Effective Team Building Strategies in Sports

By Albert Brown, Dylan Gross, Camden Peaks and Nate Tucker

Abstract

This blog will investigate how some of the best coaches of all time have been able to take talented teams and turn them into championship level teams. The lessons from these coaching icons offer a blueprint - whether on the court, on the field, or in the workplace - for building high-performing teams capable of realizing full potential.

Review of Scientific Literature

Teamwork To create the most effective strategy to form championship level teams, the coach must have a plan. One of the most widely used and efficient strategies is called the Tuckman Model, which legendary football coach Nick Saban has been using over the last couple decades to build winning programs (Hildebrandt, 2020). This strategy can really be broken down into five simple stages: storming, forming, norming, performing, and adjourning (Hildebrandt, 2020).

The first stage is where the group is being created and players/coaches are beginning to get acclimated with one another (Hildebrandt, 2020). The next stage is forming where the team starts to identify what roles each player can be categorized in. These roles can be anywhere from leaders to role players, energy guys, and labels that can be placed on the coaching staff (Hildebrandt, 2020).

Mike Krzyzewski is an all-time great coach for the Duke University men’s basketball team. He believes this is one of the most important stages for team development, because he can begin to understand what type of players he has (Sitkin, 2017). This understanding of his team plays a crucial role for him, as he states, “I try to adjust my leadership based on who I have to help me lead the team” (Sitkin, 2017). He talks about how he has coached players who are less verbal and lead by example, so he may have to be more direct about what he needs from his team (Sitkin, 2017). He speaks about players who have more verbal and dominant personalities, leading him to take a step back and let his players take the reigns of the team (Sitkin, 2017). Once the coach has learned more about the type of players he is coaching, they can begin to form championship habits under this discretion.

This is the point in time where the coach influences the players habits and “norms” of the group (Hildebrandt, 2020). The team begins to work on drills and strategies that will allow them to perform at the highest level. The most important step in this stage is finding the identity of the group. Social identity is the driving force of group development, and traditionally can be the main source of motivation to be committed to your team (Johnson, 2022).

The next stage in the process would be performing, where the team puts all their work into effect against a real opponent. This stage gives players the opportunity to show off all the work they have spent over time, working as a unit to fulfill those roles they have built (Hildebrandt, 2020). While performing, players finally have the chance to face off against real opponents and see what strategies are effective in competition and which ones are not so useful.

The final stage in this process is adjourning, where the team disbands (Hildebrandt, 2020). In this stage, coaches and players analyze what things went well for the team and what can be implemented that could have made the team more productive. After this phase, the organization can reset, and the process starts over with the whole process (Hildebrandt, 2020).

Implications for the Practitioner

As a coach, breaking down the game plan for the season before your season even gets underway is essential to providing the framework for a successful team. However, the framework alone will not be enough to achieve the goals of your team. Coaches must focus on each player individually and what they can bring to the table.

Developing the player/coach relationship is crucial to a winning organization (Kiser, 2019). Building trust between coach and player is incredibly important and a key factor for winning teams. One way to increase this trust is by giving their players more freedom. By “giving our players autonomy over their practice time, they develop a sense of ownership when it comes to their development” (Kiser, 2019).

Another way coaches can influence their players’ behavior on the team is focusing their time training together, communicating information with each other, and promoting teamwork (Rezania, 2014). If the coach promotes this behavior within his team, they will build a dependence on each other and more commitment to their coach and overall team (Rezania, 2014).

Conclusion

The team-building strategies of famous coaches give timeless lessons to anyone desirous of raising successful, high-performing teams. These coaches prove very well that true success does not lie in individual talent but rather in shared culture, trust, collaboration, and commitment. A coach will get to bring the players together as one in smooth coordination towards a common objective by prioritizing team unity rather than individual recognition, encouraging open communication within, and building cohesive relationships in the locker room.

Works Cited

Hildebrandt, A., & Marr, J. (2020). Nick Saban – a case study for recruitment methods and application of Tuckman’s Model of Team Development. Global Journal of Business Pedagogy, 4(1), 214–223. https://doi.org/10.47177/gjbp.04.01.2020.214

Johnson, M., "Turning Teams of Champions into Championship Teams: A Thematic Analysis of Identity Entrepreneurship in College Football" (2022). Honors Program Theses. 194. https://scholarship.rollins.edu/honors/194

Kiser, B. (2019). Improving the coach-athlete relationship: how to increase the trust between a player and coach. coaches coaching coaches.

Rezania, D., Gurney, R. Building successful student-athlete coach relationships: examining coaching practices and commitment to the coach. SpringerPlus 3, 383 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-1801-3-383

Sitkin, S. B., & Hackman, J. R. (2017). Developing team leadership: An interview with coach Mike Krzyzewski. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 10(3), 494–501. https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2011.0005