Written By: Andrea Burk Over the past six articles, I have explained ways that teams can be led through the human (that is the social-emotional) process to performance and transformation. Through each phase, decorated Canadian National Team players and coaches recalled defining moments and their coaching expertise for navigating each stage. Pictures, personas, examples, analogies, lessons and stories expanded on the distinct characteristics of Beginnings, Challenge, Resolution, Performance and Transformation to show: The human response to task demands and responsibility The human response to each other Potential emotional responses How to motivate team members Common leadership challenges, and How to adapt leadership...

Written By: Andrea Burk At the end of a season, recalls coach Damian McGrath, “I always ensure it’s never seen as the end! I set the scene for the next step as we pause to draw breath from the last. “I highlight the positives and get excited over the 'room for improvement'. Clear the mind with a break from the regular routine, but lay out what is to come. I like to see it as a movie trailer – a taste of what’s in store. Each individual [is] reviewed (including support staff) so everyone has a clear picture of where...

Written By: Andrea Burk Photo Credit: Ron LeBlanc Damian McGrath, Canada Men’s 7s coach, said it best at the BCRU Vancouver 7s Kickoff Luncheon: “Everyone played their role and played really well, together,” he recalled of the team’s first ever HSBC World Series win in Singapore in 2017.  Few experiences match that feeling where everything ‘flows’ and the team reaches a state of true performance. Resolution was about acceptance of perspectives and strengths through which comes group cohesion.  Performance is the direct result of this way of being and leads to higher functioning roles and the awareness of how to...

Written By: Andrea Burk In the last issue of The Scrum, we followed the process Canada’s Women’s Sevens team took to overcome the challenge to become Olympic bronze medalists. Resolution is the stage where the gap closes between expectations and reality. It’s the small gap that opens the door from conflict to performance. It’s the point in the story of Pandora’s Box where the strife, distress, pain and fear start to make way and hope emerges. That moment where one thinks, “Ok, I can do this.” What does resolution look like? Feel like? There was a clutch moment caught on camera...

Written By: Andrea Burk What do people, personalities, and team culture have in common? Personalities are to people what culture is to a team.  Both personalities and cultures can be developed.  These are naturally always developing via external and internal forces, so one might as well work to consciously develop attributes that serve the goals that lay ahead of them. The life-cycle of a team goes through five distinct phases:   Coming together Conflict & challenge Resolution Production & performance Ending & disbanding  Each phase has distinct characteristics, task activities, and group behaviours. It is also important to note that each...