The success of team coaching proves that leadership does not have to be maximized on an individual basis.
In fact, focusing on developing a team of leaders often leads to better outcomes than a purely individualized approach.
Using an approach that focuses on the entire team leads to more than individualized improvement.
Just like with a sports team, team growth is best achieved with an approach that takes the group’s collective strengths and individual skills into account.
However, there are many other benefits to using a team-focused coaching approach as opposed to individual coaching.
This article details how to perfect your approach to team coaching and the many benefits of this approach.
What is Team Coaching?
This coaching style focuses on helping teams achieve their goals while building or maintaining an inclusive environment.
Team coaches can unite a team around a common purpose, develop a team culture, boost their productivity, find their role in the organization, become inspired, and be held accountable.
When leaders use a team-oriented approach, they learn more about how employees interact with one another.
Collaboration among team members is naturally encouraged and leaders can find ways to optimize the effectiveness of their collaboration.
The insight into employee interactions can help a team leader and employees mitigate conflict, gain empathy, clarity their work purpose, and understand how each individual plays a unique role in the company’s success, thus motivating team members to boost their morale. Generally, the approach finds ways to create a more collaborative team.
What are the Advantages and Benefits of Team Coaching?
Team-oriented coaching offers a plethora of benefits. For instance, there is no better way to unite a team than by proving they are all vital members of an organization.
When you coach a whole team, each individual becomes motivated because it is not just their success at stake, but the success of an entire organization.
Support systems also become highly developed, so no one feels left out. Positive team dynamics start to flourish after you commit to team growth.
Each person gets to use a range of skills to contribute to the team as a whole. However, collaborative skills are especially developed with a team focused coaching approach.
Additionally, these other benefits show team coaching is advantageous:
- Additional leadership insights into how the team communicates and works together, so leaders can make informed delegation decisions.
- Internal relationships are developed so resources are exchanged quicker and more effectively.
- Inclusive environment allows employees to feel heard and validated. Employees feel the coaching lifts all employees instead of just some.
- Conflict resolution and more productive team conversations.
Coaching Techniques and Examples to Lead Your Team to Success
Effective team coaching relies on several different techniques, each contributing toward creating the perfect coaching method.
The following strategies can help you improve your coaching skills and make your coaching sessions more effective.
1. Build trust
Everyone in your team needs to be connected by the leader. You just understand each member’s strengths and weaknesses to get an entire picture of your team’s strengths to ensure their work aligns with their abilities.
To ensure your coaching is met with a positive response, the group must trust you. One commonly utilized technique is active listening.
Take note of your discussions and after employees finish speaking, confirm what they have stated to show your interest.
2. Display your emotional intelligence
EQ is crucial for being a great coach. While identifying an employee’s weakness may not be difficult, it can take a lot of emotional intelligence to find the root cause of the problem.
Ensure you try putting yourself in your employee’s position to understand their barriers.
3. Be motivational
Coaches and leaders often unintentionally demotivate their employees when stressed, for they resort to aggression or authoritarian leadership.
You must assess how your team views you, both in the current moment and during chaotic times. Understand what motivates your employees, and consider using incentives.
Now, workers will start performing tasks to meet their goals and for their own progression, not because you simply told them to act a certain way.
4. Realize the importance of accountability
Accountability is the key to making team discussions, improvements, and goals meaningful. Be clear when making due dates, ascribing tasks, or setting goals.
Keep track of progress over the long term write down tasks you need to perform, as well as encouraging others to do the same.
5. Prove you have passion
If you simply have business experience, you may not necessarily be a good coach. You must be equally capable of inspiring others, realizing their potential, and helping others succeed.
Do not expect your team to be passionate and productive if you do not set this example. Ask yourself what you are passionate about, and which activities you get fully immersed in.
Ensure you incorporate elements of such activities into your job.
6. Utilize learning cycles
True leaders never stop learning. Hearing different perspectives and utilizing new techniques can make you a better leader and add to your coaching skills.
Try researching other coaches from a high-performance team and see which methods you can use in your company.
Team Coaching and GROW Model of a Team
The GROW acronym stands for: Goal, current Reality, Options (or obstacles), and Will.
It was originally developed in the 80’s by coaches Graham Alexander, Alan Fine, and Sir John Whitmore. This model helps teams understand how to develop and achieve goals in a step-by-step manner.
Goal
See what your team wants to achieve or which behavior you would like to implement or eliminate. Goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Bound.
Ask your team to participate in discussions about maximizing team performance and team effectiveness, and encourage them to ask questions, such as whether the goal aligns with their career desires or how you can measure goal achievement.
Current Reality
When you overlook your current situation, you may forget to optimize the approach you take toward achieving the goal. Solutions may start emerging after you ask employees about their current situation.
Ask them, in a team setting, to describe how the goal aligns with their ideals, how their skills can be used to build an outstanding team, if the goal competes with other personal goals, and if they have already taken steps to achieve the goal.
Options or Obstacles
Now that you have a goal your team can agree on, determine the possible ways you can achieve it. Brainstorm options with your team and discuss which may be the best approaches for each member.
Team coaches should provide their own insights, but also encourage others to share their beliefs for a personalized and fresh perspective. Ask: do you have any obstacles that prevent you from reaching a goal? What factors will you use to consider in the options? What is the advantage to each method?
Will or Way Forward
After following the prior steps, your team should have a collective awareness of how each individual can contribute toward reaching the goal.
Now, members must get committed toward performing certain actions. Doing so will make them motivated and boost team member effectiveness.
Good questions include: which tasks will you perform? When will you do them? Which obstacles may come in your way and how will you overcome them? How can you stay motivated? When should we review your progress?
Team Coaching vs Group Coaching – Differences and Similarities
The two coaching types sound almost exactly the same, but there are subtle differences that differentiate the two coaching methods.
Team coaching involves coaching people with a similar goal or desire. These individuals are aligned and have common or shared needs when it comes to coaching.
Team coaches must be skilled in bringing people together and furthering teamwork skills and team development, but they do not necessarily have to be experts in the field a group focuses around.
The goal of team coaching is to boost team compatibility and help the organization achieve its goals by motivating people and helping them see their potential.
The style is more useful for new teams as opposed to teams who already have strong internal relationships.
On the other hand, group coaching focuses on helping people with shared interests, but they may not have the same goal.
For instance, a group of people can be interested in developing leadership skills but each individual has their own goal for how to apply such skills.
These sessions put emphasis on goal setting, accountability, and ways to take action.
Coaches have to build a growth environment where mistakes and questions are permitted, as they encourage growth.
This can be a more general and less specific type of coaching, and it serves as a good follow-up to another coaching (it improves learning retention).
Team Coaching Case Study
Teams often struggle with keeping up the rate of progress when new leadership is introduced.
One team had this exact issue: a new leader has difficulty connecting with his team, and the team also wishes to impact the business’s performance with their increased performance.
Team coaching helped the team becoming more trusting of one another as well as establishing a more productive and open workplace.
The employees were able to address conflicts while maintaining relationships and developing interpersonal skills.
Each time someone made a commitment, they became more likely to follow through when realizing the team’s reliance on their skills.
Also, the group connected over common goals and values. Because of this, the team was able to become more supportive of its members while still challenging them.
Team coaching helps leaders address issues in their business’s internal communications and other processes.
Team Coaching FAQ
What do you expect from team coaching?
There are a number of important benefits you can expect to gain from team coaching. For example, you should start to see your team be more united. There should be fewer conflicts and gossiping.
Additionally, communication skills should be improved. Team members will likely learn new skills and problem-solving techniques with the help of a team coach. In general, you should also see employees feel more confident in their skills and their ability to achieve goals.
Overall Conclusion Of Team Coaching
If you view one-on-one coaching as inefficient but still wish to optimize your business, consider using team-oriented coaching.
This way, you can address large groups of people at once. As a coach, you can help employees find their strengths and motivate them to play a role in your business’s success.
Since the approach is group-oriented, expect productivity, collaboration, and empathy to increase in employees while lowering the occurrences of conflict.
In the long run, coaching can help you stay connected to your team and it ensures your organization stays united.
It can turn an average team into an ultra-productive one, given the right amount of time and effort from coaches.
