Teambuilding Best Practices from the National Football League

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2024 NFL football season kicked off this past week. The NFL is a big business. It is more popular than ever and creates many of the most watched shows in the United States each year. And each of those games provides team building lessons, if we look for them. 

If you are a football fan, you are going love this post. But even if you aren’t a fan, read on, because the Team Building Best Practices from NFL football that I am about to share might be more revealing to you.

For the fan, there are plenty of intricacies in the game that could lead to leadership lessons, but I want to make this piece interesting and accessible even if you don’t know much about that game.

Here are five important lessons for leaders and organizations who want to improve – all available to you from watching even a little NFL football. 

1. Practice 

Football teams at all levels practice – a lot. They study their opponents, study their past performances, and practice both the details and the fundamentals. None of this is done in a haphazard or unplanned way. The best teams are the best prepared to perform when it matters most.

If an NFL team practiced the way your teams do, how successful would they be? 

 2. Positive Pressure to Perform

Simply stated, there are 24 positions on a football team. NFL rosters have 53 players (and some even more on a practice squad). This means that there are backups ready to step in, an obvious succession plan in place, and that every person playing has someone else wanting and working hard for their job. This raises the level of everyone’s performance, every day.

A friend made this observation to me in a text message. “If there’s someone sitting on the bench wanting to take your job, how would you change your work habits? (or would you maintain your position?)

3. Player Selection and Development

NFL teams take the development of their players seriously. They work harder and spend more time and money on selecting players (i.e. employees) than most any industry and provide resources and set expectations so that players can continue to grow into starting positions.

How much do you focus on and invest in selecting and developing your team members? 

4. Clear Measures of Performance 

It’s true of every sport. There are clear measures of performance and success. I believe it is one reason we collectively like watching sports – that we can see what success looks like. NFL teams and coaches have many ways to measure the performance of their players. As important is that those players know those measure themselves. These measures provide clarity, motivation and much more.

Do you have the right measure to help your people know what to focus on and perform at their best? 

5. Coaching and Feedback

There are 53 players on the active roster and up to 17 on the practice squad. Most NFL teams have 12 coaches – coaching 70 players. That is a ratio of just short of 6 players per leader. But beyond the numbers, you don’t have to watch a game for very long to see how much real-time feedback is happening (and you know the same is happening during every part of practice).

How many team members do your leaders have on their teams? And how much of their time is spent in actual coaching and feedback activities? 

What About Your Team?

I asked you a reflective question related to each of the five team building best practices shared. How do you feel about your answers? I know the work of your teams isn’t the same as that of an NFL team. But don’t miss the lessons or justify your answers because your business is different. Take the time to think about these questions I’ve asked. Share them with other leaders in your company . Then look for ways to apply those ideas in your organization.

You might not win the Super Bowl, but your team will get better. Maybe faster than you think.

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

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