So how should one while away a summer day - when the sun is shining and the light evenings encourage us to venture outdoors. How about a walk down to the cricket pitch to listen to the sound of leather on willow and enjoy an afternoon snooze; very civilised.

Perhaps more typically, and not enjoying the seasonal delights, what about an evening in front of the football on TV? The business alchemist isn't the biggest football fan, but given one daughters passion for the sport, the interest grows. I can now confess to having spent the last few weeks staring at, if not exactly glued to the goggle-box.

In spite of my lack of footballing knowledge, I found myself making the same observations as the pundits. I was struck by the fantastic team work demonstrated by the likes of Iceland and Wales. And then by way of contrast there is the superstar status attached to one or two high profile individuals. As is my want, and aside from enjoying the footballing skills on display, I considered if there are any parallels for the world of business analysis.

I considered that if Portugal was a team of Business Analysts what might it consist of? Well how about a mix of some raw talent and a couple of high flying consultants - sometimes highly effective but eye wateringly expensive. Perhaps not an option for all organisations.

How about Iceland. Well at the very least they might be affordable and seem to achieve worthy results. This could be seen as fantastic value, which isn't a bad measure for a Business Analysis team.

Now clearly a large part of Iceland's success is the amazing team spirit. Putting that aside what else has made them effective and such value for money? Now the Business Alchemist is on dodgy ground here given my footballing know-how. Here goes though:

• Adapting a consistent formation

• Preparation of set pieces

• Game plan & tactics

• Knowing each other

What might Business Analysts learn from the Icelandic model?

• Be clear on the role of the BA

• Have appropriate methods and standards that are clearly communicated

• Build skills that fit with the methods adopted

• Rehearse the skills

How often do we assemble a group of people and tell them to get on with it? Are roles or positions clear, are our methods and techniques fit for purpose, do we communicate them and actually build our skills to fit our approach? Always, sometimes or in some instances never? Are we too often meandering down the park for a Sunday kick about?

As for rehearsing, a novel concept? Think how much downstream costs could be avoided by ironing out the problems in how we play, before it really counts.

So we may not be able to field the likes of Ronaldo but we can all play like Iceland.

FOOTNOTE - the morning after.........Well it turned out that despite losing their star man early on, Portugal triumphed against a nervy and ineffective France. Interestingly it was once Ronaldo let the field that we witnessed a group of committed professionals working together to implement a winning game plan against a group of individuals who, on paper, possessed far superior talent.

.....Another triumph for Team Work.

If you want to read more about team work you can delve into chapter 3 of "The Human Touch"

Click here to buy the book on Amazon