On-the-Job Training Practices

🚀 Excited to share my latest Fortune column on truly groundbreaking academic work from my co-authors Professor Karim Lakhani and Fabrizio Dell'Acqua at Digital Data Design Institute at Harvard (D^3), where I serve as an executive fellow. This remarkable field experiment with 776 Procter & Gamble professionals fundamentally challenges what we thought we knew about teamwork. The research reveals the emergence of the "cybernetic teammate"—AI that doesn't just assist but actively participates in collaboration. Three breakthrough findings: 1. AI Can Replicate Team Benefits Individuals working with AI achieved nearly 40% performance gains—matching traditional two-person teams. AI is providing the same collaborative benefits we've long attributed to human teamwork. 2. Cross-Functional AI Teams Generate Breakthrough Innovation AI-augmented cross-functional teams were 3x more likely to produce top 10% solutions. This isn't marginal improvement—it's a multiplicative effect that neither human-only teams nor AI-enabled individuals could achieve alone. 3. AI Breaks Down Silos (For Real This Time) R&D specialists with AI proposed commercially viable solutions. Commercial professionals developed technically sound approaches. AI acted as a bridge, enabling each team member to think holistically across functions—achieving the "silo breaking" that leaders have struggled to accomplish through org chart reshuffles. Bonus finding: AI collaboration increased positive emotions by 64% in teams. This isn't cold, mechanical work—it's energizing and engaging. At Seven2, we're translating this research into practice with our portfolio companies, building these AI-augmented cross-functional teams to drive innovation and competitive advantage. This is the future of collaborative work—not AI replacing humans, but human-AI ensembles that combine the best of both worlds. Read the full analysis: https://lnkd.in/ef3f3pED #AI #Innovation #HBS #D3Institute #FutureOfWork #PrivateEquity #TeamDynamics

Most teams I have worked with struggled with teamwork and psychological safety because they didn’t have a clear system for working together. While I help teams design their own set of norms, commitments, rituals, and routines in my Team Synergy Workshop to make collaboration easier and safer, this book may be an inspiration for you. 📖 Team: Getting Things Done with Others by David Allen and Edward Lamont takes the famous GTD methodology and applies it to groups. It shows what it takes for teams, not just individuals, to actually get things done together. Here are 5 ideas from the book that I find especially relevant: 1. Separate “stuff” from commitments Most conflicts come not from workload but from unclear expectations. First agree: is this an idea, an action, or just noise? 2. Define the “next action” in team language Saying “let’s improve communication” means nothing. Saying “Anna drafts an agenda for Monday’s meeting by Friday” gives clarity. 3. Close open loops quickly Every unaddressed promise or vague task lingers in people’s heads and drains energy. Teams that regularly clear the air free up enormous capacity. 4. Use context, not just priority Not all tasks fit neatly into “urgent” or “important.” Ask instead: what can we do here and now, given who is present and what resources we have? 5. Ritualize review, don’t improvise it A weekly review is not optional. Without it, teams lose alignment, let small issues pile up, and slide into chaos. With it, they reset and refocus together. Building these simple practices will not only improve your team's productivity, but it will also help your team to create the clarity and trust that make psychological safety and high performance possible. P.S.: What book or idea has recently improved the way your team works together?

What kills collaboration faster than conflict? Silence. How AI can fix it.     We've all been there: a meeting ends, everyone nods, no one asks questions... and yet, the project still goes sideways. The truth? Silence doesn’t mean clarity. Silence in teams can feel like alignment, but it's often confusion in disguise. It usually means someone didn’t feel safe or empowered to ask for it.   Even the best teams hit roadblocks:   Misunderstandings from assumptions Hesitation to ask questions Miscommunication that leads to rework   These challenges aren't new, but the way we tackle them can be.   This is where AI can quietly transform how your team collaborates. By acting as a neutral, judgment-free assistant, AI makes it easier for people to understand questions, clarify tasks, and stay aligned without fear of “looking dumb.”    Here's how:   ✅ Clarify complexity – AI can quickly summarize dense threads, documents, or meeting notes. ✅ Encourage curiosity – With the right prompts, AI makes it safe and easy to ask “obvious” questions. ✅ Keep teams in sync – AI can reinforce shared goals and priorities without sounding repetitive. It’s like adding a smart, impartial facilitator to every meeting, every teams thread, every project doc.   💡 Try this prompt to get started: "You are a helpful team assistant. Whenever I ask a question, respond with a reasonable amount of detail to help the team work together effectively." Simple but powerful to make missing information to all team members visible.     Ready to bring this into your team culture? Start with these steps:   1. Pick one team ritual (e.g., weekly meeting, retros, or docs) and layer in AI support. Let AI summarize, generate follow-up questions, or identify unclear points. 2. Encourage “clarifying questions” as a norm, not a nuisance. Use AI to increase curiosity and good inquiry. 3. Train with prompts. Craft a few go-to prompts your team can use in AI tools like Co-Pilot or whatever tool you use.   Collaboration doesn’t break down because people don’t care. It breaks down when people don’t feel clear and get frustrated.

Virtual Team Rooms ‘If you have a remote team, you can create a virtual team room using online tools. This works for hybrid and partially remote teams, too, but be careful: in-person conversations shut remote team members out. If some people are remote, the people working in person need to use the virtual team room for all their collaboration, too. A decision to use a virtual team room is a decision to act as if everyone is remote. Remote equipment and tools… Remote teams need an electronic version of the team workspace: - Videoconferencing software, such as Zoom, for real-time conversation - Messaging software, such as Slack, for asynchronous conversation - Virtual whiteboard software, such as Miro or Mural, for freeform, simultaneous collaboration - Collaborative versions of task-specific tools, where possible, such as Figma for UX and UI design - A document store, such as DropBox, Google Drive, or a wiki - Inexpensive tablets for collaborative whiteboard sketches - An additional monitor or tablet for videoconferencing, so people can see one another and work at the same time - For Delivering teams, collaborative programming tools, such as Tuple or Visual Studio Live Share, that support pairing or mobbing (see “Pair Programming” and “Mob Programming” for details) As with an in-person workspace, do not purchase Agile Lifecycle Management software or other tracking software. Designing remote collaboration Collaboration is easy when people are colocated. Achieving the same level of collaboration in a remote environment takes careful design. When your team establishes its working agreements during alignment chartering, make a point of discussing how you’ll collaborate. Remember that the goal is to maximize the performance of the team, not the individual. As work progresses, be sure to evaluate and improve your communication techniques frequently. I asked people who had experience with great in-person and remote collaboration experience for their remote collaboration tricks. There were several excellent suggestions: - Make time for personal connections. In-person teams form bonds of friendship and mutual respect, and this allows them to make decisions quickly and effectively. In a remote team, be sure to set aside time to socialize and keep up with each other’s lives. Options include virtual coffee breaks to help ease tension, a dedicated chat channel for greetings and personal updates as people arrive and leave their office, and a 30-minute call every day for chatting or playing games. One team made a habit of reserving the first 5–10 minutes of every meeting for socializing; people could either show up early to chat or just come for the content as their mood dictated. Another set aside time specifically for celebrating successes. - Ensure safety. In an...’ ― James Shore with Diana Larsen, Gitte Klitgaard, and Shane Warden, The Art of Agile Development https://lnkd.in/gEh4acmf

⚡ Employees with fewer than 2 hours of workday overlap with close collaborators take 3x longer to respond to messages. That’s not just an inconvenience...it’s a breakdown in collaboration efficiency. The shift to distributed and asynchronous work has fundamentally changed how teams operate, but the data reveals serious challenges: 📉 Low workday overlap = decision-making bottlenecks. When employees have limited shared working hours, response times lag, project cycles slow down, and real-time collaboration becomes near impossible. 💬 After-hours messaging isn’t a solution—it’s a problem. Employees who receive 15+ Slack messages after-hours report higher burnout and disengagement levels, showing that async work needs structure, not just flexibility. 🤝 Teams that fail to maintain strong cross-functional connections are 30% more likely to experience collaboration breakdowns. Lack of structured interactions leads to knowledge gaps, missed handoffs, and duplicated work. How do we optimize async collaboration without sacrificing speed and effectiveness? ✅ Set Clear Collaboration Hours 🔹 High-performing hybrid teams structure 2-3 hours of daily overlap for synchronous work. 🔹 This ensures essential decisions happen without forcing unnecessary meetings or 24/7 Slack availability. ✅ Leverage AI for Smarter Async Workflows 🔹 Automated note-taking & meeting recaps help reduce redundant calls. 🔹 Threaded Slack conversations (vs. direct messages) allow for flexible, non-disruptive collaboration. 🔹 Clear response expectations—not all messages need an instant reply. ✅ Monitor & Strengthen Network Health 🔹 Employees with fewer than 3 strong collaborations per week are at higher risk of disengagement. 🔹 Use ONA to identify disconnected teams and reinforce strategic connections. ✅ Rebalance Synchronous & Asynchronous Work 🔹 Target 30-60% async collaboration (document sharing, Slack threads, project boards) to protect focus time. 🔹 Cap meetings at 30 minutes and default to async updates when possible. 🔹 Monitor meeting-to-focus ratios—teams spending over 60% of their time in meetings struggle to execute effectively. Collaboration isn’t just about where we work...it’s about how we work. Want more collaboration insights? Make sure to check the comments for our full report. What strategies is your team using to optimize async collaboration? #PeopleAnalytics #HRAnalytics #Collaboration #HybridWork #FutureOfWork

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and neuroscience are reshaping knowledge work in measurable ways. Harvard researchers found that professionals supported by AI tools like GPT-4 complete tasks approximately 25% faster and produce outcomes of 40% higher quality compared to those without AI assistance (Harvard University, 2024). Stanford's latest HELM benchmark places GPT-4o at the forefront of cognitive enhancement, surpassing alternatives such as Microsoft Copilot. However, technology alone isn't sufficient. Neuroscience research highlights significant benefits of cultivating psychological safety within teams: 26% greater skill preparedness: Psychological safety enhances readiness to develop and apply new skills. 67% higher likelihood of applying newly learned skills: Employees are significantly more likely to effectively utilize new competencies. 57% greater collaboration: Enhanced psychological safety fosters intrinsic motivation and collaboration, critical for effective consulting. 50% higher productivity: Teams feeling psychologically safe and motivated demonstrate substantially increased productivity. 150% greater innovation and experimentation: Safe environments encourage experimentation, driving innovation. 40% reduction in burnout: Improved psychological safety supports mental well-being, enabling sustained high performance. This article proposes combining AI capabilities with neuroscience-backed strategies to sustainably enhance innovation and productivity. What levels of innovation and productivity could knowledge workers achieve with advanced language models (HELM scores ≥ .96) in psychologically safe work environments?

To move faster, tie people to the outcome. Not just their part in it. When work moves slowly, it's because the flow is a series of abrupt starts and stops, with unclear handoffs tying them together. And as the work is handed off, so are the problems, with everyone assuming that eventually someone will take care of it. Hopefully. These are 7 ways to start building a culture that cares about more than just their step. But at the root of them is the same idea: We're all on the same team, so let's act like it. 1️⃣ Conflict Bounties Reward employees who bring up cross-team blockers. Could be a small amount of cash, PTO, or a shout out. These help issues get fixed before they catch fire. 2️⃣ Second Team Assignments Each leader uses 1hr/week to support another team. Hands on time helping, not just checking in. This helps build context and trust between teams. 3️⃣ The 5 Day Fix Choose a cross-team problem that keeps coming up. Create a small squad from the affected teams. Give them 5 days to solve it, and share the results with everyone. This gives people quick wins, and shows them that they're capable of fixing their problems. 4️⃣ Joint Retros Create monthly retros between two reliant teams. Focus on what worked, and what needs improvement. This helps teams self correct and work better together. 5️⃣ Collab Spotlights Recognize someone from outside your team who helped. Bring the silent helpers to light. Celebrates the ways we're already helping each other. 6️⃣ Track by Outcome Group progress by shared goals instead of org chart. Assign co workers across teams. People want to reach the goal instead of just checking their box. 7️⃣ Shout Outs Create a dedicated channel for them. Encourage leads to use it at least weekly. As collaboration is recognized, it becomes part of the culture. Teams that move like one, reflect the systems that are built for it. Which one are you trying first? Let me know in the comments 👇 ♻️ Repost to help build better teams. ➕ Follow Sam Krempl for more like this.

We Must! establish clear team roles and responsibilities before focusing on team-building activities. Clear roles and responsibilities are fundamental to effective teamwork, team-building efforts will be more successful and sustain when team members understand their individual contributions and how they fit into the overall team goals. Without this foundation, team-building activities are less effective or even counterproductive. Clear roles and responsibilities are crucial before diving into team-building they will: * Improved communication and collaboration: When team members know their roles, they can communicate more effectively and collaborate more efficiently. This leads to smoother workflows and better outcomes. * Reduced conflict and stress: Clear roles minimize misunderstandings and potential conflicts that can arise when responsibilities are unclear or overlapping. Enhanced productivity and efficiency: With a clear understanding of individual roles and responsibilities, team members can focus their efforts on the tasks they are best suited for, leading to increased productivity and efficiency. * Increased job satisfaction and engagement: When team members feel like they have a clear purpose and a meaningful role, they are more likely to be satisfied with their work and more engaged in the team's goals. * More effective team-building activities: Team-building activities are more likely to be successful when they are designed to support the team's goals and address specific challenges, and these goals and challenges are more clearly defined when roles are understood. In essence, establishing clear roles and responsibilities sets the stage for effective teamwork and lays the foundation for successful team-building initiatives. By focusing on clarity first, you can ensure that team-building activities are more impactful and contribute to a more cohesive and productive team environment.

Last quarter, I sat down with a dozen organizations to understand how they're empowering their blended teams to succeed. A fascinating pattern emerged in our discussions about technology. One of the most striking success stories came from a financial services firm that cut their project coordination time by 50%. Their approach wasn’t about using more tools—it was about selecting the right ones and ensuring they were integrated into their workflow effectively. What stood out across industries is the critical role that the right technology plays in team success. Some of the most effective tools include: - Project management platforms (like Monday.com or Trello) that give everyone instant visibility - Communication tools (Slack, MS Teams) that bridge the physical/virtual gap - Secure document sharing systems (O365/Sharepoint, Dropbox, Google Workspace) that balance collaboration with data protection - Virtual workspace tools (Zoom, MS Teams) that empower distributed teams collaborate effectively   What truly sets successful teams apart is how they use these tools. For example, one team standardized MS Teams for all communication and collaboration, creating a unified space for real-time work. They also used AI for automated note taking, generating concise meeting summaries and highlighting key moments in video recordings, ensuring that team members who couldn’t attend could quickly catch up on the most critical parts and stay aligned.   The key takeaway here? Technology isn’t just about having the latest tools—it’s about making the right tools work for your team and using them in a way that enhances productivity and collaboration.   What tools have you found most effective for your blended teams? How do you ensure you're using them to their fullest potential?   #WorkforceTech #DigitalTransformation #FutureOfWork