Team Coaching
Developmental sessions to lift performance, engagement, and effectiveness, for virtual as well as local teams.
Areas for exploration
Why are you a team, and what type of team are you?
What contribution to the organisation is only possible by virtue of your unique collection of skills?
What are the tensions and unresolved issues that get in the way?
How well do you know each other and what makes you tick?
Teams can struggle to create and sustain the fit-for-purpose environments in which their talents and role-relationships flourish. Aligning on agendas, approaches, and priorities is a challenge at the best of times. Read more about virtual leadership or get in touch if you’d like to crack the nut on your team’s effectiveness.
A client story
This was a global leadership team who did not connect on a deep level. Their interaction outside of ‘update’ meetings consisted of managing the overlaps in their roles; those conversations never went well. They kept escalating to the leader who was fed up and frustrated.
What we did
We dealt with gaps in their alignment whilst taking time to pause and reflect on the experience. I focussed on designing different group processes and methodologies depending on the task and the mood in the team. This allowed them to experiment with different ways of working and engaging with each other.
We clarified their priorities, explored their strategy, and resolved tensions in their resourcing plans. By paying attention to the experience of working together they started to get clear about what helped and hindered. We worked with moments of tension as opportunities to learn about what was really going on, as well as develop the capabilities to address issues quickly and effectively. We created a ‘map’ that represented what triggered them into conflict and confusion and the mindset and resources to work through it. Instead of feeling personally attacked or at fault, team members realised they all had a contributing part to play and a responsibility to each other. They started to learn about learning: noticing what’s happening in-the-moment, making observations, and giving each other feedback.
The outcome
After four workshops they no longer needed me. They discovered their differences and began to appreciate them. They realised their diversity was an untapped resource and critical to success. They started to see the whole-of-the-system that each of their parts contributed to. They paid more attention to their wider function and stakeholders. The leader started to get breathing space for other concerns, and learnt how to ask for help and push back. They made quicker and more confident decisions.
What they said
“We’ve shown our global function that we’re aligned, which gives them confidence. There are structural and legacy issues that will always hold us back but we know that about ourselves. I don’t take things so personally anymore. We value each other’s expertise and go to each other with problems. And when there’s a serious issue we come together to solve it. And hey, we even laugh together now and that was something I never imagined.”
What the leader said
“Thank you for helping us have the conversations we needed to have. For making it okay for me to say what I had to say. And for giving me a push when I needed it.”
What other clients say: