Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Team Coaching Characteristics

As someone who has been active in the context of team development for more than two decades, I am often asked what is the difference between team building, team coaching and other team interventions. I explore this topic of team coaching in my latest book From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013).

As I write in Chapter 6, some of the characteristics which are foundational to any team coaching context are that the work is:
  • "Conversationally based.
  • Sustained conversation: typically coaching takes place over multiple touch points
  • Incorporates strengths work, key focus areas, goal setting and action planning
  • Establishes, and revisits, team agreements. These team agreements become accepted ways for the tam to operate.
  • May include some skill development so teams can achieve their goals or become more effective. For example, teams may struggle in having difficult conversations. Providing teas with a model, and some skill practice in this area, can be useful.
  • Focused on outcomes including action and accountability.
  • Deepened awareness around issues facing the team in the interpersonal and productivity realms."
Source: Britton, pp. 137-138, From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching, Jossey-Bass, 2013. All rights reserved.

How do you distinguish team coaching from other approaches? If you are undertaking team coaching, how do you describe your work to sponsors and teams? What differences do you notice in impact and focus for teams?

Have a great week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, PCC, CPCC
GroupCoachingEssentials.com | PotentialsRealized
Phone: (416)996-8326

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Jennifer Britton, MES, PCC, CPT is known as a thought leader in the area of group coaching and brings extensive experience in working with teams and groups globally since the late 1980s. She is the author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013). Jennifer works with organizational clients in the areas of leadership development, coaching skills training, and teamwork. She also offers a number of ICF-approved CCE programs for professional coaches. She is the founder of Potentials Realized, a Canadian based performance improvement company. More information at GroupCoachingEssentials.com and Potentials Realized.com.

2 comments:

Corporate Team Coaching said...

Group coaching is an extension of the coaching process. Coaches will want to lead from their core coaching skills, as well as remembering the importance of curiosity, holding your clients resourceful and complete, focusing on action and awareness along with accountability.

Corporate Team Coaching

RobertNelson said...

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