There is a major Bioteams article in the October 2010 edition of The Effective Executive Magazine which drills down into Pheromone Messaging, Collective Leadership and Team Ecosystems. The publishers (ICFAI Publications) have kindly allowed me to make the article available to www.bioteams.com readers.

Ants interact using a system known as pheromones, involving sending 'chemical messages' to their community through smell and taste. It is also one of the oldest and most sophisticated forms of group communication on the planet with many features today's mobile and virtual teams would die for!

EMERGENCE. Biological experts discuss how Fireflies synchronize their flashing in an incredible way plus amazing insight into the discovery of Ant Pheromones from Dr. Edward O. Wilson himself.

Usually we think of the importance of sharing 'positive' intelligence between organisational team members, however recent UK research on foraging Pharaoh ants indicates that sharing 'negative' intelligence to avoid wasted effort may be just as important.

Biological teams make extensive use of short messages as their main means of communication: Ants use chemical messages, Bees use visual messages conveyed through dance and Dolphins use sonar, however most human teams seem to have forgotten their Messaging Instincts.

Pheromone-based messaging is the oldest and most evolved form of biological signalling using chemicals to communicate through smell and taste. Today's virtual teams and mobile groups can use it to improve the way they use email, messaging and presence-aware technologies.

From studying nature's bioteams it seems there are 3 dominant patterns of communication which can be used in a biological group. All three also have their place in the electronic communications we use in our human teams. However one of them, if over-used, can be destructive or indicate the absence of crucial group support structures.

Copying biology's instant broadcasting systems

One of the things we learn when we study biological teams is that the communications used are designed to instantly reach the intended recipients wherever they are. For example, many forms of social insect communications are chemically based with the intensity and longevity of the scent (and the wind direction) determining who gets the message. In other words biological communications tend to be 'instant broadcasts'.