Teamwork is widely recognized as a critical component of success in team sports. Despite this, research investigating how teamwork can be developed within sports teams remains limited. Grounded in the inputs-mediators-outcomes (IMO) model of team effectiveness, this research program aimed to provide insights into how teamwork develops specifically examining the influence of coach leadership and teamwork training, and how teamwork evolves over time. Chapter One outlines the available research on teamwork in sport and other team contexts (e.g., healthcare, military), the research aims of this thesis, and the four empirical studies this thesis reports. Chapter Two presents the first dissertation study which explored how coaches facilitate teamwork within their squads. Through the analysis of semi-structured interviews with athletes and coaches, three themes were generated: (a) crafting a teamwork recipe, (b) come together, stay together, and (c) maximizing teamwork in action. Participants highlighted coaches’ role in team selection, fostering interpersonal relationships, and implementing teamwork enhancement strategies into the training and competition environment as being facilitative of teamwork. This study underscored the importance of coach leadership in promoting teamwork and highlights practical recommendations for coaches and practitioners looking to improve teamwork within their everyday practices. Chapter Three (Study Two) presents a realist review of teamwork training interventions across contexts including business, military, aviation, education, and healthcare. Using a six-step realist protocol, the aim of the review was to examine for whom, under what conditions, and how teamwork training interventions can promote team performance. Following a systematic search of six databases, 105 interventions across 75 studies were included in the review, of which 54% (n=57) demonstrated significant improvements in team performance, and an additional 14% (n=15) reported partial improvements. Data were extracted for 20 variables including, participant descriptors (i.e., for whom), study design (i.e., under what conditions), and intervention design and implementation (i.e., how). Extracted data were synthesized to create observations and recommendations for future research, intervention design, and implementation for each aspect of the research question (e.g., for whom, under what conditions, and how). This review provided explanations for how teamwork training may be particularly effective, emphasizing the importance of targeting team leaders (i.e., for whom), utilizing remote or hybrid delivery methods (i.e., under what conditions), and incorporating active training tasks that allow teams to practice teamwork behaviors such as briefing and debriefing (i.e., how). Chapter Four (Study 3A) reports the results of a season-long teamwork training intervention on teamwork behaviors, team cohesion, collective efficacy, and satisfaction with team performance. The non-controlled intervention was implemented with five university sports teams (n=82 athletes) whereby each team participated in nine teamwork training workshops over the course of their season and completed surveys at three time points (i.e., baseline, midseason, end of season). Data were analyzed using a repeated measures analysis of variance for both the entire sample and each of the teams. The analysis yielded mixed results, with improvements in some variables, such as preparation, management of team maintenance, and social cohesion, while other variables, such as collective efficacy and satisfaction with performance, decreased over time (for the entire sample). When the analysis was broken down team by team, the results indicated that the effectiveness of the intervention varied with Teams 1-3 generally showing improvements in the variables over time, while Teams 1-2 demonstrated decreases over time. Contextual factors, such as team member stability, were discussed to explain the varied team-by-team results. Chapter Five (Study 3B) complements the quantitative findings of Study 3A with a qualitative inquiry into athletes’ and coaches’ experiences of the same season-long teamwork training intervention and what factors contributed to the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of the intervention on teamwork behaviors. Reflexive thematic analysis (RTA) of coach interviews (n=6) and athlete focus group data (n=23) generated three higher-order themes: (a) intervention engagement drivers and inhibitors, (b) leadership as a catalyst (or barrier) to teamwork, and (c) forging and sustaining optimal relationships. The thematic insights underscore the complexities of designing and implementing teamwork interventions, the integral role of both coach and athlete leaders in transferring workshop content into practice, and the foundational influence that teammate relationships play in maximizing the effectiveness of such interventions. Chapter Six (Study 4) presents an ethnography, following a men’s university basketball team’s evolution of their teamwork over the course of a season. Occupying a dual practitioner-researcher role, observational, interview, and reflexive journaling data were collected and analyzed using RTA and chronological timelining. Five themes were generated and later presented over ten episodes (i.e., stories) illustrating key events related to the ‘ebbs and flows’ of the team’s teamwork. This story-driven approach offered a rich, in-depth understanding of how teamwork evolves in real-world sports settings. Chapter Seven provides a summary of the findings from each of the studies, major contributions to the teamwork in sport literature, practical implications, strengths and limitations of the research program, and avenues for future research. Collectively, the findings within this PhD thesis contributes to conceptual models of teamwork, the growing body of literature on teamwork, and offers practical strategies for enhancing teamwork in sports teams targeted to athletes, coaches, and practitioners.
| Date of Award | 26 Mar 2025 |
|---|
| Original language | English |
|---|
| Awarding Institution | |
|---|
| Supervisor | Rachel Arnold (Supervisor), Desmond McEwan (Supervisor), Carly McKay (Supervisor) & Daniel Brown (Supervisor) |
|---|