I recently completed my first triathlon. Actually, that’s not exactly true, due to a race time decision to cancel the swim portion, making it a biathlon (that’s a whole other story you’ll see posted here shortly). Nevertheless, I trained for a triathlon, which was a real balancing act for me, a business owner, wife and mother, with zero “spare time.” Preparing for an event comprised of three unique activities (swim, bike, run) stretched me in many ways.

During my couple months of training, I often thought about how the triathlon training was similar to the “training” necessary to build a successful and cohesive team. While there are many, many aspects involved in building a really great team, I’ll categorize them into three broad areas: relationships, tasks, and process.

• Relationships involve how people relate to one another, the quality of the interactions, level of authenticity and openness, and generally how well people like each other and want to be together.
• Tasks involve the goals, objectives, deliverables, results the team is working towards and the daily operational aspects of getting the job done.
• Process involves the way the team goes about getting the job done. How are decisions made? What happens when we disagree? Are we involving everyone necessary in the problem-solving process? Are people kept informed and is the communication thorough and effective? etc

First, similar to triathlon training, to build a great team you’ve got three unique areas to work on simultaneously; each requiring different strengths and a different approach to developing those strengths. Second, most people come to triathlon training (and to their team) having some experience and skill in one, perhaps two, of the unique areas. For instance, I am primarily a runner and have competed in many foot races, from 10Ks to a marathon so the running portion of the triathlon was of no concern to me. And I love to ride my road bike. Though I am not especially competitive in that area, I was looking forward to the long bike ride during the race. Swimming? Well, let’s just say I came to the training aware of some basics (like you kick your feet). The swim was the component I felt least confident about and really had to focus on in my training.

So the challenge in triathlon training and in building a great team lies in balancing the dynamics. How much focus do we place on one area over another at any given time? How will our approach differ when nurturing trust and positive relationships, compared to when we are preparing the details of a project plan?

It goes without saying that in triathlon training, if you neglect one area, you’re probably not gonna win, and maybe not even be competitive, when it counts. This is also true in building great teams. Each of the three areas, relationships, tasks, and process, requires regular attention if you expect your team to remain competitive and to win.

Some questions to think about with your team:

1. What relationship(s) needs attention right now?
2. Have we, as a team, proactively spent time clarifying expectations of one another?
3. What might be needed now to move us closer to our goals/deliverables

Good luck! And like competitive athletes, successful teams benefit greatly from the guidance and objectivity of a coach. Let me know if you need one; I’d love to work with you!