What makes a team effective? Is it having one or two exceptionally intelligent members? Is it the average intelligence? No. As it turns out, neither of these factors is really predictive of a group’s efficacy, according to researchers at MIT, Carnegie Mellon, and Union College. What determines success is the collective intelligence in conjunction with the right dynamics. The group can only rise to this level, or beyond, when there is effective communication, coordination, and the right blend of personalities. This is why it is so crucial to find the best brains for your project.

The “best” brains are not necessarily the ones with the highest IQs. They are the ones with high EQs that can work collaboratively, listen, respond, and work towards a common goal. We typically walk right into the middle of a project crisis, and we don’t have prior knowledge of employees, managers, and executives. The first thing we do is ask questions to steering committees, business leads, tech leads, stakeholders…

• What are the expectations you have for this project?
• What does success look like to you (“you” being executives, managers, and employees)?
• Who knows what the end-goal is supposed to look like? Who owns that knowledge?
• What are the weaknesses you’re seeing in the project? What problems are you encountering? Again, it is helpful to ask people at different levels of the project; often, the perspective is completely different.
• Who is best suited to handle these particular challenges? Who is adept at getting people to come together? Who can come up with fresh ideas? Who can make sure rules and guidelines are adhered to?

We ask the team because oftentimes they have the best insight because they are right in the middle of the project. From there, we can choose the appropriate people to fill in the gaps and address concerns that have been identified. If needed, the search for the best brains extends to vendors and other third parties. The question here is how will these individuals work with the team?

A team should be more than the sum of its individual parts; that is, the skills, knowledge, and experience of each should complement each other in order to meet diverse needs involved in any one project. This is the real indicator of success.