In my first experience as a team coach, I found myself anxiously ruminating about my place on the team. How do I help a team when I have no expertise and very little understanding of the project? If I am not facilitating meetings or offering feedback on content, what am I actually doing? Am I wasting the companies money? How can a team respect me when I don't know anything? Is my presence enough?
During the first couple of status meetings, I was scared and uncomfortable. I kept waiting for an opportunity to resolve some big conflict or solve a major crisis but they never came. What was I here for if the team was operating smoothly? I decided to force myself to ask 1 "dumb" question every status meeting. Quickly I realized that team effectiveness is not just about conflict management but also 1) surfacing the everyday, seemingly small issues and 2) thinking deeply, caringly about the team as a system. Without any stake in the output, I am able to take a perspective that others on the team don't have the mental energy for.
My naive questions help surface implicit assumptions and unintentionally issues that were swept under the rug. The effectiveness of these questions and the response from the team gave me confidence in my value and soon my role was evolving. I started keeping a pulse on team processes like gently altering meeting cadence based on the current context (e.g. helping teams document and make decisions when talking in circles versus helping teams move out of task assignment into a discussion when dealing with a creative problem). Other times my coaching focused on increasing visibility of implicit aspects of team climate/dynamics, especially when teams onboard new members. At times, it was making space to acknowledge people, modeling effective team communication patterns. I realized these single questions, acknowledgments, statements and my presence shifted the lens of the team allowing them to move forward in a more productive way.
I was lucky to work with high performing, dysfunctional, and changing teams. If there is team buy-in, team coaching offers immense value. When working on a team of high performers on a high-impact project, team leaders told me that just my presence increased their intentionality and they became better teammates. Team dynamic became a priority -- no longer a means to an end as it had been on other projects.
What is the role of a team coach?
· Aid in onboarding and off-boarding at the end of a project.
· Identify barriers, leverage strengths and design appropriate strategies to enhance team performance.
· Create space and motivation to implement these strategies.
· Engage in open dialogue around individual and collective behaviors that contribute to poor and good performance.
· Assess and establish processes that: enhance problem-solving and decision making, address communication issues, learn from setbacks, and manage conflict.
What does a team coach do?
· Engage within the team mostly through observation, listening and learning.
· Ask clarifying questions and reflect direct observations during regular meetings.
· Develop and hold teams accountable for goals.
· Recognizes, leans into and resolve conflict at the team level.
· Offer feedback and insights based on interpersonal dynamics and management of key processes.
· Facilitate prescribed strategies that are directed by core team members such as team charters, 1 on 1 coaching, and inflection checkpoints.
· Save me time. Although time might be proactively spent on non-task related components, the coach is devoted to enabling individuals and team output.
A team coach is not an expert, a consultant, a team leader or a team facilitator, which means they DON’T:
· Set the vision, manage roles, make decisions, plan or strategize on content.
· Facilitate meetings (unless directed by core team members)
· Provide solutions or have the answer to team output.
· Take sole responsibility for team dynamics and performance.
· Provide input on individual performance reviews.
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