Why is it some teams at work struggle and others seem to just click? Anita Woolley studies the science of teamwork and she’s sharing what research says about how to create great teams. And it’s not about having a lot of brainy people on your team. Associate Dean of Research and Professor of Organizational Behavior and Theory at Carnegie Mellon Anita Woolley holds a PhD in Organizational Behavior from Harvard and her research on teams has been published in several peer-reviewed journals.

Her studies explore how teams problem-solve, collaborate and she’s developed an rich understanding of a concept called collective intelligence. Collective intelligence is the idea that when you put some people together, the team is able to do better work just because of the group. In this episode, learn what factors create great teams and why having women on teams appears to be an essential component of success.

Additional resources: Learn more about Anita Woolley and her work on collective intelligence https://scholars.cmu.edu/418-anita-woolleyRead insights about how to design moments of joy at work www.steelcase.com/WBnewGet the latest workplace design, insights and research: www.steelcase.com/subscribe

Work Better podcast is hosted by Chris Congdon. Produced by Rebecca Charbauski. Creative art direction by Erin Ellison and Emily Cowdrey. Technical support by Mark Caswell and Jose Jimenez. Digital publishing by Areli Arellano and Jordan Marks. Editing and sound mixing by SoundPost Studios.