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Team Effectiveness Coaching:
High-powered Team Development
What Is Team Effectiveness Coaching?
Team Effectiveness Coaching (TEC) is a process created and implemented by WBW & Associates, LLC that greatly increases the effectiveness of teams within organizations. It is particularly useful in culture change environments. This high-powered team development approach is flexible and can be provided in one or a combination of the following ways:
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directly to the team as a group |
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as thought partners to the team lead |
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as thought partners to internal Training Departments or other organization development resources |
TEC is effective for a variety of teams across industries, including front line teams as well as the most senior team reporting to the top of the organization.
Comparison to Individual Coaching
Similar to individual coaching, TEC is a supportive process built around what the team wants to achieve. Unlike individual coaching, TEC is not only focused on individuals within a team, but on the entire team as a group.
Like our Pragmatic Coaching service, we also take a pragmatic approach to Team Effectiveness Coaching. We emphasize practical considerations and consequences, taking into account the overall needs of the business, as well as the team’s and parent organization’s unique history, culture, structure, strategy and business challenges.
Why “Coaching” of a Team?
Unlike training, TEC is more closely customized to the ongoing needs of the team as the team develops. This includes being available for “just-in-time” advice.
“Just-in-time” refers to being available to assist a team needing help with a particular issue at the time they need it. Typical training, on the other hand, is a process whereby a set body of knowledge is transferred. It is often not relevant to the current needs of the team and so is frequently not retained or used.
Teams benefit most from a coaching relationship where the learning derives from mutual interaction with the coach to solve a problem or seize an opportunity the team is facing—whether the issue is within the team or whether it regards some other aspect important to the team’s success.
The First Step
The first step in using TEC coaching is a planning meeting where the TEC coach listens to your needs and aspirations and learns where you are in the team effectiveness process. The coach explains how he or she can best work with the group or other resource. Always tailoring our work to the unique situation of the team being coached, we apply our 20 years of experience on a short-term or long-term basis, according to need.
Areas of Team Effectiveness Coaching
Team Effectiveness Coaching addresses team success factors across a broad range of issues, some of which include:
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Goal clarity - what are the goals, which goals are suitable for the team or someone else, where can the team be most effective |
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Team membership - who should be on the team |
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as thought partners to the team lead |
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as thought partners to internal Training Departments or other organizational effectiveness resources |
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Mutual expectations – what is expected of each member |
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Mutual accountability for results – how will team members be held accountable |
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Problem-solving – which problems need to be addressed and what creative techniques can be used to address them |
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Decision-making – who, what, and how |
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Gaining superior results – how can the bar be raised |
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Openness – how can the team establish an environment of open and honest communication |
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Trust – how will trust be increased and maintained |
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Knowledge and skill development – where, when, and how |
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Team scope – what falls within and outside the team |
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Facilitation and communication – who and how |
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Meeting management – who will handle the logistics of the meetings and how will outcomes be documented and communicated |
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Working practices – how will the group work together and how often |
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Alignment – with management, other teams, organizational goals, job roles |
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Conflict resolution – how can the team turn conflict into insight and innovation |
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Competencies – what, when, how, who |
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Gaining support – how can the team gain support for its success |
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