Abstract
Football is one of the most popular sports in the world. The football environment is demanding and challenging. In the last years there are more financial resources involved and social demand is increasing. Football is about creating the correct winning environment, overcoming significant challenges and handling expectations and pressure. At first sight, this environment seems very similar to the project management environment, but is it really? What can be learnt from the Icelandic national football team's managers in project management and in shaping group dynamics? The IPMA eye of competence is used as a framework for this thesis with a focus on leadership, strategy, team building and how to lead successful teams. The thesis is built up in two ways: qualitative study and quantitative study. In the qualitative study, two in depth interviews were conducted with the Icelandic national team's managers. The conclusion is that the main building blocks of the team are a structured working environment, values that support the organizational structure, appropriate combination of task- and social leadership style and team cohesion. In the quantitative study, a questionnaire was sent out to the Icelandic national team members. The conclusion is that the key success factors from the training processes are a structured working environment, discipline, mutual trust, mutual respect and repetition. It is our conclusion that the football environment provides a good testing ground for project management, but since fewer variables affect the outcome in football it can be difficult to apply it directly to business.
1. Introduction
Project management is a young discipline, evolving and expanding at an increasing pace. That is why it is important for project managers to gather information from different perspectives and to apply the lessons in their personal development as project managers. The football environment is very complicated but also very structured and rule based. The financial aspect is getting more important and it has billions of television audiences all over the world (Giulianotti and Robertson, 2004). The Icelandic national football team has been climbing up FIFA’s World Ranking List ever since 2011 when Lars Lagerbäck and Heimir Hallgrimsson started leading the team. By the end of 2014 the national team rose from 104th place to 33rd place (Men’s ranking, 2015). In this thesis it was decided to find out if there was a winning formula that leads to the Icelandic national football team’s success. The research question is: What can be learnt from the Icelandic national football team’s managers in project management and in shaping group dynamics?
6. Conclusion
The conclusion of this thesis is based on the initial research question: What can be learnt from the Icelandic national football team’s managers in project management and in shaping group dynamics? The managers consider the success of the Iceland national team all about the correct timing of different variables. It is important to take into account all the variables that support the project success. It is important that the players are good. Every player embodies a positive attitude, a strong character and enthusiasm to play for the national team. What the project manager can learn from the football manager is to choose the team members according to the core values of the organization; connecting the workers to the strategy (the core fundamental values of the company), supporting and trusting the workers and leading them to success.
