DrNicole Larson

My interest in teams began early in my career while managing frontline teams in the human services sector. That experience sparked my interest in understanding how teams work, and why they work well (or, at times, not so well). It led me to pursue a PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and continues to shape my work today, as I aim to advance the science, pedagogy, and practice of high-performance teamwork.

My research broadly examines how team dynamics emerge and evolve over time, and the factors that enable teams to perform effectively. I also work to advance the methods used to study teams, particularly through temporal, multilevel, and process-oriented approaches. My research is published across leading journals in management, psychology, and education, and currently focuses on three contexts:

• Health care: This work focuses on how teams and individuals respond to demands in high-stakes environments. Most recently, I have been examining the role of resilience in occupational outcomes in partnership with Victorian health care providers.

• New ventures: In this area, I examine how individual and team factors contribute to new venture success, including entrepreneurial mindsets, new venture team dynamics, pitching, and firm growth. I’m currently working with an industry partner specialising in strategic growth to better understand the team dynamics that enable businesses to successfully scale.

• Higher education: I conduct scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) focused on teamwork and peer feedback in higher education. Related to this research area, I co-developed ITPMetrics, a free online platform that helps educators teach, assess, and develop teamwork capabilities. Resources we have developed through the platform have reached more than 380,000 students across 550 institutions in 45 countries.

I teach leadership and teamwork at both MBA and undergraduate levels, where I help students connect theory to their own experiences, learn from one another, and develop strong interpersonal capabilities. I focus on enriching student learning through evidence-informed experiential approaches.

While I’m passionate about these areas of research and teaching, what gets me up in the morning is the opportunity to translate research into real-world impact. To accomplish this, I work closely with DeakinCo to design leadership and workforce development programs that have supported more than 1,000 leaders across partner organisations and attracted more than $750,000 in funding.