Delivering a connected Team GB 

In 2012, Team GB performed brilliantly on home turf. In Rio, the team produced fantastic results, but also faced surprises and distractions. It was an unfamiliar and high-pressure environment that many were experiencing for the first time.

As the Tokyo Olympic Games brings new opportunities and challenges for Team GB including exposure to new cultures and customs, the British Olympic  Association (BOA) were looking for new and innovative ways in which to prepare and  familiarise Team GB to support their optimal performance. The diverse delegation of athletes, doctors, sport managers, press officers, logistics coordinators and more, alongside the cultural and logistical differences in Tokyo, led the BOA to initiate a project: how do we bring the Olympic Games environment to individuals within Team GB who are not yet able to experience it first-hand?

One Team GB

Drawing on the BOA’s years of Olympic Games experience, we looked at the emotions and moments that matter in the lead up to, and during, the Olympic Games for the people at the heart of Team GB.

Through our research, we recognised the delegation is a community of individuals who hold vast knowledge and experience, with their own needs and preferences. Yet there is no centrally managed mechanism to capture and distribute information to make a material difference to individual team members. 

The best way to generate an understanding of the Olympic environment was to develop a platform that allowed people to easily capture and share information themselves within their communities. After all, the Olympics is a shared experience, so the easier it is to create and share content, the more immersive an experience. This is where Workplace comes in.

Connection, community and communication

By helping Team GB to connect with one another, we’re able to improve their ability to share information, develop camaraderie and create two-way communication in a way that was never possible before – offering the creative scope to collaborate wherever they are. We identified where specific communications would make a difference to individuals’ journeys, supported by use cases and content strategies.

The BOA is already seeing an increase in information sharing and greater community engagement. This has allowed the BOA to collaborate and communicate with the wider Team GB delegation in advance of the Games better than ever before.

 “Effective teams require strong communication and this principle is key to delivering a successful operation at Games time. Working with Deloitte to implement Workplace from Facebook has allowed us to create an innovative way of bringing together disparate groups, even when they do not work together on a day-to-day basis. Workplace has facilitated the sharing of vital information and created a sense of community. It has provided an important, forward thinking approach to our preparation for Tokyo 2020 in 2021 and will contribute to a closer, more informed performance team going into the Olympic Games next July.”​ Andy Anson, CEO of the BOA.

Whilst 2020 saw the dreams and aspirations of many put on hold, the BOA looked to collaborative technology in helping Team GB stay emotionally connected – so that their focus can be on Tokyo.