly increases
the success of small business
and drives real economic
benefits to those outside
of Google on a global scale.
“
MEANINGIMPACT &

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CLARITY DEPENDABILITY&
If someone says they are stuck,
almost always 1-3 people will
offer help. Often if that requires
code changes, that person will
volunteer to just do it that day.
“The team is well structured
and we leverage each other
and receive excellent
guidance and support
from top management.
“

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Undependable team
Dependable team
Structure & Clarity
Effectiveness

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PSYCHOLOGICALSAFETY
If people on your team don’t feel safe, they won’t
take risks. In anything that’s complicated like
software development, you want people to take
risks. What’s the point of the team if people
aren’t taking risks?
“

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Teams that feel safe beat their sales targets
+17%
-19%
Safe
team
Unsafe
team
TARGET SALES REVENUE

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Five dynamics of team effectiveness

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gTeams@Google
Survey
Assessed on the five
underlying dynamics of
team effectiveness
Report
Entire team
reviewed
Action Planning
Consult resources
to take action
Discussion
Team set aside
90 minutes to talk
through results

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Create an environment where people can speak freely
Let your team members own the process of creating new team norms
Show that you care about team dynamics
What you can do
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2
3

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Thank you.