The BT Global Challenge Round the World Yacht Race

The BT Global Challenge has provided the material for a case study that compares a yacht

race with today's business environment. The case study describes how 12 yachts embarked on the 'world's toughest yacht race', departing from Southampton in the United Kingdom. With a professional skipper and a novice crew of 17 men and women from all occupations. Each team set out to compete the 30 000-mile race around the globe. The crews stopped at six sports: Boston, Buenos Aires, wellington, Sydney, Cape town, La Rochelle and finally they arrived back in Southampton.

It was a highly competitive race with all the teams sailing identical yachts. The environment was hostile and sailing conditions uncertain and sometimes treacherous. The skippers who led their teams to become high-performance teams were the winners.

The compilers of the case study of the race interviewed the crew members of the various teams and recorded the experiences, perceptions, and emotions they have experienced during the various stages of the development of their teams from the first stage of forming to the last stage of adjourning. Here are some of the responses from the teams during each stage of team development on the boats.

Forming (identifying emotions)

Crew members were motivated and daunted by the enormity of the challenge ahead. They were unsure of themselves and their own technical ability, and there was fear about the structureoftheboatsandtheirabilitytowithstandthepressureoftheSouthernOcean.There wasanxietyaboutcopingonthedangerousconditions.Alotofself-interestmarkedthisstage of team development on theboats.

Storming (understanding emotions)

At this stage, the crew members were becoming more capable and began to challenge the skipper on his opportunity and role as a leader. Dissatisfaction with the initially established rules and procedures was surfacing. Crew members juggled for position and tolerance was limited. The skippers still made most of the decisions, but the crew members were slowly beginning to understand that there were differences in style, motivation, need for change, and diversity. They discussed feelings and dealt with personal conflict. Traumatic encounters between crew members occurred regularly.

Norming (using emotions)

During the norming stage, teams were consolidating, and confidence was building. Crew members shared ideas and were willing to change if others suggested better ways to do things. They followed a more systematic approach and team members agreed upon

procedures. They shared responsibility and a cooperative approach of decision making developed.Teammembersweredevelopingtrustandbegantosolveproblemstogether.The skipper of one of the best performing boats started to share power - the team was starting to manageitself.

Performing (managing emotions)

The performing stage signaled the teams 'strong commitment to the task and to each other. There was a feeling of well-being, and they put self-interest aside. Openness, honesty, and effective conflict handling characterized the stage. Crew members managed their emotions and focused on performance, making the best of decisions, and continually strived to improve.

Adjourning

As the race neared completion, the crew members of the various teams needed to pass througha'mourning'phase.Onsomeyachts,theskipperswereproactiveindealingwiththe end of the race and already started discussing the future in Sydney. Many spent the long leg from Cape Town to La Rochelle helping crew members to come to terms with their feelings. On a few yachts, crew members never openly discussed thesubject.

Not all the crews were successful, and some teams never developed into high-performing teams: some crews never reached the performing stage and some never left the storming stage.

Before the race commenced, some of the teams studied the performance of the various teams participating in the previous BT Global Challenge Round the World Yacht Race. One crucial observation was that was that the most successful teams in the previous race used structuredteamdevelopmentbeforetheracebegan.Followingthesuit,someteamsengaged inpre-raceteambuilding.Theyalsogeneratedtheirvaluesystemsandgoalsasthesewerean essential part of the teams' early development. One team adopted the slogan: 'dare if we must'underpinnedbythevaluesofmaintainingfocus,havingfun,beinghonest,and'wecan win'.

Teams that agreed on realistic and achievable goals before the race prevented many problems as the race progressed. The teams who formulated unrealistic goals became demotivated when they had to adjust their goals during the race.

Another success Factor characterizing the winning teams was that they gave each other feedback in an opening in constructive way. The Skippers who were prepared to accept and provide constructive feedback enhanced their emotional intelligence behaviour in aspects suchasself-awarenessandemotionalflexibility,whichresultedinachangeinbehaviourand performance of theteam.

The most effective teams developed cultures characterized by focused activity, creativity, open communication, and integration - the same type of culture that would distinguish effective work teams from less effective teams in the organisation.

Source:Adapted from Cranwell-Ward, J, Bacon, & Marckie, R. 2002. Inspiring leardership: Staying afloat in turbulent times. Cornwall: Thomson, ok 133-138

QuestionOne (45Marks)

Do you think the group structure of the winning teams contributed to their success? Answer thequestionbyanalysingthecomponentsofgroupstructureanduseexamplesfromthecase study to substantiate yourdiscussion.