I’ve been working closely with a company recently in a significant growth phase. They are finding out the hard way that their staff have been placed in roles with very little clarity on accountability or responsibility, and even less training! Hence, my following soccer analogy…

We lost the soccer grand final on Sunday evening 2-1. Yet as the team coming third in the comp, we felt like we’d won the final the week before! We were elated when we defeated the second place team in the semi-final, as they had beaten us in two prior matchups during the season.

But here’s what I noticed. 

Many of our team stick to one or two positions on the field. The backs are always backs and the forwards are pretty much always forwards. They know what they are doing and there’s no confusion. Backs defend and forwards attack.

The mids (centre and wings) need to constantly switch between attack and defence and be the conduit between the backs and the forwards. Sounds clear, doesn’t it?

At the beginning of a match everyone should be clear about what position they are playing and what is expected of them in that position. That’s what we learn at training and in the pre-match discussions.

But if during the game, you’ve been playing left wing then get moved to right back, you need a bit of coaching from the players around you – “mark that player, move up, kick it out, she’s yours”, etc.

How does it relate?

At work, when we place someone in a new role, we need to make sure they understand what’s expected of them. What are they supposed to do? What are they not supposed to do? That’s training.

Early in that role, they also need feedback and coaching – “mark that player, move up, kick it out, she’s yours”, etc.

In some businesses I’ve noticed they will document responsibilities for a role, but these are not used to train the staff member. Buddy systems can be a good training tool but used as the sole source of training they can introduce gaps, confusion and poor performance.

3 Clear Steps

1. At soccer training we learn technical ball skills and practice plays such as corners.
2. Before the match we assign positions and clarify them on a tiny whiteboard.
3. During the game we coach and communicate with each other as the play unfolds.

Are you doing all three?