5 lessons from engaging kids at sports day

Last week was my kid's sports day. If you can engage kids from 5 to 11 years old into a high-performing team, you can engage anyone.

Here are some engagement lessons from the team that won on the day:

1. Have a short, easy-to-remember chant

If they don't remember it, they can't chant it. What you want is two lines that rhyme, that celebrate the spirit of the team. Simplicity over fanciness.

(Funny how most team and organisational mission statements are long and hard to remember!)

2. High-five everyone after each run, jump, kick, bat, etc.

If you've ever watched a basketball game, you'll see that after every free-throw, all the team-mates fist-bump the person taking the shot. It's reinforcing the message regardless of how well someone did: your contribution matters, keep going.

3. Clear the path so that the players can play more

There was one game where kids had to bat a ball over a net and get it into a bin. The way to make this happen was to focus on kids doing as many repetitions of batting as possible. The ones who weren't shooting were in charge of gathering the balls and handing them to the batters.

In some teams, this is known as the "scrum-master" — the person who clears away the impediments to people getting their jobs done. I think this is one of the most important factors of leadership.

4. Make people the finishing point

Put a person at the finish line, and see how the runner becomes faster.

Put a person on the other side of the net, and see how much better the kids become at hitting them rather than getting it into the bin.

The same goes in our organisations, and especially with our customers. When we are uncertain, we look to people, not processes.

5. Be joyful

You want your team to be the most joyful team to be part of. We take action when it's joyful, and taking action creates more joy. Joy — positive emotion — broadens our thought-action repertoire.

Joy isn't soft. It's one of the most potent forces we have. It's why soldiers are trained to be cheerful in the face of adversity.