Expertise in the psychological processes that underpin the highest levels of human performance at Bangor University is being used to develop an industry-first ‘readiness to perform well’ psychological assessment tool for elite performers in the world of sport and business.
Building on a history of collaboration between psychological services company Changing Minds and Bangor University’s Institute for the Psychology of Elite Performance, the two-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership builds on the company’s evidence-based ‘Performing Well’ assessment framework. This unique psychologically-informed framework considers how an individual’s psychological characteristics interact with the environment in which they are expected to perform, and the nature of the tasks they will be performing.
Changing Minds Performance Services work with elite-level teams, organisations and individuals to help them reach their sporting potential or perform at their very best in high-pressure corporate environments. Their services have supported success across elite-level football, cricket, rugby, tennis and Olympic sports.
“The pursuit of excellence and desire for success sometimes pushes people to the edges of their abilities, resulting in pressure and demands that mean we don’t always perform at our best,” explains Dr Andrew Rogers co-founder and co-director of Changing Minds, who are based in Warrington, but work across the UK and internationally.
“Through our substantial experience of applying specialist psychological knowledge in both sport and corporate environments, we believe we can increase awareness and influence behaviours to both promote wellbeing and maximise and sustain psychological high performance, whilst limiting the risks of performance breakdown. This is what we describe as ‘Performing Well’.
Supporting impactful assessments of individuals' readiness to perform well
The KTP will see Changing Minds draw on the Performing Well framework to develop a new assessment tool based on the three aspects of person, task and environment, supporting more objective, credible and impactful assessments of an individual’s psychological readiness to perform well. This will enable Changing Minds to meet the growing demand in this area from professional sports and business both in the UK and abroad.
Knowing which talented player to invest in or whether a player is ready to be selected for competition can be tough judgment calls. Anything that can reduce the uncertainty of those decisions is a positive. The SMART tool is a really interesting concept and adds a level of rigour to those judgments and decisions, and will also encourage high performance systems to consider what type of psychological support is required to help an individual thrive
Dr Ross Roberts, senior lecturer in sport and exercise psychology and a chartered psychologist, who is leading on the KTP from Bangor University added,
“What’s exciting about this project is the opportunity to transfer our in-depth academic knowledge of sport and performance psychology into a commercially viable project with a company we know well. The potential impact we can have together in terms of the support offered to individuals and organisations in high-performance settings is huge.
“This project is all about bringing the team’s collective knowledge together to create something that provides the end user with a smooth experience based on empirical evidence and sound scientific integrity.
What's it all about? Watch this video to learn more about how Bangor University is working with Changing Minds
For more information, contact Dr Ross Roberts
This KTP project received financial support from UKRI through Innovate UK
