The Power of Quiet on Improving Team Productivity

A few months ago, right before my baby was born, I read a fascinating New York Times Op-Ed by author Susan Cain entitled, “The Rise of the New Groupthink.” The premise affirmed something which I have long suspected: that people are actually more creative when they are working alone, without distraction, than when they are in teams.

Which sounds kind of weird.

Teams form the very heart of the modern-day knowledge workforce. When I was in graduate school at NYU studying the ins and outs of the entertainment industry, about a quarter of my classes were held through the Stern School of Business with full-time MBA students – and right from the start, they emphasized teams. At the start of each semester, for every class, we were broken into project teams of 4-5 people  –the reason being, we were told, to replicate the team atmosphere which we would find out in the “real world.”

But as Ms. Cain points out, this doesn’t necessarily translate into increased productivity, or better results. This never sat well with me either, since I would define myself as a creative person more than anything else. I like my space, I like to work on my own, to tinker and toy and build and finally produce something. I prefer individual study to group projects, and would far rather do the reading, take the test or write the paper on my own than have to prepare and present something with a group of others. Yet still, to be in the workforce today is to work in teams, and being a “team player” remains a highly-valued workplace skill.

Which brings me back to my baby being born. If teams are so vitally important in today’s offices, what can be done to maximize their effectiveness while still allowing individuals to produce their best work? My answer is simple: quiet.

Since leaving my full-time job to pursue TrivWorks full-time, I now work primarily out of my home office – which, while absolutely invigorating, has also demonstrated how the transition to being a full-time, stay at home dad can at times proven challenging. What affects me most creatively isn’t sleep deprivation (though that certainly does factor in!) but noise. My adorable, precious little girl has quite a set of pipes on her, and has no problem letting me know whenever she needs something. Oh, how much more productive I would be, I sometimes think, if only she had a mute button!

The same is true for the workplace, as I’m sure Ms. Cain would attest to. In addition to my own work experience, I have spent a tremendous amount of time over the years in an incredibly diverse range of offices holding customization meetings for our corporate team building activities in NYC and elsewhere, and can attest that many offices are loud. This typically reflects a more relaxed and playful office culture, regardless of industry (even while sitting in my accountant’s office recently to do my taxes, I was shocked by the amount of jokes, hoots and laughs flying over the cubicle walls). However, it doesn’t necessarily lend itself to focus, creativity or efficiency.

And so my advice, for what it’s worth, is to try and minimize the noise distraction in order to help your people produce the very best work they can. By all means, keep encouraging a fun and playful work environment- however, set some ground rules as well: no blaring of iPods, hold meetings in conference rooms and not cubes, respect closed doors, and turn the ringers down on phones (in fact, turn all cell phones on vibrate).

Try it out – and let me know what happens!