About the Author
Cindy Phillips has a passion for helping leaders tap into their potential, as well as that of their employees. She works with leaders in transition, and especially enjoys working with those new to a leadership role. With over 17 years of technical leadership experience, Cindy draws from her own experience as a leader to coach and consult others. She also specializes in implementing change strategies, and assisting leaders to successfully lead those efforts. Cindy’s talent for mobilizing teams into action has led to her success with clients such as DOE, NASA, FAA, DOD, IRS, Alcoa, Verizon, Harley Davidson, Wells Fargo, SAP, Arrow International, and Thales Communications. In parallel, she completed a Master of Business Administration, and a Ph.D. in Human & Organizational Development.
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March 3rd, 2008 •
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If this caught your eye…then you might also be experimenting with a form of Team or Group Coaching. I have been developing a flavor of this with Senior Leadership Teams for over two years, and I am anxious to see who else might want to share stories and ideas about the topic. Here is how I define it:
“An individual and team development process that uses an integrated combination of interventions to improve collaborative leadership skills and team performance.”
Tell me how you define it and how you use it!
Popularity: 37% [?]
Comment by Andrea J. Lee on 11 March 2008:
Hi Cindy, I just love this topic.
One of my favorite resources on the team conversation is a website called http://www.teachmeteamwork.com. It has a ton of featured teamwork games (via online video) to facilitate experiential learning in a team setting. Great if you’re doing a workshop and need some spice!
For me, as I contemplate your line of inquiry, I realize I’m asking myself - what’s the difference between a group of people who’ve come together to learn something or be coached as in a workshop…
and a previously prescribed set of individuals brought together for other reasons. Improving the performance of those other reasons are what makes them a team, and sometimes, that team may wish for coaching.
How do you see it being most important that we have a common definition of team coaching? Are organizations buying team coaching per se, using that terminology? Or is it leadership coaching for a group and maybe the term is of questionable value at this moment?
There are lots of gaps in my knowledge here - I’m excited to have you help illuminate this at the Commons.
Comment by cphillips on 12 March 2008:
Thanks Andrea for your resource- always looking for those!!
For your questions- it appears you also share a positive view of team interventions…and the challenge to what is new or different with “team coaching” is a valid one!
We have tried in our model (one of many) to distinguish it from other team building (TB) activities..one because many do not work or sustain much change…and two - it seems some have lost interest in TB stuff.
In some ways, team coaching could be leadership development for a group. It’s most cost effective that way….and we feel it is more like a real work environment.
We add some systematic elements of assessments, one-one coaching, and peer coaching, which seems to separate us from other interventions. Our clients do buy it that way..but we labeled it, they did not.
I want to continue to refine this model…to build more sustainable coaching methods..that go beyond training or simply an experiential activity.
What is your biggest frustration working with groups?
Comment by Andrea Lee on 12 March 2008:
Perhaps team coaching could benefit from something I’ve heard about coaching couples at an ADHD coaching conference. It’s this:
When coaching a couple, it can be useful to consider the presence of a thing called the ‘third entity’ which is the relationship. In other words neither the one person nor the other is the client (you are not coaching two individuals); the client is in fact the relationship or third entity.
Is there value in asking the question - is there a third entity in any team coaching activity? Is there such thing as ‘the good of the team’ that is what’s truly being coached? If so, perhaps that is the doorway through which we’re walking when we advocate a team coaching approach.
This is different again from a scenario where say Coach Smith has individual sessions with 5 people in an organization. When Coach Smith meets all 5 people in one group and coaches them together, that is when this idea of a ‘team coach’ becomes interesting, yes?
Intellectually stimulating for sure but I’m also thinking about usefulness here. Does the above notion have legs from the perspective of the person who signs the checks?
When your clients have purchased your team coaching Cindy, what were they buying really, if it wasn’t the thing labeled ‘team coaching…?’ Maybe we can work backwords to sort this out. I like the idea of some robust language that coaches could use to forward the case for team coaching engagements, and I’ll ask a couple of former organizational clients to see if they have comments to add to the mix.
Comment by Ruth Ann Harnisch on 13 March 2008:
Our own John Bennett is currently putting the finishing touches on a book on team coaching and he gave me a sneak preview earlier this year. Andrea, his work addresses your point precisely: when coaching a team, it is mandatory to establish - and make sure everyone on the team knows - who or what the “client” really is.
If the “client” is a project or an objective, it must be made clear to everyone and the process should honor the client’s needs.
Comment by John Bennett on 15 March 2008:
Yes, the work my colleague, Wanda Craig, and I have done in the area of coaching groups has found that it is important to make the distinction about “who or what the ‘client’ really is” as well as the type of group being coached. To the first point, often coaches in organizational settings find themselves making the distinction related to the client: person being coached, organization, coaching service provider, corporate coaching practice manager, etc. We have also found that groups are different from teams in terms of coaching. The focus of team coaching is on helping the group become a team focused on a shared goal to accomplish a task or mission. This is an “intact team”. Coaching individuals in groups may have a different focus based on the the linkage among and between members: affinity groups or affilitated members. As you can see, the client varies, the relationship to the client may vary, the relationships among members may vary, and the specific focus of the work may vary. As a result, coaching groups and teams is complex–perhaps more complex than coaching individuals. We have found this type of coaching is best suited for experienced coaches with specialized knowledge, skills, and experience.
Comment by cphillips on 16 March 2008:
Good thread…I would agree that coaching the third or other entity called the team, is a very good distinction. And as John has indicated, clarifying the client..whether it is the team or the senior leader, etc.. is an important step in my mind..and one that is sometimes difficult.
I agree, we have positioned the coach in this situation as the 21st coach- one who can easily flow between consultant, coach, faciliator, or instructor. It’s what I enjoy most about it.
I wonder if we could discuss when this “team coaching” initiative is best suited - how can it be differentiated from team building?
Comment by Jacki Nicholas on 20 August 2008:
Hi all - it’s great to be hearing what fellow group and team coaches are doing! Some of you might be interested in a global Group Coaching Survey I’m currently conducting. So far, coaches from 30 countries have responded.
The survey is in English and takes about 10 minutes to complete. It is open ended in nature to aid discussion. Although originally intended for executive group coaching, other group coaches have also responded which is most welcomed.
All participating coaches are entitled to a free copy of the results, which will be available in October.
The survey deadline is 15 September 2008. Just click in to the link to complete it. Remember to hit ‘Done’ after the ‘Thankyou’ message to submit your responses.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=IWM1XtBvi7aD9LCHinV_2f3Q_3d_3d
Feel free to forward the link onto any other coaching colleagues who you think might be interested.