Subconscious Processes in Teams and their Implications for Team Outcomes: The Role of Biobehavioural Synchrony

Presenter

Professor Yair Berson
DeGroote School of Business
McMaster University, Canada

Abstract

Research on team formation and performance has mainly focused on relatively long-term processes, such as cohesion, and their implications for performance. In today’s organizations, however, individuals are frequently required to assemble into new or ad-hoc teams, and swift “teaming” is essential to address discrete, time-bound tasks and needs. To understand the more immediate processes that take place among individuals who form a team, we apply theory and methodology from neurodevelopmental psychology, focusing on the classic infant-caregiver bond, as captured by biobehavioural synchrony.  This form of synchrony represents affiliative bonding, characterized by behavioural, autonomic nervous system (e.g., neural), and physiological manifestations, all of which are different aspects of social connections. I will present the results of two studies that demonstrate how different supervisory interventions shape different patterns of synchrony, ultimately impacting team performance. In one study, I utilize the biobehavioural perspective to explain the effects of charismatic leaders on teams through heartrate and emotional synchrony. In another study, also focusing on emotional synchrony, I use synchrony to demonstrate the unfortunate effects of sexism on team outcomes.

Biography

Yair Berson (Ph.D. SUNY Binghamton) serves as a Professor at the Department of Human Resources and Management and as the Director of the DeGroote Leadership Centre, at the DeGroote School of Business. He most recently served on the faculties of Bar-Ilan University as a professor of psychology and at NYU’s Stern School of Business as a visiting research professor. Prior to these positions, he was on the faculty of Polytechnic Institute of New York University, The University of Haifa, and as a visitor at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business. His research helps demonstrate how leaders’ characteristics (e.g., values) and actions (e.g., visionary style) affect followers, organizational processes, and outcomes. Using diverse methodologies, from biological and neuroscience to surveys and financial indices, his work provides insights into the methods through which leaders become reflected in the groups and organizations they lead. Dr. Berson's work has been published in leading venues both in management and general psychology, such as Academy of Management Annals, the Journal of Applied Psychology, Psychological Science, OBHDP, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and The Leadership Quarterly. He is a coauthor and co-editor of two books and serves on the board of Personnel Psychology, The Leadership Quarterly, and is an associate editor of the Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies. He was the Chair of the Neuroscience Interest Group of the Academy of Management. Dr. Berson's work has also been featured several times in the business literature in such venues as Forbes, Financial Times, Psychology Today, and Israel's business magazines Globes and The Marker.