A、Their differences are likely to impact productivity. B、Their similarity is conducive to future collaboration. C、Their connecti

There are probably teams you’ve worked with but you never want to work with again. But there must have also been other teams that you would prize reuniting with professionally. In other words, your team had vitality. Vitality comes about when the ties people form with their fellow team members are such that they stay connected even after the team breaks up.
    What characteristics of a team make its members more likely to stay in contact despite no longer working together? This question has been answered recently in a study published in a business journal.
    One of the two key factors the research team discovered is sameness. Specifically, sharing the same gender or ethnic origin. The more members of a team share similar demographics, the more inclined they will be to remain associates long after the team has served its purpose. After ties are established, similarity strengthens them. As a result, they regard these individuals with greater trust and mutual understanding, which motivates them to seek further opportunities for collaboration. In effect, people tend to create stronger and longer-lasting connections with similar others. Someone who looks and sounds different from us may have the resources we need to be more successful. Yet, we find them to be significantly less credible simply because they are different. If you are a fierce advocate of workplace diversity, you’ll no doubt be horrified by such a revelation.
    The second factor identified by the researchers is the quality of the relationships among the team members. The more they trust one another, share the same goals and depend on each other for the achievement of those goals, the stronger their chances of maintaining their connections, despite no longer working as one team. Teams with quality relationships have a shared belief that it’s safe to take risks with each other, and their members are obliged to share the workload and help out.
    From personal experience, I can see both the truth and the inconsistency of such studies. The truth is some of my closest friendships were formed as a result of having worked together on teams, and I actively seek opportunities to work with them again. The inconsistency, though, is that I’ve never worked for a team more successful and cohesive than the one of which I am a member right now. And yet, the four of us have very little in common and are completely different demographically. So I am unlikely to question the value of a diverse workforce.
    19. What does the speaker say about a team with vitality?
    20. What do the researchers find out about members of a team?
    21. What do we learn about the team the speaker is currently working in?