Teambuilding Tactics from Winning Polar Teams

Based on a case study by TMS Development International Ltd on how I used the Team Management Profile to create and sustain high performance during my ground-breaking North & South Pole journey.

Building an effective team

Regardless of each individual's skills, experience and character, to succeed, it was essential that everyone was committed to working together as a team. To do this they needed to understand and appreciate the value of each member's team role.

Teamwork strategies

I believe that employee empowerment, and a teambuilding approach, enables people to make better decisions. Using the Team Management Profile, I was able to build this into my expedition strategies.

Leadership at all levels

Through real experiences on these increasingly demanding journeys, I have realised that peak performance develops when the function of leadership exists throughout the team. The ability to know when to lead and when to follow, and generating the levels of trust within the team that allow leadership to shift from one person to another, are crucial ingredients for developing high performance.

My top 5 teambuilding tactics

1. Respect individual perspectives by sharing Profiles within the team.

Before each expedition, I gave each team member an A4 photo sheet, with contact details and their team mates' major and related role Wheel 'segments'. This was a real prompt for effective communication. When contacting a Controller-Inspector, I would remember his preference for more detailed background and send an email. Likewise, I would give a Thruster-Organiser a brief summary, or a phone call.

2. Move from working groups to teams.

Build ‘Tent-Time’ discussions into your project. Once our chores were done, we took 20 minutes to review progress and look ahead at our strategy and progress towards the next goal. This open and honest discussion ensured that everyone felt comfortable raising leadership or team issues. Any successful team should always ask, 'How can we improve?'

3. Avoid role gaps by compensating for missing team roles.

The Margerison-McCann Types of Work Model is a useful project planning tool to ensure all work areas are covered. We set a 'green' or Reporter-Advisor agenda item so that we would cover our main role gap. After a while, it became natural to gather more information before making decisions.

4. Pace team members throughout the challenge.

For the South Pole, I created a pacing profile for each team member, listing their likes and dislikes. I gave each of them a copy of these notes to look at after they had completed their daily journals. This was a useful mental reminder for the following day of how to communicate most effectively.

5. Use the Team Management Systems approach every day.

Our jackets had the Team Management Wheel sewn onto them, so we had a constant visual reminder of the importance of good communication during our journey.

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