Before starting my journey as a Coach, I worked during 18 years in a multinational company, managing teams, and training people from different areas. It was a moment of learnings and I can say that every single day I learned something new. It was expected, as I worked with people and people surprise us every day.
And it was since I started my journey as a coach (I will have the opportunity in another occasion to explain why I started this journey), that I began to familiarize with the Coaching Competencies of the International Coaching Federation (ICF), and everything started to make sense. There were somethings that I already did naturally, that I develop over the years of experience. But there were others that just after learning the ICF competencies began to make sense. Now all together is part of a structure, and if we were faithful to that way of thinking we can get the most of our teams. I can guarantee that combining the experience of managing teams with the knowledge of the Coaching competencies worth gold.
My objective in this article is to transmit some simple concepts, that will help your teams reach a high level of performance. First through some initial considerations, and later with 3 types of intervention we can do in Team Coaching.
Initial Considerations: Team Coaching vs Individual Coaching
- A Team is not a group of people, it has its own identity.
- The objective should be a Team Objective.
- The Coach focus is on group behaviour and to lead them to success.
It is also important consider that the Team needs to be well dimensioned in relation to the project needs; to have Team members with the right skills; and a specific work methodology.
Team Coaching Interventions
After having into consideration, the previous remarks, we are ready to act at Coaching level. But let me remind that the ICF coaching competencies we use in Team Coaching, are the same ones we use in Individual Coaching.
This are the 3 types of intervention in Team Coaching:
1. Motivational Intervention
The Coach intervention at this level has a concrete objective: to build a commitment between all team members. It will be fundamental that roles & responsibilities of all team members will be well defined. And as a result, we will maximize the success probability.
More specifically, this first meeting should define team’s mission, the vision that will guide them, the operational rules & the values that define them. All to be done in the first work session.
2. Developement Intervention
The team will have its meeting dynamics, but the Coach does not need to be always present. The Coach has to choose the moments where his intervention adds value to team’s work, ensuring that the team is faithful to the defined strategy at a high level of performance.
The key aspects where the Coach must focus are:
– Active Listening: with special attention to the team members interactions. What really matters if the behaviour of the team and not individuals.
– Decision Making: the team needs to make decisions to walk towards the goals.
– Conflict Management: the Coach hast to intervene to solve the conflicts and they do not affect the team performance. There are typically 2 types of conflicts: creative (several competing ideas) and negatives (“that is not going to work”).
– Sharing moments: it is not necessary to have big celebrations, but small moments for the team breathe fresh air and gains energy, celebrating the small achievements
3. Reflexive Intervention
It is important to analyse the whole process at 3 levels:
– Each team member should self-evaluate, evaluate the team & then share it.
– The Coach’s feedback to the team must be factual, concrete & not motivational.
– Recapitulation between all the learnings, and obviously celebration. We have to celebrate Life & Work .
In summary, a leader, guided by the ICF coaching competencies, will have guaranteed success. If in addition to that, you have a well-defined structure to intervene in Team Coaching, success doubly guaranteed.
Do you want an autonomous, motivated & high performing team? This is my guide for success.
