Dr. Loubna Noureddin is a keynote speaker, executive coach, leadership scholar, civil war survivor, orphans advocate and CEO of Mind Market
getty
Workplace environments are evolving, and we have seen a great transformation in how leaders are taking action to improve retention and advocacy. Many companies have incorporated team coaching into their leadership development strategies to nurture a culture of inclusion and collaboration. The questions I attempt to explore here are: How does team coaching impact team outcomes, and how can you integrate team coaching into your toolbox of coaching programs?
When done right, team coaching can bring diverse teams closer together and improve dialogue and understanding among team members. It allows more reflective team members the opportunity to speak up and contribute to the work environment. It also allows more driven team members to pause and listen to the perspectives of other team members. Team coaching is a tried, tested and true method for creating a long-lasting impact on a team's strategic direction. The secret sauce is in taking the right steps to access and leverage team skills and capabilities.
Team coaching can become vital for nurturing a stronger sense of purpose and a more sincere relationship between the leader and the team. When you focus on specific outcomes and invite your team to contribute to the process—as opposed to telling or micromanaging—you inspire the team to own the process and commit to your agenda. When managers experience team coaching, they co-create better workflows and establish a foundation for consistent clarity and alignment. Setting your team up for success lies at the heart of great leadership, and understanding your team’s strengths and capabilities can be your key to developing highly effective teams.
Managing performance and team collaborations stand as two responsibilities that inevitably fall on your shoulders as a leader. When you invite open dialogue, and when your team feels heard and seen, they typically become more vested in promoting mutual purpose and outcomes.
Having a clear eye on results is a unique leadership strength, but when you rush toward results with little interest in your team’s point of view or expertise, you miss a piece of the puzzle of improving team performance and effectiveness.
By focusing on mutual purpose and using individual strengths and capabilities, you set your team up for success. This translates to getting results faster with less chaos and less stress. When team commitment and engagement become part of your strategy, team coaching can support your outcomes.
Here are four approaches to help facilitate team coaching in your workplace:
1. Get to know your employees. Make a genuine effort to listen to your team's values, motivators and stressors. Use evidence-based assessments to explore your team’s strengths so you can build on their innate skills and motivate them to stretch beyond what they see possible. The whole is only as good as its parts. Teams that leverage their strengths and differences tend to get results faster, with more quality and less stress.
2. Encourage open dialogue. Silence doesn't mean agreement. While your idea may be incredibly evolved and farsighted, your team may have a more realistic view of what is possible in their current environment. Ask questions and be humble enough to listen to their fears and challenges. Gift your team the safety to speak up so that your presence invites creativity and meaningful insights. As ideas flow, things may get messy, yet through team coaching, you allow congruency to surface and for potential solutions to create potential owners of the change. When you tailor future actions around team feedback, you begin to demonstrate that you value team input, which ultimately drives your team to want to commit to the new.
3. Encourage self-awareness, not judgment. Focus on team development as opposed to criticism and codependence when conflict arises. When working to improve your team, first work on yourself. Be aware of your triggers and patience as you build healthier leader-team dialogue. Invite a professional coach to facilitate coaching conversations. Become part of the team, rather than the owner of solutions. Developing others is often among the lowest competencies of top leaders, and when you foster self-direction, you begin to let go of unnecessary control. This process can be humbling or challenging, yet more rewarding by far. Keep your eyes on the road ahead and beware of your personal bias. Patience may be your biggest challenge as you manage change conversations. A team coaching approach invites your team to own the process instead of pushing change to the finish line. Developing others takes time, as well as recognizing that the rush for results is shortsighted. Stop putting out fires and finding the next corner on fire. Fight the urge to react to fires, and build a proactive mindset.
4. Focus on well-being. Team coaching can have a resounding effect on employee well-being. While it can be important to add a yoga class or offer a wellness fair, well-being is a daily, intentional process that starts with inclusive team practices. When your team feels safe and trusting, they become more open to sharing their struggles and challenges. They begin to build deeper connections and readily support each other to solve complex, urgent and expensive problems. When you give your team the opportunity to collaborate and design actions, they will exceed your expectations. As with health, the cost of well-being is noticed in its absence. Team coaching invites your team to share vulnerabilities, discover limiting beliefs and uncover new ways to adapt to challenging situations together.
You may not be able to predict the next pandemic, natural disaster or global crisis, but you can develop your team to thrive through mutual purpose, collective strengths and commitment to change.
High-potential teams thrive when barriers, such as unproductive conflict and work style differences, are eliminated. Plan time for the people side of the business, so you sustain your business outcomes when the next challenge arises.
Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
