Team Business Coaching, How Does It Help
Team Business Coaching, How Does It Help
In world drowning in team building programs, and training platforms, how many of you have heard of Team Coaching? Do you find yourself saying “it’s the same horse, with a different name”? Let’s discuss what’s different, and if you stick with me, I’ll even discuss its advantages.
With team building, the basic premise is that if you assemble a group of people who work together, then get them to complete some sort of task as a group they will become tighter knit, more trusting of each other, and better able to work together as a group. As someone who coached minor sports for more than 15 years, and also led business teams, I fully understand the value of team building. The problem, however, is that team building relies on success based on the hope that what’s learned from the team building activity can translate to the team’s business activity and continue to do so long after the activity is done.
Training, on the other hand, involves bringing in someone generally considered an expert in a certain field, or skill, and relying on them to teach your team that skill. The problem there is that it’s almost impossible to find a trainer who is an expert at the specific challenges your team faces. They generally offer universal training that can hopefully be applied to overcoming the obstacles and adversities your team faces. Again, training plays a very important role in growth, and the pursuit of success, but isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution.
Which brings us to Team Coaching. If, as a business leader, you’ve done everything right, then we can assume that you’ve hired good people, and given them the training they need to do their jobs well. However, teams often still get stuck, or perhaps merely bogged down. Think of it similarly to that time when you got stuck in a mud pit, or snowbank. You tried with everything you had to get unstuck but simply couldn’t gain momentum. That happens in business as well, especially when teams are involved. For a variety of reasons, the team simply can’t re-gain the momentum they once had. As a leader, you’ve analyzed it over and over again and know you have very capable people. Yet they can’t break free.
It's said, “he who holds the problem, holds the solution”. In business, when you’ve hired good people, this statement is poignantly true. It’s virtually impossible to imagine that you could bring in experts who are more qualified than them, to break them free from the stuck. What a Team Coach does is acts as a facilitator who works with the team to help them gain understanding of the problem, unlock the solution and determine a path forward that is comfortable to all team members.
Naturally, one may wonder why the team leader or supervisor would not assume this role? In many corporations they do. Sometimes, however, what is needed is the comfort and security that is offered by an outside source sworn to confidentiality, who offers to act as a liaison or voice for the team, in reporting confidentially what is needed to regain momentum.
I hear it frequently from people who’ve taken the time to assemble a great team and assume that the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts, naturally. Typically, each member will bring a great inventory of individual skills generally unique from their counterparts. When they share their skills and experience openly and willingly, that magic may follow. However, egos, distrust, intimidation, or place-in-community are just some of the reasons why collaboration, innovation, and momentum get stunted. A good Team Coach comes in with the facilitator mindset, not there to give them the solution, but encouraging them to find it within themselves. As they re-start the communication process, build trust, and find their place in the process, they share the tools they can offer. The Team Coach supports and encourages collaborative behaviors and discourages roadblock behaviors. Through ongoing, regular coaching sessions, your company can expect to see higher productivity, greater innovation, better communication, and greater team morale through a stronger sense of ownership.
Shawn Hamill, author of Without A Compass, Charting Course to a Deeper, More Meaningful Life, is a Team and Executive Leadership Coach, Keynote Speaker, and Corporate Trainer