Five ways team coaching can improve team performance
What’s the one thing that makes a high performing team? Is it a great leader? Outstanding talent? Or is it the way in which team members work together?
While effective leadership and outstanding talent are essential ingredients in boosting team performance, a successful team relies entirely on effective collaboration. So, how can teams improve the way they collaborate? The answer is through team coaching.
Team coaching provides teams with the tools and communication mechanisms to achieve success. Similar to one-on-one coaching, team coaching involves developing individual accountability and improving performance. What sets it apart is that it involves the development of teams to strengthen lines of communication, streamline collaboration and improve ongoing performance.
Here’s how team coaching improves team performance:
Improves team communication
Team success relies on the collaboration of individuals working towards collective goals. Without effective lines of communication, team success simply cannot be achieved. Effective communication is the basis for how well individuals work together, how feedback is given and received, the way in which individuals develop, and how conflict is resolved.
A team coach will work with teams to help improve these lines of communication. A coach can give teams the right tools and mechanisms to communicate effectively so that they can streamline team projects and improve performance on an ongoing basis.
Makes every team member accountable
When individuals feel accountability for their own mistakes and successes, they are more engaged with their work and more likely to achieve their goals. The same goes for accountability within teams. When individuals (no matter if they’re CEOs or junior executives) feel accountable for their team’s results, they are more likely to reach their goals independently and in collaboration with the team.
Team coaching works with every member of the team to instill a sense of accountability so that everyone in the team feels ownership over the team’s performance and results.
Resolves conflict
Most leaders find conflict resolution is a vital component of their role. A survey conducted by Stanford Business found that 43% of CEOs, board directors, and senior executives consider ‘conflict management skills’ to be their top area of concern. While conflict resolution is an important skill for leaders to possess, it’s just as important for individuals to maintain the skills to work through collective problems and manage disagreements promptly and independently.
Successful conflict resolution is one of the important skills that a team coach can instill in individuals and teams. A coach can give teams the right tools to develop an environment in which effective communication eclipses workplace conflict.
Boosts morale
High morale is a byproduct of effective team coaching. When individuals communicate effectively and reach collective goals, it can help to boost team confidence and morale. And when confidence and morale is elevated, team performance is likely to remain high. It’s a cycle that can be the difference between achieving great business results and the failure to reach important workplace goals. By boosting morale and improving engagement, employees are more likely to achieve their goals independently and with the team.
Lays the foundations for success
One of the underlying capabilities of team coaching is that it successfully instills a coaching mindset in each individual of a team. With this mindset, individuals are better equipped to communicate in the workplace and achieve important business objectives. It also gives them the skills to coach others to gain the same mindset. This is extremely valuable, particularly for training and developing new employees or new team members.
If you would like to learn more about how Directions Unlimited can conduct team coaching sessions with your teams to improve collaboration and performance, contact us: info@directionsunlimited.com.au