Building an effective team
Have you ever been involved with a team that wasn't working to the best of its collective abilities. What were the problems? Were you able to overcome them and how?
Building an effective team is perhaps one of the most challenging areas of elite sport. Groups are complex and dynamic, made up of individuals who are balancing their own needs with the needs of the group.
Throughout this course, examples have been provided of ways in which sport psychologists assist elite athletes to concentrate better, maintain motivation, manage anxiety, and so on. Helping to build an effective team is a bigger challenge, because it involves complex team processes in addition to the issues faced by individual athletes.
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Sandy Gordon, Sport Psychologist
Group dynamics research has revealed three key findings that explain sustainable, effective and high performing team performance. First, effective teams are characterised as having “a relatively small number of people with complimentary skills committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and ways of working together for which they hold themselves mutually accountable” (Katzenbach & Smith, 1996).
Second, effective teams identify which strengths can best deliver which activities and then allocate and align those activities according to those team members with those strengths. They are comprised of individuals with complimentary skills, not similar skills, who surround themselves with others who make up for their weaknesses. Effective teams align individual strengths so well their weaknesses are irrelevant.
Third, effective teams are formed by selection but are built through relationships i.e. how people interact. Individuals new to the group first ‘form', ‘storm', and ‘norm' before they ‘perform', and they attend to the team's culture and interpersonal dynamics to ensure that these support rather than inhibit its purpose.
Subsequently the three universal individual needs in a group are met i.e., to have a voice and be heard, be viewed as essential to a group, and be seen as unique and exceptional.
Team processes
Team processes are the dynamic interactions that occur within a group, including:
- Team goal-setting, to establish the collective objectives of the team.
- Building collective efficacy, to promote the collective belief that team objectives can be achieved.
- Communication, to ensure effective exchange of information within the team.
- Cooperation and competition, to encourage team members to work together or to compete against one another, as required.
Team goals
We discussed goal-setting in the motivation module, emphasising that goals should be specific, controllable and challenging, attainable, measurable and multiple, and personal (SCAMP).
In a team environment, the goal-setting process is more complicated because the personal goals of each player have to be balanced against the collective goals of the team. Research has shown that whereas individual goals tend to be very specific and outcome oriented, team goals are often lacking in detail and too general to be effective.
Collective efficacy
Collective efficacy refers to the shared belief within a group that a specific goal can be reached. Previous performances are the strongest source of collective efficacy, but other sources include vicarious experiences (being associated with the success of others), verbal persuasion (by a coach or senior team member), effective leadership, and being part of a cohesive team.
Communication
Communication lies at the heart of all human relationships and team processes in sport are no exception. Effective communication will assist teams to clarify core values and goals, establish individual roles, and ultimately will have a positive impact on performance. Poor communication on the other hand can cause misunderstandings about expected team behaviours, misinterpretation of team tactics, interpersonal conflicts, and poor performance in game situations (conceding a goal due to miscommunication between defenders, for example).
Cooperation and competition
Team sport athletes are, at various times, required to cooperate with and compete against one another. Cooperation lies at the heart of team performance and coaches naturally promote collaboration among players in order to achieve their collective goals. Competition is typically fierce between teams, but rivalries and competition for places also exist within teams. In common with many team sport groups, the Australian women's field hockey squad, known as the Hockeyroos, includes 23 players competing for 11 starting places. Managing competition within teams is a challenge for coaches and players alike.
Team building
Sport psychologists are often involved in the team building process. In this context, their role is as much to help improve team processes, as assisting individuals with their own psychological skills training. The team building process typically follows several distinct stages:
- Assess current team processes, roles and overall functioning via observation, questionnaires, and interviews with athletes and coaching staff.
- Facilitate workshops to identify revised processes that may benefit team performance.
- Monitor changes and provide ongoing support.
During a team building intervention, the sport psychologist will need to communicate effectively with the team and coaching staff to ensure that everybody feels informed and included. Team building often commences with creating a vision for where the group is heading.
Creating a vision statement
A vision statement defines the future the team is trying to create. The vision should stretch boundaries and enable all team members to gain a sense of what could be. For example, prior to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada launched its federally-funded Own the Podium initiative, with the vision statement “For Canada to be a world leader in high-performance sport.” Based on its previously modest record of Olympic success, this vision may have been seen by some as an unrealistic aspiration for the country. Canada went on to top the medal table at the Vancouver Olympics.
A good vision statement has the following characteristics:
- Sets a standard of excellence.
- Clarifies direction and purpose.
- Inspires enthusiasm and commitment.
- Bridges the present and future.
- Is clear and easy to understand.
- Is ambitious.
A supportive environment
A supportive environment where team members, whatever their role, feel supported by team mates and coaching staff helps the group to excel. A key challenge is to develop healthy rivalries where players compete for selection with a view to making the team better rather than for individual gain. At the same time, all players should be willing to offer support to team mates when injury, non-selection, or other adverse scenarios arise. An important characteristic of a supportive environment is a “no blame” policy, whereby the team always takes collective responsibility for outcomes, good or bad, rather than attributing mistakes to any individual, .
In-game communication
During game play, clear and concise communication, both verbal and non-verbal, is vital to a team's success. Team meetings to address communication issues are important to ensure that all players are made aware of the team “playbook,” and what each call means for them as an individual. Every team member will have personal likes and dislikes for what team mates might communicate during a game, and it's helpful to share these among all involved. Simulation training can be an effective way to ensure that everybody understands patterns of play and the communication that goes with them.
