{"id":918,"date":"2020-03-11T14:30:48","date_gmt":"2020-03-11T14:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/build-a-great-team\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T16:51:49","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T15:51:49","slug":"build-a-great-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/build-a-great-team\/","title":{"rendered":"How Great Teams Succeed Under Intense Pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cImagine if every team was delivering 10% more or being 10% more effective…”<\/span><\/p>\n

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How Great Teams Succeed Under Intense Pressure<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Businesses are constantly looking for ways to make their teams more productive.<\/p>\n

Having attended around 1000 team meetings and conferences I have heard a huge range of strategies, including tired team-building exercises, efficiency strategies and more recently a range of business perks like on-site food and gyms for employees.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s a simple way to improve team performance that has nothing to do with dishing out benefits or cutting costs.<\/p>\n

According to Andy Williams (who recently joined me on the\u00a0Born To Speak podcast) <\/a><\/strong><\/span>his experience in the Royal Marines, running six marathons in the Sahara desert and rowing the Atlantic, all taught him how to build a supportive team.<\/p>\n

Today, Andy is a business coach and he helps clients to build teams that can overcome any obstacle \u2014 no matter how intense the pressure.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what it takes to build a supportive team.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t try to build a perfect team. Build a supportive team, instead.<\/span><\/h2>\n

During our conversation, Andy shared his experience rowing across the Atlantic Ocean from La Gomera to Antigua. During the event, 30 crews from around the world race to cross 3,000 miles of ocean, powered only by their own strength and determination.<\/p>\n

After months of planning and training, Andy\u2019s team of four novice rowers embarked on a 42-day journey that brought them face-to-face with 50-foot waves, blisters, sea-sickness, sunburn, and extreme exhaustion. There were even more obstacles along the way as equipment failed and the daggerboard (a machine that keeps the boat from drifting sideways) broke halfway through the race.<\/p>\n

It was through supportive teamwork that Andy\u2019s four-man crew was able to achieve their goal, completing the race, despite their lack of rowing experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of us were rowers, but we had our minds set firmly on the goal: to complete the race, feel good about ourselves, and feel that we\u2019d done the best job we could,\u201d explained Andy. \u201cThrough that experience, we were able to obtain tremendous insight into mindset and how we can achieve amazing things through adversity \u2014 even under intense pressure \u2014 by supportive teamwork.\u201d<\/p>\n

This same idea applies to any business. The individual talent and the size of a team don\u2019t equal success. It\u2019s the team that works together, no matter what challenges arise, that\u2019s able to achieve any goal.<\/p>\n

When that synergy happens, employees often exceed expectations.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cImagine if every team was delivering 10% more or being 10% more effective, what a difference that would make to a whole organization,\u201d says Andy.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re part of a supportive team, you thrive on overcoming difficult challenges as a group. You work together to get the job done \u2014 no matter what.<\/p>\n

To build this type of team Andy suggests you focus on these five things:<\/p>\n