Team coaching

Team coaching is usually a common small-group development process for managers / leaders working in the same organization. The main difference from training is that the focus of team coaching  is not on a given competency or skill, but rather on real and existing organisational issues and problems.

Although team coaching could also be viewed as a workshop, but in our opinion it isn’t - mainly because it explores the problem not only from the cognitive (e.g. mental/rational), but also from the interpersonal and emotional perspective, and it offers solutions not on the technical level, but in a much broader context.

The key distinguishing feature of team coaching is that it’s a process-based common learning experience, supported by a combination of several methodologies, tailored to the specific organization culture, the needs of the participants and the cases covered.

Action Learning

EQ-Skill believes that Action Learning is the most efficient indoor team coaching methodology. Here the coach acts as a facilitator in the process, s/he only takes on the role of a conventional coach in the discussion phase after the processing of the case. The process is focused on maximizing the learning experience: all participants learn from their own cases and the reflections received, and they also learn from others’ cases on an individual (self-awareness), group and corporate level. The concrete action plan for solving the organisational problem is “only” a by-product of the maximum learning experience.

The aim of the Action Learning group is to support all group members in developing at their own pace in the areas which are important for them on a personal level, or which are important for the organisation in the position occupied by the given participant.

Each group member takes turns in the client’s role, while the others act as coaches to support and confront the group member who is assuming the client position. They focus all their skills on supporting the client to reach his/her objective. It is important to keep in mind that it is not the coaches who will solve the client’s problem. The other challenge for coaches is to keep their questions and feedbacks to the client in sync with the interventions of the other coaches. This is one of the strengths of the Action Learning group: the coaches need to be in tune with each other and to cooperate for a common goal. This is a process with a very strong impact on both cognitive and emotional levels, and in addition to the development of individual leadership skills and facilitating changes in the group.

It also has an impact on the level of the organization: it can help in setting objectives, developing management attitudes, or the internalisation of a leadership role which consciously aims at developing a learning organisation. For that reason team coaching is not a cost saving formula for developing individual leadership skills but a way of OD by shaping the leadership culture.

To summarise the essence of good team coaching in one single sentence: it is a common learning process which serves the aim of improving the quality of all management / leadership  tasks (operative, strategic and people management) through the development of the leaders’ self-awareness in a complex manner.