Managementball-The sport of Management

“If work day becomes game day, you’ll bring home a winner.”
-Terry Gasol, leadership development trainer

In every sport, there is the Owner and the Coach. These two people have parallel roles in the Business world as the CEO and President. The owner/CEO undertakes the ultimate executive responsibility or authority within an organization or corporation. The Coach/President undertakes the leadership role within an organization or corporation. Synonymous to the employees of a company, there are the players of the game who form a matrix team-a task force-problem solving group-“a small number of people from different departments.” There are many positions on the court which vary from Forwards to Guards, likewise, in the office there’s the Accounting division to the Marketing division. They all must work collaboratively to achieve a common goal, to win a championship for some, and to make a profit for others. The business world is really a game, a sport, a congregation of people with one common goal in mind: to be the cream of the crop. Each person in a tie and suit have the same general mindset as a person in a jersey and shorts, just two different playing fields; one is an office and one is a parquet floor. Players play ball, employees make calls.


BASKETBALL vs. BUSINESS

Owner
o Has the greatest investment in the organization
o Has the ultimate authority in decisions
o Wants his team to be the best in the league

CEO
o Has the greatest amount of shares in the company
o Has the ultimate authority in decisions
o Wants his company to be the best in the market

Coach
o Provide leadership to the players
o Creates the major plays
o Has previous experience as a player
o Has set tasks for each player President
o Provides leadership to his employees
o Makes the major decisions
o Has previous experience as an employee
o Has set tasks for each employee

Players
o Follow the coach’s game plan
o Each have different roles
o Play for a living
o Aim to win a championship
o Attire consists of jersey and shorts at work
But at home, casual clothes
o Play ball

Employees
o Follow the President’s business plan
o Each have different tasks at hand
o Work for a living
o Aim to make a profitable company
o Attire consists of tie and suit at work
But at home, casual clothes
o Make calls

The table above substantiates the many contrasts and similarities between the athletic entertainment world and corporate world.

There are many concepts that a basketball coach can teach a manager to alter or even improve his business game:

•On weekends, as there are practices for athletes, there should be workshops on skills that can be beneficial to efficiency at work, such as a cardio class with a professional instructor, similar to a google-esque work environment. Another alternative could be to have an incentive for employees to attend a training program such as a basketball game afterwards or going out to a restaurant to relax, reflect and regroup. This can be essential to teamwork as they meet outside of the work environment, without corporate restrictions, in casual clothes, with the work hard-play hard mentality in effect.

•The coach works with his offensive, defensive and special teams to develop the strategy for the upcoming game. A manager must provide vision and strategy to his people and make sure they understand it, so they can have some sort of direction to follow.

•The teams usually study the opposing teams by watching game clips of their prior games to get a feel for how they play. When game day comes, they are armed with counter-maneuvers to overcome their enemy's strengths and exploit their own. Likewise, organizations need to ask their customers on a consistent basis of what they really want and need. They cannot track who else has been calling their customers and what kind of deals or promises they have attempted to present.

•All sports including basketball have a half time intermission so everyone has an opportunity to catch their breath, regroup and review. Likewise, without periodic meetings employees can lose sight of the game they're playing. If employees don't know where they are in relation to the goal, work loses meaning and becomes ‘just a job’.

•With a huddle, the players are able to make last minute changes to their approach and get everyone in formation. The most critical information is exchanged as the game is in play. Without a weekly huddle, the team would be all over the place and making the wrong plays, as people will fumble the ball or pass to the wrong player and miss the basket.


•The coach watches his players during the game to see which of them is playing well and who's tired or having an ‘off’ game. He pulls a player off the court and immediately tells the person what he sees and what he wants them to change. Fortunately, he does not wait for their annual performance review to give them feedback. The only way to create a winning team instilled with motivation is by tweaking each player’s performance along the road. A manager should give employees some advice about something they could improve on. A nice little finishing touch could be to high-five for making a winning play.

•After each game, the coaches and team members watch video replays of their own performance. The powerful constructive criticism has an intense effect on the players' perception of their own performance, by helping them realize their impact on the team's performance and what they will need to change. A manager should approach the employees who worked on a specific project and ask them, "What problems could we avoid next time?" "How could we have made this better?" "What worked really well?" etc. This form of "instant replaying" is definitely beneficial as valuable group learning can be lost and mistakes repeated without a similar approach.

Overall, there are many similarities and differences between the sport of basketball and the corporate world. There are also many ideas and concepts that are yet to be learned from each other and that if applied, can result in a more enjoyable and efficient environment.