Teamwork in sport

Teams work together all the time, in multiple different scenarios, with varying degrees of success. But how do successful teams work well together and what strategies do they employ?

There are lots of different terms that come up when we talk about teams in sport and exercise. The most common being cohesion and group dynamics. 

Carron et al. (1998(1)) define cohesion as “a dynamic process which is reflected in the tendency for a group to stick together and remain united in the pursuit of its instrumental objectives and/or for the satisfaction of member affective needs.” This suggests that: 

• There are many factors which decide whether a group will stay together or not.

• Cohesion may change over time.

• Cohesion may reflect the reasons that a group stays together or not

• Cohesion is linked to positive affect. 

More specifically, task cohesion is how much the group members work to achieve the task together, utilising their group skills(2). Social cohesion on the other hand, is how well team members get along outside of the sport(3). 

Group dynamics are the processes by which individuals may interact and determine how they might behave in a group environment, and therefore the impact on performance as well(4). Characteristics of a team that have good dynamics include having a collective identity (e.g., all wearing the same kit), good interaction and communication with each other, as well as a shared goal or purpose. 

Why is cohesion important?

The main reason we need teams to work well together is because this is more likely to lead to improved performance and therefore results for the team, and this has been well-documented in the literature(5). This performance effect may be due to teams having better clarity on roles and goals(6), meaning that members understand what is required of them and what they need to do to help the team succeed. Even if each individual player is at the top of their game, if they are unable to integrate well together, this will have detriments on their performance7. 

These benefits are not only present in sports teams, but also in exercise and physical activity as well. Stronger cohesion among members has been shown to increase adherence to exercise programmes in both University and community settings(7). 

There are also benefits other than a general improvement in performance, such as reducing anxiety(8), and increasing fitness and enjoyment(9). 

Despite this, it’s always important to consider both sides of the story, therefore we should also consider whether there are any negatives of high cohesion in a team. One study has found that team members found disadvantages of high social cohesion(10), perhaps due to teammates being more focused on getting along than working towards a shared goal, which would also likely impact performance. Others may also see too much time spent socialising as time wasting, again taking time away from the important performance task at hand. On the other hand, having too high task cohesion could lead to additional pressure on members, with poorer communication and poorer attitudes towards performance. A balance of task and social cohesion may be necessary for optimal performance, as too much of one or not enough of the other could impact performance negatively. 

What happens if the team doesn’t work together and why does this happen?

Steiner (1972(11)) created a model to describe the level of performance (or productivity) a team will have when they work together:

Actual productivity = potential productivity - losses due to faulty processes

Therefore, if there are issues with the team (or faulty processes) this will lead to reduced productivity and therefore poorer performance. These faulty processes are anything that might go wrong with a team, and can be split into coordination and motivational problems:

Coordination problems:

• Failing to listen to coach instructions or employ correct tactics.

• Failing to communicate with each other.

• Misunderstanding their role in the team.

• Tactical issues

• Strategy problems

• Poor communication

Motivational problems:

• Too much / little arousal.

• Loss of a drive to win.

• Reduced effort and concentration.

• Social loafing.

• Ringelmann effect.

Social loafing is an individual loss of motivation in one member of the team due to a feeling that their individual efforts are going unnoticed(12). This means a player may coast through a game and hide behind other team members. There are many reasons that social loafing may occur(13):

• A lack of confidence in a performer.

• A negative attitude towards the game or team.

• The coach or captain not recognising individual efforts.

• A lack of understanding of the role they need to play.

• A lack of fitness or fatigue.

• Poor definition of goals.

• The group size being too large.

• Even some gender differences. 

The Ringelmann effect(14) is when the group performance decreases with group size, therefore individuals put in less effort because they think other members of the team will make up for it. 

All these problems and effects are likely to have a negative impact on performance and be detrimental to the team as a whole. If individuals are putting in less effort, and if this is happening with multiple people, overall the team will be producing less effort and this therefore reduces optimal performance(15). 

As we are aware of why high cohesion is important, and the potential impacts of poor teamwork, how do we make sure a team works well together?

How do we promote teamwork?

Based on the characteristics that a good team may have (as mentioned in section 1), we can use these to make sure the team are forming good group dynamics:

• Collective identity: we can make sure the team has a matching kit, as this can make

  members feel affiliated with each other and proud to be a part of the team. With this comes a sense of belonging and more motivation to perform well for the team. 

• Interaction: coaches and captains can ensure each member knows their own role and how this relates to the roles of others. This will help the team to work better together to complete a task.

• Communication: this can be both verbal and non-verbal (e.g., hand signals or signs). 

• Shared goal/purpose: promoting team goal setting ensures everyone is working towards achieving the same thing, therefore making it more likely for members to work together for this shared purpose. 

When forming a group, taking time to work through each of Tuckman’s (1965(16)) stages may ensure that the group forms appropriately and therefore are more likely to work together.

Stage 1) Forming:

• This is where team members get to know each other, figure out how they feel about the team and decide if they fit in or not. Individuals tend to compare their own strengths to those of others in the team. 

Stage 2) Storming:

• This is where potential conflict will arise as performers compete with each other to establish positions and roles within the team. At this stage it’s important to resolve conflicts as quickly as possible. 

Stage 3) Norming:

• Conflicts settle down, with team members cooperating to achieve their desired goals. Group standards are created and accepted, helping cohesion develop more. 

Stage 4) Performing

• All players are working well together to achieve their goals. At this point each member supports each other and fully understands their role in the team. This final stage can only be achieved by ensuring each previous stage has been fulfilled. 

As one of the barriers to cohesion is social loafing, looking at ways to overcome this is another way to foster teamwork. Key things to be aware of are(13):

• Making sure to highlight individual efforts, give feedback on them and reward these to prevent players from giving up if they feel they are not being recognised. This might also include statistics and video analysis to help demonstrate the efforts of individuals and how important this is for the team.

• Setting realistic goals as a team is also a way of preventing social loafing. If individuals know what is required of them, they are more likely to focus and keep working, than if they don’t know how their efforts contribute to the group. 

• Using small-sided games within the bigger team, and varying practice also keeps participants more involved. With smaller teams, this highlights how their effort is more vital for the overall team. 

• Increasing the difficulty of a task can also be used to highlight to participants how all their efforts are needed, and keeps participants motivated to achieve more. 

• Finally, using self-evaluation tasks to allow participants to see how well they are performing and how this is impacting the overall team. 

Of course, we cannot talk about cohesion and working together without talking about team building exercises, which has been demonstrated to be effective in both sport and exercise, and organisational settings(7). A 4-stage model of team building has been suggested, including:

• The introductory stage: understanding the benefits of cohesion for the group. 

• The conceptual stage: a theoretical model is used including the groups environment, structure and processes to demonstrate ways team building could be implemented. 

• The practical stage: strategies are created that could enhance the team’s cohesion. 

• The intervention stage: implementation of the above strategies, ensuring they are continually evaluated. 

As there are multiple different factors that can impact the team, Carron et al. (2007) provide a table of factors and appropriate team building strategies to help this, for both sport and exercise settings. This helps us to see how problems that arise can be developed into real strategies to overcome them. 

Factor	Intervention strategies
Distinctiveness	Sport	Provide the team with unique identifiers (e.g., team kit). Emphasise traditions and team history.
	Exercise	Have a group name. Have a group kit. Make posters or slogans for the class.
Individual positions	Sport	Clear differences in individual roles. Clarify role expectations. Ensure players accept their roles.
	Exercise	Use different areas of the space depending on level. Use specific positions for low-, medium- and high-impact exercisers.
Group norms	Sport	Create positive group standards and demonstrate how these contribute to effective team performance and unity. Show team members how their individual contributions add to team success. Reward members who stick to team standards.
	Exercise	Create positive group standards. Encourage exercise leaders to set high standards of achievement. Foster discussions between members to promote social aspects. Establish a group goal. Promote strong work ethics.
Individual sacrifices	Sport	Encourage important members to make sacrifices for the good of the team (e.g., letting novice players have a turn).
	Exercise	Use music in classes. Ask 2 or 3 members to create a goal. Ask regulars to help new people and encourage friendships to start. Change the goals regularly so everyone gets to work towards something on some days (and on others they won’t be working towards their specific goal).
Interaction and communication	Sport	Give opportunities for athlete input. Be supportive. Understand that there are individual differences in responses. Be a good role model. Discuss as a group why each player should be on the team and what they bring to the team.
	Exercise	Use partner work and activities. Ice breaker activities to introduce members to each other.

(Adapted from: https://thehubedu-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/3/d2c00336-34fb-49cc-881c-a55a3877b05e/17.pdf#page=136) 

Key points

• Cohesion is how well a group works together to achieve a shared goal, and can be split into task and social cohesion.

• Cohesion is important as it has been demonstrated to improve the performance of teams in both sport and exercise settings. 

• Therefore, if a team doesn’t work well together, this will likely have detrimental impacts on their performance.

• Steiner created a model that suggested a team's actual productivity = potential productivity - losses due to faulty processes (coordination or motivation problems). 

• Motivational problems include social loafing and the Ringelmann effect. 

• We can foster teamwork through forming good group dynamics, and following the different stages of forming a group. 

• We can use strategies to overcome social loafing to help develop teamwork amongst members. 

• Finally, team building interventions are the most common way to promote cohesion in teams and therefore also improve their performances. 

This blog post aims to demonstrate what cohesion is in teams, and how important it is to improve in order to facilitate optimal performance. Due to its importance, ways to increase it have also been discussed.

Thank you for reading :) 

References:

1) Carron, A.V., Brawley, L.R., & Widmeyer, W.N. (1998). The measurement of cohesiveness in sport groups. In J.L. Duda (Ed.) Advances in sport and exercise psychology measurement (pp. 213226). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology

2) dictionary.apa.org. (n.d.). APA Dictionary of Psychology. [online] Available at: https://dictionary.apa.org/task-cohesion. 

3) Eys, M., Coleman, T. and Crickard, T. (2022). Group Cohesion: the Glue That Helps Teams Stick Together. Frontiers for Young Minds, [online] 10. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/frym.2022.685318.

4) Paulus, P.B., Kenworthy, J. and Coskun, H. (2012). Group Dynamics. Elsevier eBooks, pp.276–282. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-375000-6.00184-1.

5) Carron, A.V., Colman, M.M., Wheeler, J. and Stevens, D. (2002). Cohesion and Performance in Sport: A Meta Analysis. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, [online] 24(2), pp.168–188. doi:https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.24.2.168.

6) Pescosolido, A.T. and Saavedra, R., 2012. Cohesion and sports teams: A review. Small Group Research, 43(6), pp.744-758.

7) Carron, A.V., Shapcott, K.M. and Burke, S.M., 2007. Group cohesion in sport and exercise: past, present and future. In Group dynamics in exercise and sport psychology (pp. 135-158). Routledge.

8) Prapavessis, H. and Carron, A.V., 1996. The effect of group cohesion on competitive state anxiety. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 18(1), pp.64-74.

9) Elbe, A.M., Wikman, J.M., Zheng, M., Larsen, M.N., Nielsen, G. and Krustrup, P., 2017. The importance of cohesion and enjoyment for the fitness improvement of 8–10-year-old children participating in a team and individual sport school-based physical activity intervention. European Journal of Sport Science, 17(3), pp.343-350.

10) Hardy, J., Eys, M.A. and Carron, A.V., 2005. Exploring the potential disadvantages of high cohesion in sports teams. Small group research, 36(2), pp.166-187.

11) Steiner, I.D., 1972. Group process and productivity.

12) Hoffman, R. (2023). Social Loafing: Definition, Examples & Theory . Simply Psychology. [online] Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/social-loafing.html.

13) Simms, A. and Nichols, T., 2014. Social loafing: A review of the literature. Journal of Management, 15(1), pp.58-67.

14) Ingham, A.G., Levinger, G., Graves, J. and Peckham, V., 1974. The Ringelmann effect: Studies of group size and group performance. Journal of experimental social psychology, 10(4), pp.371-384.

15) Latané, B., Williams, K. and Harkins, S., 1979. Many hands make light the work: The causes and consequences of social loafing. Journal of personality and social psychology, 37(6), p.822.

16) Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63, 384-399.