The Harsh Truths Around Team Dynamics

The hard reality of team dynamics, especially in a performance environment, is that it’s usually heavily dependent on the coaching staff. While we see athletes progressing up through the years at the school level, when athletes become seniors in school, it is usually for a very short tenure. By that stage, coaches and athletes usually have more immediate priorities and they mainly focus on the quality of performances.  

I recently watched 14 Peaks Nothing is Impossible, a fascinating true story of Nims Purja. Nims set himself the unbelievable challenge of climbing the 14 death zone peaks. The record for the last person that completed it and survived was eight years. 

Nims decided he’d do it in seven months. The drama really begins when he was on 10th mountain, K2. The conditions that season had been extremely poor that season and upon arrival, several other teams had tried unsuccessfully at summiting the peak. The atmosphere was super depressive, and everyone was stressed out. 

When he arrived, Nims greeted everyone, threw a party and uplifted the mood. He set the tone and was very deliberate. Before he got there, the other groups had evaluated that there was a 50% chance that they’d make it if they went to the summit. 

It left a tremendous amount of doubt and uncertainty among the climbers. Nims sensed the considerable shift. He understood the risks of this. He pitched in and reminded them;

“you need to take chances and take risks to make things happen.”

At that moment, a change happened, and the group dynamic shifted. This was a life or death situation. They don’t come much harder. 

On this campaign, Nim’s was on a mission, and there was no choice in how he approached things. He did have his doubts along the way, and he was deliberate in being transparent and confident, keeping things constructive and bringing the right energy. 

After two days of climbing, 24 climbers summited K2. The energy and dynamics he and his team brought to the others groups was transformative. 

Using Nim’s transformative attitude as an example, it could be beneficial to ask yourself questions like the following:

• What are you doing to shape and build your team dynamics?
• How can it change your season and results?

So how do you do this for yourself and your team?

One of the studies on group dynamics by Tuckman and Jenson (1977) proposed that groups proceeded through several stages to build performance and team dynamics. 

• Form (A shared need to tackle a collective goal)
• Storm (As the group allocates roles and resources, conflict is set to occur).
• Norm (Once the group structure, roles and normative behaviour are established).
• Perform (A group can focus on maximising performance)
• Adjourn (occurs when the groups’ objectives have been met.

This model is simple and easy to understand and is still used today when shaping team dynamics. Be mindful that one of the most significant trip hazards is that most groups pitch in at Perform and forget the other elements. 

You can build and direct the environment you want, and you must be intentional. 

Tuckman, B.W., Jensen,, M.A.C., 1977. Stages of small group development revisited. Group and Organizational Studies 2, 419-427

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Stephen Feeney

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