How air pollution can harm team performance

Air pollution has had a bad research rap this week. A story in science sips showed the link between air pollution and suicide, and now this!

High levels of air pollution can harm performance of teams, which are vital for solving complex problems and this could harm economic development in highly polluted emerging economies, or companies located in cities with high levels of pollution, says a new study.

The study used data from 15,000 live escape-room games in London. It estimated based on the data and the study’s equations that for about 3,500 teams that participated for team-building exercises (usually from a corporate background) that on high-pollution days the escape teams could take up to 5% longer to solve a sequence of non-routine analytical tasks of the collaborative type seen in a modern workplace.

The authors say that the mostly corporate team-building subsample may be more representative of the workplace effect than the full sample (which includes birthday parties and other leisure activities); there was no significant effect of pollution on young teams under the age of 16, the subgroup least reflecting the modern work environment.

What the researchers say: “These negative results only occur at high levels of air pollution, which are however commonplace in many developing countries and Western cities. As team efforts predominantly drive innovation, high levels of air pollution may significantly hamper efficiency and economic development on a broader scale,” the study’s authors write. The study was published in the Journal of Economic Psychology.

“Breakthroughs in science and other fields require teams to work together to combine knowledge and solve complex problems, so it’s important to understand external factors than can affect team performance,” said the paper’s lead author. “Our findings that air pollution has a sizable and statistically significant negative effect on teams undertaking complex tasks has implications for workplaces all over the world, but particularly in emerging economies that have high air pollution levels.”

The research uses data from escape room games between 2018 and 2022 in which team members need to solve a series of puzzles and use the information to figure out a way to escape the room before time runs out, usually 60 minutes. The teams ranged from 2 to 6 and the study is based on how many minutes it took them to complete the task, as this reflects team effectiveness in working together.

“Escape rooms provide an ideal setting to study team performance on non-routine, cognitive tasks emblematic of the modern work environment because they require a high level of creativity, collaboration, and communication between team members to complete the game,” the study says.

The research studied the effect of the four most common air pollutants – carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM 2.5).

The study reveals that all 4 pollutants have a significant negative impact on team performance. Interestingly, these effects occur at levels much lower than the current World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality Guidelines for 2 pollutants studied (CO and SO2).

The study concludes with comment on the potential implication on all workplaces, but particularly in emerging economies.

“Our results have implications for all settings that require team-based non-routine analytical and interpersonal work, which characterizes large parts of the modern work environment. Many low- and middle-income economies face much higher levels of pollution, which could possibly be a drag on economic development and poverty alleviation.

“As these countries intend to increase the share of service-sector jobs that entail team innovation in their economies, reducing air pollution may be an important contextual factor that can affect innovation capacity, which is critical for economic development.”

So, what? This is a fascinating study with implications for where organizations which require high performing teams to operate locate themselves.

In the US the Supreme Court seems poised to allow greater pollution by curbing the ability of the various regulatory bodies to enforce standards. Given this research that seems a great pity.