How to maximise performance of your team?

Intro

Perhaps the Tuckman model is a bit outdated now, these are re-posts from a bit back in time. Do we have time now to go through this team development cycle?

Our focus is mostly on performance, not realising the importance of the previous three steps in the teambuilding process are. How do we measure the performance of our team? Winning or Losing? Number of tries scored? How does the performance of our team relate to the topics of our next training session?

I strongly believe that Outcome is the result of a controlled process. Rather than to focus on results, better think about feedback and control parameters. You as the coach has to develop a model that  describes the process and its controls. Think about:

• gameplan,
• what type of game do you want to play, what kind of skills do you need for this,
• evaluation,
• goal setting,
• etc….

Part of the process is the feedback from the coach to the players. There are several types of feedback. I have a great example on this Blog post. Everybody has his own style which suits each situation, but this is what a coach you should ask himself:

How much information should my feedback contain?

I give as little as possible to individual players when I pause during an exercises and I think you only keep players interested for 30 seconds before you give them another go. Another perspective: remember the timeslot you are given in the interval training ‘work : rest ratio’ and use that as guideline.

How often should I give feedback?

Depends on the time you have as a coach for each individual. Also the skill level of each player is different.

How precise should the feedback be?

As detailed as possible. Be precise – encourage.

When should I give the feedback?

Ask yourself if a player is open for feedback if he just makes a stupid mistake…..

Think of feedback as a positive tool. For example if a player is looking away from the ball too early and drops it, do not say “Don’t drop the ball” but “Focus on the ball and reach for it”. Negative feedback focus on the problem, positive feedback focus on the correction. You are trying to help the player to improve his skill, not worry about the problem. This is also why you need to create a environment where players are allowed to make mistakes.

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The post Performance of Team first appeared on Martin's Rugby Coaching Blog.