Research pick: Come together: music-making as team-building - "An innovative tool for team development: the use of musical activity"

Making music in groups, even among people with no musical background, can give the team a boost, according to research in the International Journal of Applied Management Science. The findings suggest that making music together can improve one’s sense of effectiveness as well as satisfaction in subsequent teamwork. The findings add to a growing body of research that is exploring unconventional methods for team development, a field that has typically been dominated by training programmes, coaching, and workplace simulations.

In the musical experiments, people were asked to create music collectively. Each group performed a simple rhythm and then improvised a melody together. None of the participants had prior training, and before starting, they were introduced to only the most basic of musical concepts. Despite such minimal preparation, the act of making music together had measurable effects, the research found.

Those participants who had actively performed music together subsequently reported higher levels of team effectiveness, the belief that their group could work well together. They also reported greater team satisfaction, compared with peers who were merely audience to the music-making. Among performers, the sense of gaining insights through the music-making proved the strongest predictor of how effective they judged their team to be. Audience members, in contrast, showed weaker and less consistent links between the musical task and their evaluation of teamwork.

In professional settings, team-building exercises have often been based on structured activities, such as problem-solving and role-play, designed to enhance collaboration. This research suggests that unconventional approaches to team-building, such as making music together, may provide a power alternative.

Music requires coordination: players must stay in rhythm, adjust to one another, and listen carefully to shifts in pace or tone. It can involve improvisation, the ability to respond flexibly when the pattern changes or when mistakes occur. These qualities have direct parallels in modern workplaces, where teams succeed not only through technical knowledge but also through adaptability, communication, and trust. The researchers argue that group music-making offers a natural rehearsal for these skills.

Tal-Shmotkin, M. (2025) ‘An innovative tool for team development: the use of musical activity’, Int. J. Applied Management Science, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp.237–251.