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Army Crew Case Study

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Brandon J. Nowak 11/19/2015 Organizational Behavior – MBA545
The Army Crew Team
Case Analysis

Team Overview: This analysis is based on a crew team at West Point coached by Colonel Stas Preczewski. He has been a crewing coach for 9 years for both the Varsity and Junior Varsity Teams. This particular crew team races shells that are narrow and 60 feet long. The crew is made up of 8 rowers; one of the rowers is the “Coxswain” that steers the boat. The Coxswain is considered the leader of the team. His/Her responsibility is to carry out the strategic plan that the coach lays out. The top 8 individuals are chosen for the Varsity Team and the bottom 8 for the Junior Varsity Team.
Current Situation: This sport consists of unique mental and physical attributes. The best teams have a balance of the following attributes: * Individual Strength * Rowing Technique * Psychological dimensions * Program organization

Crew originated in 1856 with the first race being between Harvard and Yale. Races are typically 3.5 miles long and usually consist between 20 and 60 shells. They race against the clock instead of head to head, due to the amount of shells competing and the course.
In order for a team to be successful they need to work as one. Individual strength and endurance is a key to success; however, team work is the essential success factor. If a team doesn’t work as one throughout the race, the smallest detail can inhibit them from success. Once rhythm is broken with the team, it will immediately slow down the shell impacting the team. Important factors to consider: * Oars hitting water at the same time * Not reacting to another teammates rhythmic mishap * Trusting that your team will fix errors and not reacting * Not out performing other rowers on the team but working as one * Team recognized sport, nobody is VIP * 1600 opportunities to interrupt the balance during a 200 stroke race (200 strokes x 8 rowers)

Problem Statement:
The Army Crew is faced with the Junior Varsity Team beating or outperforming the Varsity Team, due to the poor leadership and the structure of the Team.
Symptoms and Root Cause Analysis:

The JV Team is beating the Varsity Team for a number of reasons: * Coaches process of determining the Varsity Team: * Looked only at individual performance for a team sport * No focus on team building exercises, focused on individual performance

* Varsity Team * Working as individuals, trying to outperform one another * Lack of leadership on the team * Not communicating together but against * Team has many disrupters * Lack of accountability and responsibility

With a sport that is unique due to the emphasis on Teamwork, it is apparent that the Varsity Team isn’t going to be successful until they can begin to work together, support one another and come to terms with their issues. The disconnect can be contributed to the focus the coach has put on performing individually vs. as a team.
The JV Team understands that they are winning as a team. They celebrate, communicate and win together. It isn’t what one individual has done but the whole. I found it even more evident with the examples that are shared about how if they switch people around they perform at a higher level. When adding a strong individual from the Varsity team they perform even at a higher level. In turn, the JV Team is able to leverage quickly and effectively because of the team as a whole outweighs the individuals influence.

Recommendations: Due to the season starting in one week, the coach should look at switching individual boat members, with an emphasis on keeping the majority of the Junior Varsity boat together. If more time was available I would suggest he should intervene and leverage his leadership skills to build a better team of his athletic individuals. They showed improvement with switching a number of individuals around from the Varsity to the JV boat. Since the JV boat has shown maturity and team strength, I would suggest the coach meets with the JV boat to get their input on the following: * Who works well with your team from the Varsity Boat? * Does anybody feel they can add value helping me coach? * What can I do better as a coach? * Why do you feel you guys have been outperforming expectations?

This conversation will help the coach build back trust within the team. From what I understand, he has neglected and has been rooting against the JV Team for the most part. In addition, Coach Stats might better understand where things went south and what he can do in the future.
Learning’s:
It is always easy to try and find the individual high performers amongst the group. The challenge is finding individuals strengths that can build a team that can deliver. I made this mistake in the beginning of my career. I took the individuals, based on individual performance, to make my first Point Kaizen Team. This ended up being a complete failure in respect to the immediate results. However, it has only helped me become an effective team leader and developer. I learned many things from honing in on individuals vs. team: * Manufacturing takes many individuals * Strong performers may be team inhibitors * If you can move your focus off individual goals, the team is self motivated to work together

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