You can learn a lot about collaboration by watching a soccer match between kindergarteners. I’ll never forget when my oldest daughter began playing on Saturday mornings. We showed up, and the coach had the kids kick the ball back and forth to each other, run around the field a few times, placed them in positions, and told them to score goals. After the referee’s shrill whistle, the uniformed strangers scurried while adults shouted instruction and encouragement. We wanted the kids to work together, to pass the ball back-and-forth, until one lucky child booted it into the goal. Unfortunately, cooperation didn’t exist. Eventually, a star player took the ball, dribbled down the field, and scored single-handedly. No one seemed to mind since the player achieved the objective. This pattern continued during subsequent games and did nothing to nurture the team’s development or success.
Youth soccer teams and businesses both depend on healthy partnerships to foster growth and achievement. Articles and blogs highlight teamwork and its genuine benefits like communication, problem-solving, morale boost, and improved efficiency, but what does a team need to focus on during the cooperative process to achieve the desired results? Genuine collaboration requires a strategy that concentrates on the team as much as it does on the goals.
After a year of watching my daughter struggle to enjoy the game, I decided to make a change. I volunteered to coach the following year and focused on developing a team that could work together. My strategy targeted four clear mini-objectives: connection, awareness, support, and gratitude. Here is how and why I felt these four elements are vital to effective collaboration.
Connection
A team needs to know who they are working with to work effectively together. Before we began kicking a soccer ball, I had each player answer three questions for their team: (1) What is your name? (2) What is your favorite ice cream flavor?, and (3) What do you like best about soccer? These questions helped the players establish shared interests and create personal bonds. When the players felt connected, they were more comfortable playing together. I continued this tradition with new questions throughout the season to support their relationships.
Awareness
A team needs to be aware of everyone’s knowledge, skills, strengths, and weakness to develop a strategy that can encourage and develop its potential. When we began working with the ball, I focused only on kicking. I wanted to be aware of each player’s capabilities before developing a strategy to have the experienced players support the beginners.
Support
A team that supports one another builds group confidence and strength together. After evaluating the squad’s capabilities, I asked the proficient players to teach their teammates simple skills. The peer-to-peer support approach developed a strong fellowship and increased the team’s overall proficiency. The camaraderie shaped a team challenge for each player to score a goal during a game. Every player was vested in the shared objective, resulting in the entire team scoring during two different matches.
Gratitude
When players practice gratitude towards each other, they appreciate the value of the team. Throughout the year, I made gratitude a primary focus. If one member scored a goal, they thanked the peer that passed the ball to them before they scored. At the end of each game, the troop did a collective cheer to express thankfulness for their opponent. Once gratitude was a part of our group culture, it reinforced each other’s appreciation and the game they played together.
Making a connection, awareness, support, and gratitude a priority for my daughter’s team led to incredible collaboration and lasting success. We scored many goals, won many games, and, most importantly, created constant smiles.
Most businesses will not spend time asking employees to share their favorite ice-cream flavor or lead a cheer at the end of a project. It doesn’t mean your corporate culture cannot design collaboration strategies around connection, awareness, support, and gratitude. Take the time to understand your workforce and devise a plan that weaves these four powerful concepts into the collaborative process. When you decide to focus on your team members first and your goals second, you develop a more sustainable approach to strengthening your team and achieving future success.
