More from the Author

• Article | Journal of Personality and Social Psychology | December 2019

  It Helps to Ask: The Cumulative Benefits of Asking Follow-up Questions

  Michael Yeomans, Alison Wood Brooks, Karen Huang, Julia A. Minson and Francesca Gino

  In a recent article published in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JPSP; Huang, Yeomans, Brooks, Minson, & Gino, 2017), we reported the results of 2 experiments involving “getting acquainted” conversations among strangers and an observational field study of heterosexual speed daters. In all 3 studies, we found that asking more questions in conversation, especially follow-up questions (that indicate responsiveness to a partner), increases interpersonal liking of the question asker. Kluger and Malloy (2019) offer a critique of the analyses in Study 3 of our article. Though their response is a positive signal of engaged interest in our research, they made 3 core mistakes in their analyses that render their critique invalid. First, they tested the wrong variables, leading to conclusions that were erroneous. Second, even if they had analyzed the correct variables, some of their analytical choices were not valid for our speed-dating dataset, casting doubt on their conclusions. Third, they misrepresented our original findings, ignoring results in all 3 of our studies that disprove some of their central criticisms. In summary, the conclusions that Kluger and Malloy (2019) drew about Huang et al. (2017)’s findings are incorrect. The original results are reliable and robust: Asking more questions, especially follow-up questions, increases interpersonal liking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)

  Keywords: question-asking; communication; relationships; interpersonal communication; Conversation;

  Citation:

  Yeomans, Michael, Alison Wood Brooks, Karen Huang, Julia A. Minson, and Francesca Gino. "It Helps to Ask: The Cumulative Benefits of Asking Follow-up Questions." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 117, no. 6 (December 2019): 1139–1144.  View Details

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• Article | Harvard Business Review | October 14, 2019

  Cracking the Code of Sustained Collaboration

  Francesca Gino

  When most organizations strive to increase collaboration, they approach it too narrowly: as a value to cultivate—not a skill to teach. So they create open offices, talk up collaboration as a corporate goal, and try to influence employees through other superficial means that don’t yield progress. Companies that excel at collaboration, in contrast, realize it involves instilling the right mindset: widespread respect for colleagues’ contributions, openness to experimenting with others’ ideas, and sensitivity to how one’s actions may affect teammates and outcomes. What’s more, these firms have established programs to help employees develop those attitudes.
  
  I have identified six types of training techniques used by such programs. They teach people to (1) listen, not talk; (2) practice empathy; (3) be comfortable giving and receiving feedback; (4) lead and follow; (5) speak with clarity and avoid abstractions; and (6) have win-win interactions.
  
  Drawing from my observations of Pixar, Webasto, and other companies, I share specific tools and exercises that show employees how to work well together, learn from one another, and connect more fully.

  Keywords: collaboration; listening; empathy; feedback; Organizational Culture; Interpersonal Communication; Training; Programs;

  Citation:

  Gino, Francesca. "Cracking the Code of Sustained Collaboration." Harvard Business Review 97, no. 6 (November–December 2019): 73–81.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2019

  Cooking Down a Storm: Changing Culture at Pasta Serafina (A)

  Susanna Gallani, Francesca Gino and Raffaella Sadun

  Plant management at Pasta Serafina, a pasta producer in the south of Italy, is struggling to contain employee absenteeism. While the misbehavior is concentrated in a minority of the workers, its effects impact not only the plant’s performance, but also the climate and work environment. Embedded in an institutional and legal environment that allows very little room for corrective action, and already dealing with persistent low margins, management decides to address the issue by asking the employees themselves to find a solution to the problem. The case exposes students to managerial challenges associated with curbing moral hazard and changing the company culture in a setting where standard legal and contractual tools, such as firing workers for performance or using incentives to influence behaviors, are not available.

  Keywords: absenteeism; moral hazard; Employees; Behavior; Problems and Challenges; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation;

  Citation:

  Gallani, Susanna, Francesca Gino, and Raffaella Sadun. "Cooking Down a Storm: Changing Culture at Pasta Serafina (A)." Harvard Business School Case 120-013, September 2019.  View Details

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