Team Secrets to Success

By Bo Hanson - 4x Olympian, Coaching Consultant & Director of Athlete Assessments

There was some business research I read recently which I thought you’d also find interesting as it was all about teamwork.  Did you know that in business the most successful organizations offered Team Development events 36% more often than not so successful companies?  Research in this area also showed that the number one reason given for “high potential” team leader candidates not succeeding in their roles was due to lack of clarity over what they were expected to do.  (That is, what their and their team’s goals were.)   It was found that 60% of surveyed organizations identified the second highest reason was due to the leader’s inability to work as a member of that team.  Only 9% of companies surveyed suggested teams failed due to lack of technical ability.  To sum up, successful companies know their success is due to the functionality and efficiency of their teams.

In business today, productivity, service delivery and technological improvements are created by teams.  Teamwork has become the organizational structure of choice.  In my own 14-years’ experience as a Corporate Team Consultant, I have noticed large variations in the levels of team performance.  My role is always to improve performances in teams and individuals.  So, what characterizes successful teams?  How does your team compare (whether you are a sports team, management or sports administration team)?  And how can your team improve?  This article addresses these questions.

The Two Types of Teams

Most people know of, or have been involved with two distinct types of teams.  The first is a team of champions:  A team comprising of highly skilled individuals who are motivated and hardworking.  All are stars in their own right.  The other type of team is the champion team:  A team that is bonded together; a team where 4 + 4 = more than 8; a team where the individuals are not the stars – the team is.

As an Olympic Medal winning rower, I have experienced both of these teams.  The most obvious example is the contrast between the crew I won my first bronze medal in at the 1996 Olympics compared to the crew I rowed in the preceding year.  Rowing in the same boat category both years gave me a great opportunity to compare the two.  On paper, the 1995 crew was superior. 1995 however, was a poor year for us.  In fact we finished 8th in the world having been ranked as high as Number 2 prior to the World Championships.  This crew did not emotionally bond together.  There was not sufficient commitment to do what was necessary to win.  Within the boat there was discontent over the leadership (coaching) and there was often a type of mutiny over the coach’s directions.  All of this resulted in a long and stressful season which saw our performance decline as we tapered toward the World Championships.  By the time we got to the Championships, we all wished it was already over and subsequently we had our worst performance when it mattered most.

What Constitutes a Team Victory?

A clear characteristic we all want in our team, is for the team’s performance to be its best when it matters the most.  In 1996, we achieved this performance to capture from the dual world champions and world record holders in the dying stages of the Olympic Final, the Olympic Bronze medal.  An even greater team may have been the Germans who won that year, and had never been beaten in all their time together, an enviable record.   A victory is only a victory though, if potentials have been achieved and the members of the team are internally satisfied.  In 1996 the bronze medal was a winning result for us.

What made us a winning team, more than anything else was the strong emotional bond we created and shared.  An emotional bond is what I believe to be a defining characteristic of all great teams. Emotional bonds are deep connections to three things:
   1.  The people in your team.
   2.  The result you all want to achieve.
   3.  The team’s identity.

The Importance of Emotional Bonds

So how do you create a strong emotional bond in your team?  From my experience creating this bond is an ongoing process.  My team had a series of solidifying events through the rigors of hard training and spending a great deal of time together.  We were “working” towards a common goal on a daily basis.

For all teams what becomes critical is what their perception of their team is.  How would they describe themselves?  What characteristics would they use to describe who they are and what they do?  It is also important for teams to describe what they think the perception of their team is within the larger organization.  To obtain even more relevant feedback, I would survey clients who rely on the team for their honest opinions.  Finally, it is useful for team members to describe how they ideally would like to be perceived by others, and how they would like to see their team in the near future.

Essentially, what we are obtaining here is an accurate description of the team’s identity.  Certainly the team already has one.  What is critical is whether the team members are emotionally connected to it.  Is the team identity one that the team wants to associate with?  Do they protect it?  Is it an identity they are proud of?  Finally, is the team identity so strong and appealing, that others outside the team want to be a part of it?  Some sporting teams have this strong identity.  Think about the Australian Olympic Team.  Children grow up wanting to be a part of this team and be an Olympian before they even know what this is really about.  The message this team sends is so strong, consistent, and appealing, that people want to be part of it.

Once the views of all the team members are collected, they can be shared in an open forum. Together the team discusses and decides on a common team identity, making sure everyone has their say, is on board, and looks and sounds like it means something to them.  This team identity is then drafted and distributed to each team member.  It is also useful to have some fun merchandise created which embodies this identity.  Doing this helps to appeal to each sense (touch, sight, and hearing mainly) so the team identity becomes not just a series of words but actions, behaviors and other tangible elements.

How Well Do You Really Know Your Team?

The next step is to create opportunities for the team to get to know one another on a deeper level.  How well do you and your team really know each other?  Certainly a major part of this would be the use of the Athlete Assessments’ Profiling.  With the AthleteDISC, CoachDISC and/or Sports ManagerDISC profiles, each team member creates a “Blue Print”.  This is a “guide to work with me”.  Team members share this and discuss points of difference and commonality.  By the end, each team member better understands why and how people do what they do, and they appreciate the unique contributions each team member brings.  The team can also see common clashes, and understand how to modify their individual behavior to reduce conflicts.

To further build a deep level of connection, the team should take any opportunity to regularly spend time together outside of the usual environment.  This can be formal team building days, or it can simply be team meetings in the park, café; the list goes on.  Just get out of the normal routine and experience people in a different context.  Importantly, whatever you decide to do as activities, it must in some way involve everyone, and should also change to appeal to the different needs of people in your team.

During these activities outside the workplace, structure some type of game that allows people to learn about each other’s background and past experiences.  When team members understand where their fellow team members have come from, it helps to create empathy and better understanding of current behaviors.  Additionally, it is easier to understand team member motivations and reasons for being in the workplace.  When people experience each other on a deeper level, they are more likely to go the extra step for each other.  In my experience at the Olympics, when team members have this commitment to each other, they will push themselves for one another, not just for themselves as an individual.  This is where you start to get the multiplier effect in team performance. 4 + 4 > 8.  This is what teams strive for.

Goals…What Do They Really Mean To The Team? 

Finally, the team is to be emotionally connected to the goals it is trying to achieve.  In an interview with Stephen Covey, author of ‘The 8th Habit’ and ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, he suggests that 95% of an organization’s work force do not know what the top goals and priorities actually are.  How can anyone be emotionally attached and inspired to achieve something if they either do not know about it? Or if they are aware of it, had no role in deciding the goals?

In business, when team goals are driven down by high level organizational goals, the challenge is to then involve team members in deciding the most effective methods to achieve them.  Most people know when there is some ownership over this, the team members become more connected emotionally to achieving the goals and attaining the subsequent rewards.

Before each rowing season we, as a team, would sit in our coach’s office and discuss what we wanted to achieve that year.  In the lead up to the Sydney 2000 Olympics we had this discussion.  We were currently ranked number two in the world.  We had just returned from the 1999 World Championships with a Silver Medal.  A result we all saw as a victory and a massive improvement from the previous year where we came fourth in a photo finish for second and third, between three teams.  As we sat in the office, we discussed where we wanted to finish at the Olympics.  What result do we want?  Would a Silver Medal be a victory?  We decided after much discussion, getting everyone’s opinion and beliefs on what was possible out in the open, that a Gold medal could be a realistic result.  It equated to an improvement of roughly 0.4% or 1.4 seconds over a 5.50 minute race.  To improve we would change the way the boat was built, and biomechanically and scientifically set up.

This is a great story on the change process but really was all about understanding what a gold medal meant to each of us.  None of my crew had a gold medal and we wanted it.  We knew what it meant and we were emotionally connected to it.  On many of the long and hard training sessions, it was the thought of what we were aiming to achieve that kept us going strong.  In the end we won the bronze.  Yes we improved our time from the previous year, but did not get the gold.  That year the gold went to the British four with Steven Redgrave.  In hindsight, they were the deserved winners.  We gave it our best effort.  Sometimes you can uncover every stone and do everything necessary to achieve your goal and still not get it, and this is a story of life.  You have to be satisfied you gave your best and that internally it is a victory.

Not Every Team is Connected…

As I mentioned previously, not every team I have been in has been emotionally connected on the three levels I described.  Today though, I see most organizational teams and sports teams are certainly not emotionally connected.  It does not have to be this way.  There are actions a team leader or team member can take to create the bonds.  My role is to also assist team members and leaders to create these bonds.

Emotional connections in teams act as a foundation to success.  Without these strong connections, it is difficult to achieve such qualities as open communication, feedback, and clear and trusted leadership.

The concepts that are discussed in this article are aligned with the GRIP Model we use when working with a client in their pre-season.  If you are interested to learn more, read the article “Pre-Season Preparation – Get a GRIP”.  We also have an online video available for you to watch on the GRIP Model that you can access by Contacting Us.  We would be happy to share this with you on your request.

For more great articles, read on within the Videos & Articles section of our website.

At Athlete Assessments, we’re here to provide you with excellence in service and here to help you be your best. If there is anything we can assist you with (or if you’d like access to the video mentioned above), please Contact Us.

Back to Articles and Resources

Back to top
Print this page