Welcome to my monthly newsletter where I’ll be sharing my coaching insights and probing some common business challenges. The theme for this month is how an understanding of others can build a stronger team.
Last week I attended the annual Optimus coaching conference where the theme was Connection. While the focus was on how we could connect better with our clients as coaches, it prompted all kinds of other thoughts about how we can connect better as human beings, particularly in the light of our current polarised political climate.
Team coaching can provide a really useful basis to improve connections between team members at all levels. It helps us recognise our differences, to adapt our behaviours to support our colleagues better and to work together in more agile ways that suit everyone, which ultimately creates a better high performing team.
I use the C-Me suite of tools which uses a questionnaire to build up a profile, based on responses to certain scenarios. The resulting scores across four colours are then used as the basis for a discussion of each team member’s ‘preference’.
For example, one team member might be more reflective, ordered and analytical, while another might be more extroverted, creative and possibly easily distracted (that second profile sounds familiar). How do the two work together and can they use these differences to counterbalance each other? How do they behave differently when under stress and how can the rest of the team support them in those circumstances?
Based on team coaching outputs, I’ve seen teams adapt a more nuanced communication strategy for senior stakeholders based on an understanding of different leadership styles and I’ve seen extroverted leaders adapt their meetings to better suit more reserved team members.
In coaching we often talk about peeling back layers of the onion with clients. One of the most powerful impacts of team coaching is gathering people in a room together and watching the conversations between team members as they unpeel a series of onions themselves.
And of course, it’s also an opportunity to create time and space away from the day-to-day grind to allow people to properly reflect on their own behaviours and motivations and together to find ways to improve the group dynamics. If team coaching sounds appealing, then feel free to book in a call.
Murphy Consulting on the road
Next month I’ll be promoting my new practice at the Surrey Business Expo, as one of more than 100 exhibitors. And it’s at Mercedes Benz World in Weybridge, so there’s some automotive history and elegance to admire too. It’s on Wednesday October 8th, 10-3pm, so if you’re local and fancy dropping by, I’ll see you there.