Started in 2014, TeamUP is a team development programme by ActiveSG that uses sport as an effective vehicle to develop teams through facilitated conversations, observations and reflections.
TeamUP is a team development programme by ActiveSG that uses sport as an effective vehicle to develop teams through facilitated conversations, observations and reflections. Photo: Sport Singapore
This programme uses established team development models such as Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Bruce Tuckman’s Stages of Group Development and Sport Singapore's Game For Life (GFL) Framework.
Under the umbrella programme of Team@Work, which promotes inclusivity for employees of different backgrounds and cultures at the workplace, TeamUP uses sports to achieve this goal and help companies build high performance teams.
Dow Chemical is one of the companies to have completed the programme and found it uniquely useful for team building.
“One of the main differences between TeamUP and the rest of the cohesion programmes available on the market today is that TeamUP uses sports as a catalyst, an analogy, to bring out the different team management skillsets and leadership tools that we use,” said Paul Fong, Regional Finance Director of Dow Chemical, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
Participants from Dow Chemical during the TeamUP programme at Toa Payoh Sports Hall. Photo: Sport Singapore
“If you think about it, there are champions of many different sports in the world that sometimes comprise of non superstars, but they can become champions, but there are teams with superstars that cannot become champions.
“Why is that so? One of the reasons is because the team has become so cohesive and bonded together.
“It is the main reason why effective teamwork is so important for success.”
One of the participants of the programme, Suny Markose, found it to be especially helpful in teaching him about building effective teams.
“Anything that is sport tends to get people a bit closer which you usually cannot get in an office environment. So that’s where I think this programme scores really well,” said the Marketing Manager (Asia Pacific) of Dow Chemical.
Under the umbrella programme of Team@Work, TeamUP uses sports to achieve this goal and help companies build high performance teams. Photo: Sport Singapore
Perhaps the most important thing Suny learnt through these sessions, was that trust was of utmost importance in team building - something he got to experience and learn first hand through a session of goalball.
“One of the first things I realised when I was blindfolded, was how helpless one can be,” he said.
“But as you keep playing the game, you start to understand how your team members can be the most effective weapons for you to succeed in this game. “And that is a classic example of how when you get into a new place, you feel very helpless. But as you experience and work together with your team members, you get pretty good at it.
Team@Work is an initiative supported by National Integration Council and it uses sports to encourage the inclusion of employees from diverse cultures and nationalities at the workplace. The objective is to harness the values of sport such as teamwork, mutual trust and acceptance to promote social interaction and develop bonds amongst various nationalities to create a more cohesive work environment. TeamUP, which focuses on building team effectiveness, is one of the four programmes available.
Email us at ActiveSGCorporates@sport.gov.sg if your company is interested to find out more about Team@Work!