Team Coaching – What, Why and When?

September 16, 2021

by Management Dynamics

We have been working with teams for decades, and in the last 18 months have seen the need for teams to be supported increase substantially.

Moving to and sustaining high performance in a team is tough and takes time especially in a VUCA world. It needs to be an intentional and managed journey. Leading teams to high performance is a complex skill because the context and people are complex and keep changing.  However, the reward is well documented in terms of results where its possible to gain a 3x increase in productivity and engagement.

Many leaders and teams have no idea where to start and so that’s why we recommend a team coach. Its important that the team coach works with the team over a period of time with a clear goal of what the team is striving for, not just a one-off event. Getting those high performance goals clear is key at the beginning. The coach is aiming to develop all the team members to become self-sufficient.

Team Coaching is distinctively different to Team Building

Though it may involve some aspects of team building- team coaching is distinctly different from a team building activity. It is a process for the team to really understand their Reason – why they exist and what they all contribute. It’s about having real clarity of who does what and the Routines needed to support the achievement of those Results. The team’s Relationships are fundamental to working together and having constructive conflict where people can voice concerns and ideas. Finally we all know how important Resilience is to organisations and individuals – it’s just as important to teams as well. This is where the team sustains its performance as things change and evolve.

Where they learn from success and failure. And where the team members notice individuals energy levels and sustain and support each other. The coach supports the team on the journey, providing direction and tools and adapting to the needs of the team at any one time. A cookie cutter approach is not appropriate. The team needs bespoke support for what’s going on for them at that moment.

Team coaches challenge norms and current practices, and enable insights. Team coaches allow everyone to have a voice and be heard, and hold the team accountable to follow up on actions.

Great team coaches are a sounding board and provide a mirror, as well as various tools and processes which help the team experiment with new ways of doing things. Our team coaches generally work with teams for anything from 3-12 months. In just a few months we see an increase of 7-13 % across the all the team dynamics we measure.

If you’d like to know more, get in touch with us to find out how we can help you and your team.

Get in touch with friendly experts

Whether you are looking for some expert perspective into your organisation, want to elevate your team performance but don’t know where to start, or want to know what we had for breakfast – get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

Get in touch
Women in Business with Jenni Miller

Discussing what it's like to be woman in business and balancing being an entrepreneur and...

The Benefits of Collaboration

Collaboration is an important part of most roles. Whether it’s two people working together on...

Advantycs: The latest research data on high performing team dynamics.

The latest research data on high performing team dynamics...

3 Trends in Leadership Development for 2023

We’ve identified 3 key areas for leadership development professionals to pay close attention to throughout...

4 Trends for Teams in 2023

We’ve identified 4 key areas that team members and leaders should keep an eye on...

Pharmaceutical Firm: Change, Capability and Collaboration

Supporting the Global Procurement Team (GPT) of an industry leading Pharmaceutical Company to drive its...

Wood: Leadership Excellence

We designed a programme of high-quality modules, offering an optimum balance of workshops, Action Learning...

Bacardi: Building Relationships, Communication and Feedback Skills

Our solution supported the team to bond further and create an increased level of mutual...

Download the Advantycs® white paper

Download the Korn Ferry Prospectus

Sign up to our newsletter