11 Indisputable Benefits of Team Coaching

Team Coaching

The biggest benefit any organization can get from team coaching is that it works for the whole organization or the whole system by which the organization functions. Investing in coaching for individual team members is beneficial, but investing in coaching for the entire team can pay huge dividends in numerous forms. It is because even the most skilled individual cannot perform to the best of his/her abilities in a sub-optimal team but even an average individual can achieve a long-term growth by working in a team that is trained to function to the highest standards.

A company is made up of different segments which need to be well-oiled to function to the most productive level. If any organization overlooks this aspect, then the costs incurred compound in the longer run adding to the detriment of the organization as well its individual members. Team coaching works as the regular greasing which any machinery requires. If the moving parts of the organization are not supplied with regular greasing, then they start to chafe. Trained coaching, asking powerful questions, assessing and evaluating every aspect of the team etc. are some ways how a team coach creates meaningful impact on any team.

Here are the 11 reasons why team coaching is not only a beneficial investment but a necessity in this unpredictable business environment:

1. Helps align team goals with organisational goals.
Team coaching helps to marry the short-term operational goals with the long-term agenda for the development of the organisation or the business. There can be varying agendas which the organisation’s leadership has on mind and the teams operating at lower levels might be unaware of. Team coaching helps amalgamation of agendas and collaborative approach towards shared goals possible.

2. Helps address Team Problems.
A team coaching session can help identify various blocks in an organisation that lead to underperformance. They can be communication gaps, bad working relationships, low performance due to technical issues such as outdated technology in use, gossip during work hours etc. These small yet powerful issues can drain a lot of energy and time diverting the team from achieving its fullest potential. Team coaching helps amend these issues and help the team function seamlessly without any deviation.

3. Helps solve problems.
Team coaching can help identify and solve problems specific to a particular vertical. For e.g., “how do we become more customer-centric?”, “how do we plan our next marketing campaign? “etc. The team can achieve goals more efficiently after learning how to achieve them together. Each individual learns about the role he/she has to perform and team coaching can optimise them respectively.

4. Improves the process of critical feedback.
Evaluating critical feedback properly by the team members is extremely important to achieving goals by the team. Team coaching helps the team to review its performance using best models available. It helps the team to track its place and navigate the way towards achieving goals removing everything which inhibits its progress.

5. Improves responsiveness to change
Team coaching makes it easier for the team to absorb the changing dynamics and provides a smooth plan to work forward. Teams can easily be regressive to change due to many psychological and technical factors but investing in team coaching helps remove those barriers making the team more adaptive and responsive to change.
This can also help change the management style of the organisation without any attrition. (For e.g., transition to the use of ERPs).

6. Helps better communication and serendipity possible.
Deep trust among team members and highly effective collaborative practices are two characteristics of a successful team. Team coaching has shown to improve interpersonal support skills such as listening, questioning, and providing feedback. These skills make the team function in a seamless manner. It brings everyone together and foster communication between them.
One benefit of this smooth function is that due to increased rapport between the employees, serendipity is promoted by much proportions. Businesses need intuitive and innovative ideas and team coaching can help fulfil that need.

7. Helps solve disagreements between team members and arrive at conclusions easily.
The team members might face several moments where they find themselves not on the same page. Or they might not agree with their leadership completely. Team coaching helps resolve those difference of opinions and bring together team members to arrive at common goals easier. Once the goals are clearly stated and understood by all the team members, achieving them becomes much easier.

8. Ensures better coordination between various departments of the organisation.
Team coaching ensures that there is a greater communication between the various verticals in the organisation so that all of them operate on a shared idea for the overall development of the organisation.  Team coaching is aimed at getting quick results and sustained behaviour changes in the team employees.

9. Creates an environment of transparency.
Team coaching makes communication between leaders and employees possible creating an environment of trustworthiness among them. Improved communication makes sure that the leaders and team members cater to each other’s demands and aspirations more efficiently. Leaders share what is on their mind regarding the organisation. This promotes transparency and accountability in the organisation.

10. Leads to the skill-development of the employees.
Team coaching results in creating beneficial and sustained changes in the behaviour of the team members by introducing them to new learnable skills and techniques. This makes everyone in the team acquire new skillset and mindset which reap benefits in the overall productivity of the organisation. Soft skills are instilled in the employees almost quickly and guide for hard skills are provided to each team member. In this, the greater goal of the organisation is kept in mind by the coach.

11. Demonstrates organizational commitment to human resource development.
The very consideration an organisation shows to help its employees excel in their careers and knowledge promotes the environment on mutual help and trust in the organisation. Since the organisation invests in its employees, they are motivated to work with better enthusiasm for the organisation.

Team coaching can be extremely helpful during painful times in an organization such as drastic changes in management, mergers and acquisitions, political games, toxic behaviors, poor communication where individuals are not able to align themselves around certain goals, lack of safety or trust etc. Team coaching helps streamline these processes and help the organization maintain its relationship glue with its members.

This information has been Compiled by the Team of the Best Executive Coach in India Dr. Vikas Vats