When given collaborative tasks to complete, basketball teammates demonstrated greater interpersonal neural synchrony — a biological measure of how brain states and behavior align in social situations — than a comparative group of students who usually work solo, a study in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience reveals. This essentially means consistent teamwork improves collaboration and cooperation between individuals on a cognitive level. Indeed, team sports are an excellent way to develop trust, communication, and camaraderie between players, and these benefits also carry over into the corporate world. For leaders who want to build stronger teams, company sports can create the synergy needed for seamless teamwork and overall success.
Strengthen communication skills
Communication is key for sports teams who have to coordinate both physically and mentally to react to circumstances and opponents as they change and move in real time. Research has found that certain communication activities — including, information exchange, role clarity, goal establishment, cohesion, motivation, and culture — all contribute to sports teams’ success. And, these areas of communication all translate well into the workplace to improve overall performance. Notably, 86% of employees currently say poor communication or lack of collaboration is the key driver of workplace failures, while just 31% of employees think their leaders are strong communicators.
To take information exchange as an example — this area of communication prevents information silos and allows team members to complete projects to a higher standard on time. Yet, in some cases, employees may withhold information from each other due to a competitive workplace culture, which inhibits progress. Fortunately, through company sports teams, leaders can create a culture of trust and camaraderie, and in turn, it becomes second-nature for employees to share information, which means they complete work faster.
Improve team synergy
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a great example of the power of team synergy: when a team works together to achieve a goal “greater than the sum of all the individual bests of team members”. The Dodgers recently won the 2024 World Series with a 7-6 victory over the New York Yankees, and each team member made their own valuable contribution. For example, pitcher Walker Buehler recorded his first career save toward the end of the game. This accomplishment clinched the win for the team, but only after each player also stepped up and performed their best.
Indeed, research shows group exercise strengthens bonds and aids synergy. For example, in one study, a rugby team participated in solo, synchronized, and non-synchronized warm-up sessions. The players’ performances greatly improved after the synchronous warm-up, but not the others, researchers found. So, when teams move together, they fall in sync and perform better. In the workplace, this team synergy can result in a 41% drop in absenteeism and 59% less turnover. Simply put: connected teams are loyal and eager to put their all into their work.
Company sports teams are a fantastic way to strengthen communication and camaraderie between teams, both on- and off-field. As team sports naturally strengthen bonds, players can form valuable connections that carry over into the office. And, you’ll soon find employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention increases as a result.
Nina S. Blake is a writer with a research journalism background, who is always eager to explore new niches and tackle diverse subjects.
