The value of forced reflection in a busy life and business

CASE STUDY:

The Preparation

Whilst it no longer exists because of circumstances beyond their control, a few years ago I was invited to the Jarkko Nieminen Tennis Academy (JNTA) by Federico Ricci, the head coach who is now on tour with Emil Ruusuvuori a huge success story from the academy programme. Federico knows of all the work that I’ve done, both in academies and in other sports. He’s also a keen supporter of my book, Locker Room Power, and we decided I would fly to Finland for a three-day workshop. We did extensive preparatory work, as I needed to know a lot about their operation. Each coach emailed me confidentially, answering several questions. Basically, I was coming into a very successful operation, and having a good look at everything that they did on the court and off the court, it was up to me to give them a few more per cent in performance and to help them become operationally a little smoother.

Vision

Their vision was clear and inspiring, so there was no issue there. It quickly became clear, as it had done at the Bath Academy, that one of the key problems that they faced was time. This is not remarkable or something that people are unfamiliar with, but they felt like they were reacting to things and because they are a small team, everybody has several crossover responsibilities.

Planning

Working with professional tennis players and international juniors means that there were one or two coaches or trainers out of the building. How do you plan well for all the circumstances that arise when you are not at a full complement of staff?

Just as I had done in Bath, I urged them to implement one day a month that was purely for planning. No one would work with any players on that day, Players could have a day off doing schoolwork, rest, whatever they wanted and take care of themselves on court or in the gym. It is amazing how much resistance I face with sporting organisations with the thought of giving up a full day for planning and reflection. They are so conditioned in wanting to utilise every chance to improve players that the thought of missing a day’s practice horrifies many. Not once have I ever implemented this without the feedback being:

“oh my goodness I can’t believe the difference that this makes to our programme”.

 

Space and Time

This is very alien to sports teams, and I think it is something that companies can learn from as well if they don’t do it already, and that is to have space and time to freely discuss, examine and dig deeper into issues. Being a full day every month on the surface affects productivity, but conversely fuels massive gains in productivity and is one of the most useful things that an organisation will ever implement. This time and space become more and more about longer term planning. The first two or three meetings, in the first two or three months, are still mostly reactive, but given so much time and space, proper solutions are found for many issues that then disappear for good. Slowly but surely, this day becomes more forward rather than backward facing or present-day firefighting.

Positivity and Productivity

I would argue that two days a month would add even more positivity and productivity than one. Having time in space to talk things through properly and find solutions where everybody in the team is involved add to a feel-good factor and are working together that is so often missing just because people do not have the time to enjoy each other’s company whilst working on problems or planning.

Individual Meetings

Ricci and I, met individually with everyone on the staff, and this was a challenge given they had coaches from Russia, Finland, Italy, South Africa, and Estonia on the staff, all of them of different cultures and with different methodologies and ideas on how to achieve elite performance. The important thing was to hear what they had to say and then sell them the idea of this one day of planning, and that it was so important for them to all understand each other and what was important to them. This was gained from the preparatory work that we had done, and we could sell to everyone the different ideas moulded together that could work well for them.

PR for the Academy

Day two followed, with me working extensively with the players and then having a workshop with the parents. It was fantastic PR for the academy as it showed to the parents the enormous lengths that they were exploring to find improvements in the academy. I could explain to them how things would alter slightly going forward and put their minds at rest, how good this academy was compared to others in the world. It was the best academy in Finland and arguably the best in Scandinavia and specked up well against any academy in the world for producing performance at a high level.

Mental Approach

Day three was further work with the staff, and then I did a workshop off court with the players. This was more about their mental approach to not only the game, but how they needed to understand the pressures and the logistics that sat behind them for them to play trouble free tennis. Both staff and players were given appreciation projects to do.

Improved planning and communication

The entire operation was so clearly about improved planning and communication, and this was with a team that already communicated well. However, to have someone from the outside look with a fine-tooth comb over everything that they did, I could find the small areas where they could improve, and I know the one big area which makes the real improvement is the monthly planning/reflecting day. Again, note that the success of planning days comes when the trust and ideas are gained through the initial individual meetings where the concept of how this day off training is worth trying.

Value of planning

Whether it is a company, an academy or even in your own family the value of setting aside time to plan properly and to chat through subjects and issues without a massive time pressure behind the discussions will improve anybody’s life and any organisations teamwork and productivity. These days need to be planned, so the time is not wasted, and they open an opportunity to get different people within the team to prepare and present topics for discussion. It will help nervous individuals learn how to be present in a friendly environment. There are as many benefits as there are ideas and you find these days evolve into many forms, including bringing in outside help for new perspectives. If you’re really brave, you will introduce a second day.

Written by

David Sammel