The PHQ team have all had long corporate careers, so we know vividly what it’s like to be part of a team. We have shared our own inspiring and exalting stories… and also the shameful, humbling experiences of being part of a team and also leading teams – attempting to move the same direction – often succeeding and sometimes failing.

We are fortunate to have worked with many leaders over the last 20 years, and many of the same leaders on several occasions, during that time.

I’m currently working with two organisations as an executive and team coach with whom I last worked 10 years ago. One was my old GM, who’s now a CEO of a high-profile financial services business and the other [who was given coaching by their leader/HR as a ‘last resort’] is now also a highly sought-after CEO in their sector.

I’m proud to have been a part of these and other leaders’ journey as they’ve navigated the sometimes really difficult role of being a leader.

I’ve seen them grow as I have grown. They share stories of their formative years in family systems that shaped them. They share about early leadership roles where they were thrust into managing a team with little/no training, little if any mentoring and how woeful they sometimes were. Looking upwards, they apologise profusely to employees that have long-since departed - for the mistakes they made which would have indelibly impacted – negatively! And may I add, I have done the same!

We often hear that being a leader, parent, CEO or just plain growing old is not for the faint hearted. To quote Simon Sinek… “It sucks!”

I’d add that being a team member is also one of the most weird, contrived and scary places to be. Forced into a group setting, often with people not of our choosing that share many differences and points of view that make getting things done near impossible sometimes.

If you have ever worked as part of a really outstanding team, you will know that feeling of absolute clarity, excitement, drive and motivation - that sense of purpose and the way the team ‘clicks’ together. It feels unstoppable.

The flip side is working in a team you couldn’t wait to leave – perhaps more than once? The lack of trust, collaboration, accountability – the proliferation of blame and lack of productivity. No need to labour the point, you quite possibly voted with your feet and went in search of new opportunities.

What we know for sure is that great teams don’t happen by accident. They are crafted. The role of the team leader is key. There’s no room for abdication.

We’ve mentioned in previous blogs and on our website that we’ve undergone some rigorous training in this thing called Team Coaching over the last two years.

One of our mentors Ruth Wageman conducted several decades of research and case studies with teams [mostly senior] which informed her experience and teachings.

6 Team Conditions - The Team Diagnostic Survey [TDS]

She says there are three Essentials [Real Team, Right People and Compelling Purpose] and three Enablers [Sound Structure, Supportive Context and Team Coaching].

Her Team Discovery Survey [TDS], investigates each of these and much more. We are adopting it as one of the diagnostic tools to look at team functionality. For that reason, we’ve invested in the required certification to use it with our clients.

Because a true team needs to be much more than simply a collection of individuals - a highly effective and value creating team interacts and behaves in ways that allow it to perform at more than the sum of its parts.

We know that not all teams manage to perform at this level.

But why?

The reasons are numerous and complex – enough to fill a book [of which there are many!]

Some are complex individual and collective motivations like the clarity of the team’s mission and purpose, the capability of the team’s leader and the physical and emotional environment in which the team operates – lack of trust leads to lack of collaboration which we covered in last month’s blog - all of this and more will undermine a team’s performance, results and it’s ability to serve its key stakeholders.

The Team Leader

We notice those leaders of teams that step forward boldly and regularly into the conversation, communicate requirements, provide regular and ongoing feedback and can bring a level of compassion into these interactions are able to mobilise results from their people. They survive and regroup quickly after setbacks and they don’t blame/make excuses – they’ll honour the role and the responsibility they have to people, as a result of it.

Leaders that engage in their own development as a leader seek feedback and and work hard not to give into the compulsion to get into the detail that came from their prior roles and the technical prowess that typically got them promoted in the first place!

Those that sit back [often for many a good reason] might feel unsupported, worn down, drowned out, tired of fighting for resources, protecting themselves, their people and their territory.

The leader of the team plays a significant role in how the team thrives or not – and in our view also retains ultimate responsibility in its success.

The behaviours they cast – how self-aware they are – their willingness to be coached? Are they willing [truly willing] to hear feedback from their own team? Will they retaliate, ostracise that person or hold a grudge etc?

So, what can be done? Well, this is where Team Coaching comes in. And the obvious next question is - What is Team Coaching?

Apart from being the hottest topic in coaching today, worldwide - how do you know it when you find it?

What we do know is it's probably as important to understand what it's not, as much as what it is. And ensuring we have the correct answer to this question is why we have spent the last twelve months in a concentrated effort of learning – primarily around Team Coaching – from global leaders in this field.

We have studied with the world’s best; we have moulded all of that with a chunk of Australianism [that’s local wisdom to anyone else in the world!] to create what we believe is the absolutely right team coaching formula – for our market and our clients

What is Team Coaching?

What follows is pretty much consensus from across the board. When you look at all of the activity that falls under the Team Leadership Development banner, all of which we at PHQ are involved in – it can be divided it under several headings.

Based on  Dr Declan Woods article “Team Coaching or not team coaching, that is the question”, published in Coaching Perspectives, 2020 — Based on Dr Declan Woods article “Team Coaching or not team coaching, that is the question”, published in Coaching Perspectives, 2020

team consulting

Team Consulting encompasses assessments followed by recommendations, strategy development, advisory and support. Very important, worthwhile, valuable and highly sought after but it's not Team Coaching.

team building

Team Building tends to be made up of games simulations structured group experiences delivered during special events external days out designed to help a team in the early stages to form and get to know each other. Very familiar to many, again very useful sought after but not Team Coaching.

team facilitation

Team Facilitation typically takes the form of a workshop, anywhere from a couple of hours to several days. Quite structured and run by a facilitator to ensure that an agenda, tasks and/or functions are completed.

PHQ has done a lot of these very successfully with great results. But again, not Team Coaching.

team development

Another stream of leadership development falls under the team development heading. More related to using tools and exercises to help teams function better often using specific work activities.

group coaching

Group Coaching is a facilitative process that leverages the resources and knowledge of a group of individuals working on a common theme but having different individual performance goals.

Unlike Team Coaching, in Group Coaching individuals do not need to achieve common objectives for which they are interdependent but have in common just a theme or competency all of them want to develop.

team coaching

This brings us to Team Coaching.

The view that PHQ takes is that Team Coaching is coaching the entire team, in the moment, doing regular work.

That means providing insights, observations and suggestions [that we call ‘moves’] to help the team identify behaviours or pattens occurring in the moment.

This is the accepted thinking around what specifically forms Team Coaching.

The challenge is it requires a confident adroit and considered use of observation and ‘moves’ – nothing about that is simple and easy to achieve and can be a bit of a tight-wire act.

But it’s very powerful.

It requires the coach to not only be skilled and experienced but confident in their ability to be involved in the moment, in the thick of it, whilst not be leading the discussion.

It also requires a lot of the team. They need to be comfortable with the observer. It does not mean they necessarily have to take up the ‘move’ suggested; it doesn't even mean that they allow for the interruption - because right where they're at - they don't want to be interrupted.

Nonetheless that is the part the team coach is playing. They are there by permission/invitation and importantly the meeting is not theirs – they are not running it.

Consider Jurgen Klopp on the side of the field observing his team in action. He determines they could perhaps consider a different course of action to get a better result and he asks permission of the referee to interrupt the game momentarily and provide some insight or observation to his team. The referee restarts the game from where they were and now they get the opportunity to try it differently.

Somewhat inconceivable in the heat of a Premier League match between Liverpool and Man United - but very conceivable in the midst of a team undertaking some really critical and important work in a business environment.

Powerful, immediate, fluid, reflection in-action. Right at the pointy end of things.

Find out more

PHQ have taken the opportunity over the last 12 months to really invest a lot of time, energy and learning into team coaching.

To build on our existing capabilities by working with the best in the world at this new and exciting field of team leadership development. We see this is really where the rubber hits the road.

If you're interested in finding out more about what team coaching is or how it may be useful to your team and your situation - start by asking these three questions:

Is there some specific aspect or aspects of your Team’s performance that you’d like to improve?
Do you find yourself wanting to make things happen faster with the Team?
Do you sense that the Team needs to do things differently, perhaps not pivoting or moving quickly enough in the current environment?

If the answer to any of those questions is ‘Yes’ then perhaps Team Coaching is an opportunity to propel things forward.

NB – You will note we’ve assumed you’re past the point of selecting the right people –that’s a given – but also the first question to answer in the affirmative.

If you’re interested in finding out more about team coaching, get in touch

The Real Secrets to Team Coaching Success