Think about the various teams you've been a part of over the years and particularly those that were able to achieve great results. According to Google's "Project Aristotle," which analyzed years of data related to team work, surprisingly it's not who is on the team that makes the difference-- in other words, a team of superstars will not make the team rock. It's likely that the high-performing teams you were a part of gave you a feeling of more belonging, understanding, and shared voice.
Teams where conversation is shared and everyone has a chance to talk in the same proportion increase the collective intelligence of the whole group. If one member dominates, this can spell disaster for a team. How can the team prevent this? It can establish group norms, which may be informal and unwritten or openly acknowledged -- some go so far as to have a team charter. For example, the norms can lay out the expectation of equal dialogue and create signals to alert members to behavior that breaks norms. In the case of talking too much, the acronym WAIT or "Why Am I Talking?" might be a good sign to raise when conversation is too one-sided. Personal awareness of talking too much is a first step -- See "Know When You Talk Too Much."
Group norms can also promote psychological safety, which is described as feeling free to be yourself in a group without concern about being judged or punished, especially publicly. Google's researchers concluded that understanding and influencing group norms were key to improving Google's teams.
Overall, your experience with high performing teams will be more positive if it is on a team that appears less focused and more interactive as opposed to one that is extremely efficient. Relationships and compassion matter most.
Read more at "What Google Learned from its Quest to Build the Perfect Team."
Also check your social sensitivity by reading faces at
http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/ei_quiz/
Learn more about microexpressions at
http://www.scienceofpeople.com/2013/09/guide-reading-microexpressions/
and read Malcolm Gladwell's New Yorker article "The Bakeoff," about the quest for the perfect, healthy processed cookie, for more insights into teams.
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