How to help high performing teams be their very best – 5 learnings from coaching cycling teams that can be applied in your workplace

High performing teams are often very capable and successful, but what happens when they want your help to achieve more?

• How can you help teams achieve more than they thought possible?
• Do you have a framework to help high performing teams perform at their very best?

Using some of my recent learnings from coaching cycle racing teams, I have identified 5 areas that provide a framework for helping these teams achieve more and exceed their goals.

My top 5 tips for helping high performing teams

1.   Be led

•  Let the team tell you what they need from you. High performing teams already know what they want to achieve - they simply want your help in reaching their goals.

2.   Be prepared

•  Listen and hear – when you know what help your team need, you can prepare and support them, the way they need it.
•  Make sure you prepare thoroughly – anything less than being fully prepared risks mistakes and hinders team performance.
•  Go the extra mile – if you can help the team perform better, then do so, even if it means small personal sacrifice.

3.   Be calm

• The world can be noisy, pressured and stressful. Helping the team stay calm by providing a calm environment will help them focus on achieving their goals.

4.   Be aware

• Often high performing teams and team members are pushing right to the edge of their abilities – know when to push them harder and know when they’re at their limit.
• Know when to care about an external influence, and when to tell the team they should care too.
•  Be prepared to provide guidance – but make sure it is actionable.

5.   Be humble

• Remember – it’s all about the team. High performing teams have success for many reasons. You may be one, but ultimately the team drive the results.
• Celebrate the team successes, and learn from the results.
• Recognise contributions, big and small.
• Praise goes a long way – praise both the team and individuals.

And the best bit is that you can do this too…..

A brief story about my experience

In February 2020, I joined a cycling club, initially for social riding and later for racing. After shoulder surgery in August 2020 temporarily halted my racing, I still wanted to be involved with the club and volunteered to help coach teams on race day as their Directeur Sportif / Sports Director (DS).

Having been involved in team based cycle racing, I had a pretty good idea of what would help me perform better. I started as a complete novice DS, and after a few months of learning my craft, I was asked to be the DS for two of the clubs’ leading teams. These were already high performing teams, including national level professionals, top level amateurs and top club riders. None of the riders need me to help them with bike racing – they already know how to do that and are very good at it. Instead, they want support to help them do it better and exceed their goals.

The leaders of both teams know what they and their teams want to achieve, and they tell me each week what that objective is. I need to distill these requirements and prepare for race day – course notes, race notes, which racers I will follow, who will attack, where they will attack, and so on. More often, this means end of day planning (after paid work is done) and early morning starts to ensure I am where the teams need me to be for the racing, and fully prepared to support them.

On race day, we are all linked via team radio, and it is my role to keep a watchful eye on every member of the team. I do this via key data feeds from each rider – notably heart rate, power output and video link. By monitoring these, I know how hard a rider is racing and whether I can ask more of them. When I do speak, I do it calmly and concisely – only giving messages the rider or team can act on. When another team is attacking, I need to decide if the team I am supporting need to know this information and what they need to do with it. I also stay on the course and voice link until the last rider finishes – this is a team sport and we only finish when every rider has gone over the finish line.

In the post ride debrief, I listen to how the team thinks they’ve done. I capture this feedback as learnings for next time we race, before I praise each rider for their effort and contribution. Team praise is important but individual praise is key. Riders want to know that their contribution (read pain and suffering!) was both recognized and valuable. Having someone tell you that your contribution is valued, and the effort was recognized, helps riders maintain confidence, bounce back after hard races and gives the impetus to go and do it again and again.

And the best bit? Well, you can take all of this into the workplace. Coaches and leaders are there to help their teams. It’s not about them, but in my experience you feel amazing when you’ve helped teams be better and achieve more than they ever thought possible.