What is Team Coaching

By Martin Solway,

When you think about team coaching, many people think about sport. Hardingham (2004) suggests that in sport the objective of team coaching is clear: enabling a team to win; while in business that clarity is not always there. I think there is more to it and actually regardless of organization, there is one proven ingredient to effectiveness: a common purpose.

In essence, this also defines a team, compared to a group of individuals. In order to act in harmony, the individuals in the team need to be aligned and understand their strengths and roles to where they act seamlessly, while being adaptable to change.

Recent research has shown a need for teams to consider the broader ecosystem, within which they operate and how their connections impact what they are trying to achieve. This is particularly important in a complex environment, where General McChrystal (2015) in his book "Team of Teams" argues for the need for teams to create a diverse array of connected elements, rather than being complicated, where parts are joined together in a linear fashion.

The definition of team coaching, I am most drawn to is two fold. When considering the team as a single entity, Hawkins and Smith (2006) define team coaching as:

"enabling a team to function at more than the sum of its parts, by clarifying its mission and improving its external and internal relationships."

Starting to think more systemically, Peter Hawkins (2017) defines team coaching as:

"a process by which a team coach works with a whole team, both when they are together and when they are apart, in order to help them improve both their collective performance and how they work together, and also how they develop their collective leadership to more effectively engage with all their key stakeholder groups to jointly transform the wider business."

I would change the last sentence to include "wider organization," which then includes any team across any domain (business, charity, sport etc...). Hawkins (2018) goes further to highlight five levels of team intervention:

Team Facilitation - where the coach enables the team to do its work better
Team Performance Coaching - where the coach helps the team to achieve its goals
Leadership Team Coaching - where the coach enables the team to lead more collectively and effectively
Systemic Team Coaching - where the coach helps the team engage and co-create more effectively with its stakeholders
Transformational Systemic Team Coaching - where the coach enables the team to recognize and respond to the emerging needs and challenges of the wider ecosystem in new transformative ways

For me, we often underutilize the diversity of thought, creativity and curiosity that exists within organizations. Using a coaching style to encourage, challenge, focus on adding value and ultimately change mindset to continually learn and grow as teams, will help get the best out of people. For any impact to become sustainable, we need to create a coaching culture, where the team becomes self-operating and coach themselves and others.

Coaching is nothing new, with Socrates voicing the concept over 2000 years ago (Whitmore, 2017). Whitmore (2017), argues that a coaching style should be a part of everyday life and society, to which I agree. Every individual has potential and when individuals join forces as a team, their potential is far more powerful. For me, team coaching co-creates and works with the team to unlock and maximize that potential, while helping the team connect to its wider ecosystem to achieve its common purpose.

Coming back to sport, I believe even sports teams have moved beyond just winning and looking to have that greater purpose to connect to their fans and community to have a lasting impact. This requires a change in mindset and approach, that ultimately creates positivity, whilst advancing society.

I would love to get your thoughts.

References:

Hardingham, A. (2004): The Coach's Coach. Personal development for personal developers. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Hawkins, P., and Smith, N. (2006): Coaching, Mentoring and Organizational Consultancy: Supervision and Development. Open University Press / McGraw Hill.

Hawkins, P. (2017): Leadership Team Coaching. Developing Collective Transformational Leadership. KoganPage.

Hawkins, P. (2018): Leadership Team Coaching in Practive. Case Studies on Developing High-Performing Teams. KoganPage.

McChrystal, S. (2015): Teams of Teams. New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World. Penguin Business.

Whitmore, J. (2017): Coaching for Performance. The Principles and Practice of Coaching and Leadership. Nicholas Brealey Publishing.