Team Chemistry

I've not been writing as much as I am actively involved as an assistant coach / GK coach with a high school team. It's difficult to write in-season and not use the team I am coaching as material for the articles so I have refrained from writing at all. I'm breaking away from that line of thinking today because I believe there is something happening worth sharing with you. It involves team chemistry.

To be honest, our team chemistry is average at best which is to say we have good days and some not so good days. I've been doing a lot of thinking of ways to improve the team's chemistry and I'm not talking about the ever popular team bonding activities although those certainly have value. If you are a regular follower of this blog you will appreciate that my mind often takes the path less traveled and perhaps that is the case in this situation as well.

Not to say that our team has a problem, but I believe it important to properly identify any situation before attempting to address the situation.  What factors are involved and at play influencing the situation? This is what I have come up with for team chemistry in our situation.

People
As individual members we are drawn together as a group by a common interest. In this case that common interest is soccer.  We are a diverse group in more than a few ways. This diversity brings a complexity dynamic to the group that I believe is a key to our team chemistry. As we witness in the world about us, diversity can tear us apart or make us incredibly strong.  I am not sure we as a team have fully determined which it will be for us at this point in time. Diverse team members will have diverse points of views based on their experiences, knowledge and skill levels. The respect afforded to each diverse opinion might actually be more important than the opinion itself which brings us to,

Interactions
How members of a group interact with one another directly impacts the efficiency and effectiveness of a groups performance. In a basic sense each player must have and accept a defined role. In a broader sense each player must embrace his role within the standards set by the team. There must also be appropriate enforcement of the standards set for the team.

The most prominent or noticeable role on a team is that of leadership.  When there is no formal leadership structure in a group setting different people will step in to fill the role of leadership at different times, If the group is blessed with a multitude of quality leaders this might be a good thing - I have been part of teams who operated under a leadership council rather than captains. It has been my experience teams operate best when there is a single unified direction for the team orchestrated by a single voice or perhaps two voices in harmony with one another.

Effective teams are not led by dictators.  Each individual of a team is equally important as any other individual. Therefore secondary leadership roles are important to acknowledge, foster and grow. In a high school setting, those filling secondary leadership roles are often next years leaders in waiting. It is important these secondary leaders accept their role as subordinate to the present team leaders,

A struggle for leadership of the team can be necessary at times, but be assured a team will not perform to its full potential during a time of struggle for leadership. There might be flashes or glimpses of what the team is capable of, but when the leadership voice is not unified peak performance will be difficult to sustain.

In a battle for leadership it is often an individual who feels slighted over not being a named leader who attempts to force his way into a leadership role by taking on responsibilities of leadership thereby intentionally intruding on the accepted and expected role of designated leadership. This is where established standards and accepted norms for the team must guide the process.

Standards are the written rules that every team member is expected to conform to while norms are the often unwritten or informal rules all team members are expected to conform to. The norms are a teams culture and whether the norms are functional or dysfunctional a team tends to sanction those who violate the norms. A sign of growth would be when a team member or members take a stand against a dysfunctional team norm and gets the team to change it, Such a person would be viewed as a team catalyst.

Catalysts
A team catalyst is usually someone in a leadership role on the team. It does not have to be a designated leader as a secondary leader can aptly fill this role as well, but it  is probably best if it is a leader - the teams coach or team captain. Leaders provide direction, structure activities, provide and share information, promote positive relationships, support and encouragement,

Motivation or Energy
Every team has an energy all its own.  It is defined by how the individual energy of its members interacts with that of other team members. When individuals are motivated by team goals energy tends to be very positive. When individual agendas permeate a team its energy is usually very negative.

I do believe there is a general misconception that good team chemistry is devoid of conflict. This goes back to our diversity as a team. We will have many different perspectives on any given situation and an honest open exchange of ideas and opinions should be encouraged. The difference between a healthy team chemistry and a toxic team chemistry is found in the level of acceptance to what is ultimately agreed upon by the team as a whole.

It might be individuals believe they should be designated leaders on a team, captains, but were passed over for others. How those individuals deal with this disappointment can be critical to identifying team chemistry.  If they actively seek to continue campaigning for a leadership role or attempt to sabotage the recognized leadership negative energy will be rampant on a divided team.

Negative energy clouds the vision of what a team aspires to be.

Therefore a primary responsibility of leadership is to promote positive energy. Goals to motivate both the individual team members and the collective team are necessary to focus our energy in a single direction much like a laser beam.  Goals are often specific and measurable, but a vision... a vision is a collective goal of what a team can aspire to be.  A vision is what a team draws its inspiration and passion from as a collective group. A vision can be what makes a team an attraction,

Attraction or Cohesiveness
Growth in team numbers occurs when the team is an attractive destination. Before this takes place team members must be appreciative of being a member of the team and feel an attraction and devotion to the team. This cohesiveness fosters and facilitates a spirit of collaboration, mutual support and an infectious spontaneity of positive energy while also reducing counter productive conflict rooted in personal agendas.

Adversity
Collectively overcoming adversity is the surest way to develop cohesiveness. Trust is the single most important ingredient to collectively overcoming adversity.  It is easy to trust one another in an atmosphere of positivity but can a team sustain its trust in one another when adversity is encountered?  Will blame be cast or excuses made when things go against us? Or will we look into each others eyes to find a determination, respect and truthful trust that we draw collective strength from?

Honesty and Trust
Trust is the glue of life, the most essential ingredient in effective communication. Trust is the foundational principal that holds all relationships together. And relationships is what team chemistry is all about.  Without honesty their can be no trust and the resulting poor relationship will negatively impact the quality of performance ... and life.  Differing opinions and even constructive conflict are healthy parts of honest and productive relationships. It's only when individual agendas refuse to yield to the collective good that things turn negative and destructive.

Simplicity
Like so many things in life team chemistry is a very simple thing.  When the focus is on WE rather than ME good team chemistry exists.  When ME is the individuals primary motivation conflict exists with WE and team chemistry suffers.  It really is that simple,

In conclusion it seems to me our diversity is not the strength it might be. The commonality we share is soccer in a general sense.  It appears to me we must find a way to share soccer in a deeper way.  I sometimes refer to a difference between playing at soccer and actually playing soccer. That could also describe our current team chemistry situation.  We say a lot of the right things when in the collective but are not completely honest with one another. There is a reluctance to call someone out when they deviate from team standards or expected norms. Consequentially individualism is allowed to flourish over an attitude and atmosphere of the team.

I am not being negative in this assessment.

I am being honest.

In simple terms, we need more people putting WE ahead of ME,