What Is Team Coaching? Understand How It Supports Leaders.

Team coaching is a dynamic tool that supports team development by fostering effective communication, enhancing team collaboration, and equipping participants with techniques and tools that accelerate the achievement of common goals.

Modern organizations are increasingly utilizing this method to enhance employee engagement and the effectiveness of collaborative work.

In this article, we will demonstrate that team coaching is an effective tool for enhancing effective cooperation, explain how it works, and justify why it is worth implementing in your organization.

What is Team Coaching?

Team coaching is a process in which a certified trainer or coach works with a team to achieve their goals. Unlike individual coaching, where a coach works with a single person and relies on their resources, this approach leverages the resources of all group members and their interactions with one another.

This form of personal and professional development can serve various purposes depending on the goal chosen for a given team. It might be developing specific skills and competencies (e.g., interpersonal communication, building relationships, active listening, providing feedback, assertiveness, stress management, time management, etc.). It can also include other goals set by the team leader – it all depends on the business context and what the team needs most.

Generally, we can distinguish the following types of team coaching:

1. teamwork,

2. an individual in a group,

3. a person against the background of a group.

   
   

Teamwork.

The team works toward a mutually agreed-upon goal or task that affects the team as a whole. Typically, this involves developing skills identified by the team leader or achieving a specific goal. The team leader may or may not participate in this type of coaching.

Developmental coaching aims to support skill development and expand individuals' self-awareness. In relational coaching, a key element is focusing on the relationships between team members and building mutual trust. Project coaching, on the other hand, focuses on helping them manage a specific project and achieve its goals.

An individual in a group.

Each participant works within the group for their benefit and the benefit of the group as a whole. The team defines the topic, and it should be universal (e.g., a new business project). In this form of coaching, everyone plays the same role in the group, meaning each participant has equal and full say. All participants must be engaged in the group; otherwise, it will be much more difficult to resolve the issue.

An individual against the background of a group.

In this version, the individual works with their dilemma, topic, or goal. However, the group participates in the background while providing active feedback. Thus, the group acts as a "collective coach" for the individual's benefit.

Key Elements of the Coaching Process.

The team coaching process consists of several stages:

1. Presentation of development opportunities - explanation of how team coaching can help.

2. Diagnosing the team's situation – gathering information about needs. This stage may (but does not have to) be conducted with the participation of a coach.

3. Goal setting – the leader or team collectively sets goals to work on throughout the process.

4. Introduction to the process – a coach prepares participants by presenting the principles of cooperation and responding to any questions or concerns. All participants must be willing to participate in the process.

5. Regular coaching sessions – the coach helps kick off each session and then facilitates its flow. He also monitors progress and helps verify achievements. Team members learn from each other or respond to the coach's interventions.

6. Process closure – summarizing the entire collaboration. In particular, verifying whether the set goals have been achieved.

   
   

Thanks to these stages, the team achieves better results and builds lasting relationships.

Team Coaching and Individual Coaching – What Are the Differences?

The fundamental difference between team coaching and individual coaching lies in the primary goal:

• In individual coaching, the work focuses on the individual and their goals.

• In team coaching, the main goal is the effectiveness of the team and the relationships between its members.

Both approaches can complement each other; for example, a team leader can use individual coaching while simultaneously implementing team coaching in his group.

How Does a Team Coach Work? What Skills Should an Effective Coach Have?

A team coach serves as a guide who accompanies collaborative work and provides support to both the group and individuals. This is a challenging and demanding role, and includes:

• Agreeing on priorities and defining measurable goals.

• Teaching interpersonal communication and building interpersonal relationships.

• Developing mature assertiveness while creating mutual trust.

• Resolving conflicts constructively.

• Expanding the self-awareness of each participant, especially in the area of so-called 'blind spots' and strengths and weaknesses.

• Assistance in developing the individual competencies of each team member.

A good team coach should have:

• Experience in working with a team - practical coaching skills are a good example.

• The ability to listen is the foundation of coaching work and a key competence in interpersonal communication, problem-solving, and relationship building.

• Sense of team dynamics – this involves knowing when to intervene and when to allow session participants to act independently. Generally, the facilitator should be transparent to the group and work in the background.

• Flexibility and a wide range of techniques – on the one hand, having extensive knowledge and on the other, the ability to choose the right approach depending on the situation, are key to the success of the process.

• The ability to ask powerful questions – the most important thing is to ask the right questions at the right time.

• The ability to overcome conflict by using team disagreements as learning opportunities.

It will certainly be an advantage to have professional certifications issued by organizations such as the International Coach Federation (ICF).

The leader's good performance translates into better results for the group. However, the point of this work is for individual members to contribute as much as possible to these results and thus be proud.

A specific example would be a situation where a new team needs to quickly learn good communication skills to get to know each other better and better leverage each member's strengths. A school class might also be a similar team.

Methods and Techniques Used in Team Coaching.

A coach strives to help team members in various ways. This collaboration is a dynamic process, and therefore, depends on selecting the technique that best meets the needs of the moment.

Methods and techniques may include:

• Facilitating discussions.

• Sharing your observations.

• Providing constructive feedback.

• Learning through experience, experimenting, and comparing.

• Creative thinking sessions (e.g., brainstorming).

• Working in smaller subgroups and presenting conclusions to the entire group.

• Role-playing and participating in practical exercises.

• Filming behaviors and analyzing them together.

• Exchange of experiences and active drawing of conclusions, also from one's own and others' mistakes.

• Collaborative creation of lists of good practices.

These tools help teams learn new skills and achieve their goals. One of the methods most frequently used in Poland is Action Learning. Other models used globally include the 5Cs (Context, Clarity, Coordination, Commitment, Capability), GROW, OSKAR, SCORE, and ORSC.

Examples of Team Coaching Applications in Team Skills Development and Management.

Team coaching is not only about improving relationships, but also developing specific skills:

• Effective Communication – the key to good cooperation and achieving common goals.

• Decision-making – clarifying priorities, sifting important matters from less important ones, and working out compromises.

• Time and priority management – better organization of both personal and group work.

Thanks to coaching, the team becomes stronger, more efficient, and its members more engaged and independent.

Team coaching can help in a wide variety of situations. Among them, the following are particularly noteworthy:

• New team – building relationships and trust from scratch.

• Project team – improving the effectiveness of cooperation and focusing on achieving common goals.

• Organization in change – support during restructuring or transformation.

One of the most important aspects is helping to resolve conflicts. This is accomplished through the following main steps:

• Identifying sources of misunderstandings – the coach analyzes the causes of tension.

• Mediation – a coach guides the parties involved to a common solution.

• Building trust, which comes from practicing open communication in a safe environment.

Why is Team Coaching an Effective Work Method?

Team coaching helps organizations in a variety of areas, including:

• Improving team effectiveness – thanks to coaching, teams better utilize their potential. That proves that a team's value is greater than the sum of its members' merits.

• Increased engagement and responsibility – team members feel more motivated when they have clearly defined roles and goals. They also learn that their voices count and that there's something valuable to learn from everyone.

• Solving problems and conflicts – thanks to the support of a coach, the team learns to overcome difficulties and generate new ideas.

• Developing a coherent approach accepted by all – engaging the entire group in developing a new solution guarantees high initial buy-in and subsequent commitment to achieving goals. An example is the development of new employee development strategies in the HR department.

Companies that have implemented this approach to group engagement have noticed a significant productivity increase and a reduction of misunderstandings between employees.

Effectiveness verification - how to measure the effectiveness of group coaching

Measuring the effectiveness of coaching can be done in various ways. Much depends on the goals and how they were set. If formulated measurably, they are the best way to verify work results.

Another method is to use questionnaires and tests. The first group of such questionnaires examines the opinions of participants involved in the process.

The second group involves examining the level of selected skills or behaviors of individuals just before and immediately after the end of all meetings.

The third group includes tools for diagnosing the syndrome, such as DISC, Insights Discovery, and ILM72. In this case, it's also best to conduct comparative studies.

The simplest and quickest way is to use the NPS ( Net Promoter Score ) method and ask each participant to answer one question:

On a scale of 1-10, how highly would you recommend your friend participate in such a process?

On the Internet, you can find many sources describing how the NPS index is calculated and what it means.

Book "Team Coaching. A Practical Guide for Leaders, Trainers, Consultants, and Teachers" - Rafał Szewczak, Joanna Grela, Michał Bloch.

If you're looking for a good book, consider this one, written by three experienced professionals and practitioners. As you can read in the introduction:

Through this guide, they share their knowledge on supporting teams in their development (...), as well as in the formation, integration, and revival of project groups. In the following five parts of this guide, they introduce the topic, present a step-by-step outline of a well-executed process, demonstrate the models, techniques, and tools used by team coaches in their work, touch on coaching supervision, and cite specific examples of successful processes they themselves have conducted.

Summary: Why is it worth implementing team coaching?

Team coaching is an effective method of supporting the development of groups and entire organizations. By working with a coach, teams benefit from:

• Improving communication.

• Increased commitment and mutual trust.

• Higher efficiency in achieving goals.

• Developing the individual skills of each member.

If you want your team to achieve better results, consider implementing team coaching – a tool that translates into lasting, positive changes.

Check out other resources available on the Empowerment Coaching Portal

Find out who is a good coach?

Learn about different types of coaching

Understand the coaching leadership style

Business coaching: what is it?

Coaching vs. Mentoring - Similarities and Differences

A compendium of knowledge on coaching and mentoring