Sport and business managers can learn many lessons from each other. Here are some ways you might be able to apply business techniques to your coaching. By John Neal
When I come into work with rugby teams, I focus on performance management. This means helping players and teams achieve their goals. The management of these goals is a key role for the coach. I will help build the systems for coaches to implement a goal setting environment and consistently review these goals.
A common goal
Each player has roles and responsibilities to themselves and the team. You can split this into four basic areas, mental, physical, tactical and technical.
Within these areas, players can agree and set goals which are personal plus those that are based on the needs of the team. No matter what team you run, players will have other commitments outside the club which will impact on these goals. You will have to manage their personal goals within the context of your team.
In the extreme case, the player may be focused on achieving more by playing for another team, say an international team. They may have conflicting goals which you have to manage.
Dreams and goals
One of the main jobs I have when I work with a rugby team is to encourage the coach group to set goals. First they need to see the value of goal setting and then believe in it. Second they need to have systems in place to monitor and review the goals with the players.
We also need to create the right hierarchy for goal setting. You should start with a “dream”, or from a more business world setting a vision or mission statement. For instance, the team might want to win the league or a player represent his country.
From the dream, the players can set out their key performance areas to help achieve this dream. From there, they can set goals and targets.
Keeping it real
To help set team goals, we might gather groups of six players together. One of the players would act as the leader and they would develop some of the team goals. Once they have come with those goals, they then have to say how they will achieve them.
You can base this exercise around the GROW model. Establish a Goal, identify the Reality, work out the Options, and finally decide on the Will to carry out some or all of those options.
For example some teams will “pod” the season into groups of games. Having looked at the teams they are to play the group will debate and agree what they feel is possible in terms of outcome goals, tries points etc. they are also encouraged to look at process goals along the way in order to achieve the points required. These are only for guidance and should be flexible because the opposition are doing exactly the same thing and the ball can bounce in strange ways which directly affect those outcome goals!
Your role in this process is to make sure the players are setting the goals and not you. You are not playing the game, just guiding the players. Sometimes you may find that your goals for the team do not match their goals.
Here you need to either change your mindset or theirs.
For some sides I have found that I need to understand the team’s values before we even start to work on their goals. Does their culture suit the type of club they want to be in the future? When things are not going well it is often the adherence to key values which will sustain you.
Having found where we want to go as a team and setting the team targets, individual targets have to be aligned to the team targets.
How to implement the system
It is essential that goal setting and goal setting meetings are simple. Unfortunately, a lack of long term energy is a fact of these types of exercises. I reckon you cannot spend more than 40 minutes on this exercise in one go.
When I coach the coaches to help them goal set, the “what to” skills are relatively easy. The mechanics of the process are straightforward. However, the EQ (emotional intelligence) skills are more difficult. When faced with a one-to-one interview, people act in different ways. You have to inspire or influence the player in front of you. Each player brings a variety of problems and approaches with them.
Your challenge as coach is create the right culture for players to engage in goal setting. Many will see it as a burden on their time. I see enormous value from the process and outcomes of performance management. Rugby provides better opportunities for short term planning (the game on Saturday), but makes it difficult to see the long term goals. Here, business performance management can add value to that process, plus introduce more accountable systems.
And finally, some coaches may see this as nice to have but as we move towards a more professional world we have a legal requirement to carry out the process and record what we say…don’t wait to be forced into doing something which will and does improve individual and team performance – Lead the field and be a leading coach!
John has combined a 20 year career working at the top level in sport, business and the forces. He has worked with a wide range of clients including, RFU, WRU, Wasps, Bristol Rugby, RFUW, West Indies Cricket, Gloucestershire and Middlesex CCC, MCC, Ashridge, Henley and London Business Schools, Loughborough University , The Defence Leadership Academy, Navy, Army and RAF, plus blue chip companies such as Tetra Pak, NHS, Orange, GSK, Yell.com and the BBC.
He is currently performance coach at Bath Rugby.
John works as a performance coach throughout the world with teams, individuals and organisations instilling a passion for the process of achieving success.