Using the metafors of choirs and football

About teams, football players and choirs!
Teams, football players and choir singers do not coincidentially appear in this blog. I gained experience with all three, as an active participant and as an enthusiastic supporter. They are all teams. In this blog I want to discuss a number of team themes using these groups.

Clear and shared mission and objectives:

Teams must have a clear shared mission and a goal. And with that we have the first challenge already. How clear is this mission and goal for the team members? Do we all share the same mission? Or have we all given it our own interpretation?

Do I sing in a choir because I like to sing? Is it because I want to spend a pleasant evening with friends? Or do I want to be better in singing and want to audition in a next series of “the Voice”? Perhaps I want to make a CD with the choir, and how is the conductor’s view on this?

Do I play Soccer I because its a fun sportive event and especially the third half is important? Or is it my ideal opportunity to work on my condition? Perhaps I want to get the best out of myself and be noticed by a scout of a professional club? Or do I want to become a champion with the team and promote? And what does the club and the trainer / coach think about this?

Do I work in my department, in my project to become better at work? Or maybe show up to qualify for a promotion? Maybe I would like to learn as much as possible in this team because the topic we are working on is so exciting … How does the team manager think about this? And his client?

Mission and goals are two of the points in which a team can be unclear. Although teams in organizations often describe the goals, but are they always as clear and unambiguous? And how often did it speak of “shifting” goals? If it goes well with the team, the first matches are won, perhaps a period title, which trainer / coach does not dream of a championship and promotion? But what do the more recreational players think about it? And what to think of that choir, when making a CD recording, one of the members of the choir sighed that he had a very different picture of the choir when he started. It takes a lot more time than one evening of cozy rehearsal to create a CD!!

Clear shared mission and goals, not a one-off fix but ongoing aligment effort! And sure for the individual team members to see if the goal fits with the personal ambition. And that requires communication, trust and respect in the team.

Collaboration and mutual agreement.

To be able to excell as a team, the art of cooperation and mutual tuning must one of the top-skills of the teams.

For teams there we have plans, functions, and roles. In a choir we have music sheet and the various voices and not to forget the accompanying organist or the orchestra. And of course in football, since the World Cup with Van Gaal to no-one unknown, the system, tactics and positions in the field.

In a choir, collaboration becomes clear within the voices that are sung. Here it is necessary to use strengths and weaknesses. The one that can read sheet music and can touch the first note, the other can sing but needs the first note to start his part well. And then we are not talking about the volume that everyone sings. It’s not about your individual performance, but of the choir as a whole. Often, as a member of a choir, you do not hear while singing how well the total choir performs. If you are to late for the rehearsal and sit down in the room, you will hear that! Maybe an idea for a team member/manager? Sit down and look to your team from a distance? How different would that be? What would you see?

In a football team, systems and positions are trained to become automatism. You need to be able to dream the system. During the game you do not have to think too much, thinking results in loss of speed.. You must be able to trust that your teammates to take their positions, to fill up the holes that need to be filled up. And also are able to receive th pass. Then confidence is build in the team, “We find each other very easy”. And that’s at the end what makes high performing possible…not the individual qualities bit the collective, a team.

Teams in organizations are working less often close together. Through globalization and use of information technology, working in the same physical place is sometimes more exceptional than a rule. How do you take care of such a team in such a way that they can play the ball blind, or that you agree with each other? Of course everyone is competent and able to play his part, but how does the team’s sheet music look like? Is everybody agreeing the team tactics? How is the feedback during the game? And how about mutal trust?

Just a few theme’s that are important for teams to be positive and productive. How often are we looking at our team from a distance, or using an assessment to reveal the team? And if you do this, do you like what you see?