Coaching the Team at Work

David Clutterbuck
Nicholas Brealey Publishing © 2007
276 pages
[@] getab.li/8444
Book:

Rating Take-Aways

7
8 Applicability • A team is a limited number of individuals who share goals and the responsibility for
achieving them.
6 Innovation
6 Style • Coaching teams is more complex than coaching individuals.
• Coaches can help individuals and teams develop their potential and improve their
overall performance.
 
Focus • Teams are part of a larger structure. Members should place team performance above
individual contributions.

Leadership & Management • Teams are most likely to encounter issues and challenges in interpersonal interaction,
Strategy timing and operations.
Sales & Marketing
• Coaches can help teams improve in these areas. For instance, they can lead teams to use
Finance better processes by asking focused questions.
Human Resources
IT, Production & Logistics • Coaches guide teams and individuals to greater levels of self-awareness.
Career & Self-Development
• Coaches help teams achieve their goals and master skills.
Small Business
Economics & Politics • Coaches help evolving teams learn.
Industries
• For coaching to work well, a team must recognize the need to change.
Global Business
Concepts & Trends

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getabstract

getabstract
Relevance
getabstract
What You Will Learn
In this summary, you will learn:r1) What coaching is; 2) What challenges are involved in coaching teams; and 3) How
to coach teams.
getabstract
Review
Coaching is a complex and, at times, slippery concept. Is it teaching? Encouragement? Therapy? Leading? The
answer is always, “It depends.” David Clutterbuck does a fine job of explaining in detail just what it depends upon.
He combines an impressive array of research and experiential accounts into an overview of the topic. He starts with
coaching in general, then focuses on the even more complex process of coaching a team. Clutterbuck is clear and
honest. He makes a point of identifying where different approaches to coaching clash and, more generally, explaining
what is and isn’t known about team coaching. He includes many models and metaphors for coaching, and often
presents his key points in list and table form. As a result, getAbstract suggests his book to anyone who is responsible
for coaching teams, and to those who must lead teams or serve on them. The main weakness of the book is a corollary
of its strengths: Clutterbuck works so hard to include all major coaching models and perspectives that the reader
may have to do some sorting.
getabstract
getabstract

getabstract
Summary
getabstract
Your Job as a Coach
The word “coach” is related to the word “coax”; that kinship points out some of the meaning
of the word. To coach is to bring out possibilities in others that they have not yet realized.
As a coach, you will work in a fairly “formal relationship” to help employees develop
a greater understanding of what they’re doing. You might help people reach their goals,
getabstract either through assisting them in developing skills or offering them emotional support, or
“All coaching starts both. Coaches guide individuals and groups through business experiences as they learn
with a need to change.”
getabstract to ask better questions of themselves and others. Coaches work according to one of two
broad models:

1. “Traditional” coaching – The coach helps learners define and reach their goals, much
like a sports coach working with athletes. Both agree on what each learner needs to do
to achieve his or her goals, and the coach tracks the process and shares feedback.
2. “Developmental” coaching – This approach is rooted in Socratic questioning,
using open-ended inquiries to motivate learners and help them examine their
own performances.

Coaches offer guidance several ways, based on each learner’s ability and motivation. If
getabstract
“Coaches act as
you are coaching someone who is highly motivated but in need of stronger abilities, make
external stimulators to suggestions for improvement. If you work with someone who is both motivated and able,
the potential that other ask questions to help the person use his or her abilities. If you are trying to coach someone
people hold within
them.” who is both unmotivated and incapable, tell him or her what to do. If you coach someone
getabstract who is able but unmotivated, endorse the best course of action and inspire motivation.
The best coaches shift their approaches as needed. Because of coaching’s emphasis on
individual growth, people sometimes associate it with therapy, but the two differ. Coaches
focus on helping functional people achieve their goals, while therapists help those with
broader challenges, including such illnesses as depression.

Coaching the Team at Work                                                                                                                                                             getAbstract © 2014 2 of 5

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 When you coach an individual, first identify what the person needs to change. Then
observe his or her circumstances, and gather information. Identify specific goals and make
plans to help the person achieve them. Rally your client’s motivation. Once the plan is
under way, create opportunities for learning, monitor how the person progresses and share
getabstract feedback along the way. If you are being coached, don’t be passive. Voice your concerns,
“Team learning is listen well, contemplate the coach’s observations and communicate openly so you build an
a key component
of organizational ongoing relationship.
learning.”
getabstract
What is a Team?
Companies use teams because they are the best way to “organize complex work.” Teams
link individuals within the larger organization and provide a mechanism for making focused
decisions about overarching strategies. Nevertheless, it is easy to go overboard. Companies
shouldn’t use teams to handle every task. In some cases, working alone is superior.

Don’t falsely label a large or amorphous group as a team, because that will create false
expectations. A team is something very specific. Teams have a small number of people
getabstract who share goals and depend on one another to reach them. Teams are part of a larger
“Organizations employ
teams because they social structure. Teams have boundaries; some people belong to the team and others do
have found this is a not. Members communicate with one another in a more structured way than people who
more effective way to
organize complex work are part of a larger group. Team members expect some “personal discomfort” as the price
than any alternative yet of mutual cooperation, and sometimes must put the needs of the team or other members
designed.”
getabstract above their own. Team members fill specific roles and shape their behavior to meet the
needs of the team.

Companies can classify teams by how they are managed, by what type of tasks they do
and by the degree to which members depend on one another. Teams can work with an
external manager who sets their goals, and determines their structure and processes. Or,
teams can “self-manage,” setting their own goals and directing their own processes, with
the help of an external manager who provides support and protection. A “self-governing
getabstract
“Coaches help the team team” thinks about its purpose and determines why it’s seeking specific goals. Teams can
improve performance, also be identified by task. In “simple teams,” each member does the same work (like
and the process through
which performance
election workers sorting ballots). “Relay teams” complete tasks in a sequence, as on an
is achieved, through assembly line. “Integrative work teams” handle different but related tasks, like a surgical
reflection and team performing an operation. Finally, “problem-solving teams” define problems and try
dialogue.”
getabstract to achieve innovative solutions.

How to Coach Teams

To coach a team, use the same skills you use to coach an individual, but apply them different
ways. Team coaches focus on helping the group understand its processes and improve its
performance. Individuals often know their tasks and goals more clearly than teams do, so
start by defining objectives and the steps necessary to attain them. This does not mean
simply crafting a mission statement; too many teams do that, and then file the document
getabstract away and never look at it again. Instead, start the coaching process by establishing the
“A fundamental issue
in creating [this] habit of asking the right questions, continually, as an ongoing process. Encourage team
climate is to enable members to inquire about their goals, their control over their circumstances and how others
the issues that affect
team performance to will evaluate performance. Press for responses, but expect more solid answers to evolve
surface.” over time because both the team’s members and circumstances will change. People will
getabstract
grow as individuals as a result of your coaching. And, of course, some people will come
and go. Relationships expand and change. Help each person examine his or her relationship
with other team members, with the job and with specific tasks.

Coaching the Team at Work                                                                                                                                                             getAbstract © 2014 3 of 5

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 A good coach should be able to help a team adopt new practices and complete its familiar
processes more efficiently. Teams frequently get stuck in repetitive approaches to dealing
with conflict and communication. As a coach, help your team examine those habits, assess
them and fix them. This can boost the team’s position in the company and improve its
getabstract relationships with other teams.
“The team coach’s role
is not passive or soft; it
is both predictive and The Flow of Information
responsive, supportive
and rigorous.” To guide your coaching, gather as much information as you can. Observe your team
getabstract members individually and as a group. Identify issues that team members should discuss,
individually or jointly, for the benefit of the team. Each person can work on these matters
and communicate the results to the team. As you strengthen peer-to-peer communication,
you will multiply your positive impact. Still, coaching a team is more complex than
coaching individuals. Basic concepts like confidentiality – relatively easy to maintain
when coaching a single employee – become more complicated. Strike a balance between
protecting the rights and needs of each individual, and giving the team the information it
needs to function.
getabstract
“The effective team
coach needs to be Decision making is a particular challenge. Help individuals improve their decision-making
able to respond abilities by fortifying their insight and rigor. Understand that team members will make and
appropriately and
often without time for commit to decisions at different speeds, for different reasons and in different ways. Guide
preparation to a whole the team through the process of reaching conclusions until everyone is ready to decide.
range of issues.”
getabstract Agree on the decision and how to implement it. Don’t force decisions or dissipate the impact
of a good one by implementing it poorly. As the coach, your role is to guide your team to
produce solid decisions that have members’ backing and commitment.

A team needs support from management. As coach, you must work with company leaders
without displacing them in the organizational structure, either symbolically or emotionally.
getabstract If you are coaching a team, you’ll probably meet first with management and the members
“Although team
members don’t have to determine your role and the team’s goals. Coaches help team members clarify how they
to like each other will pursue their goals, from deadlines to performance evaluations. Help them build the
for the team to
function well, there skills required to work as a team. Engage them in ongoing dialogue about how the process
is a minimal level of is working. Review their performance periodically. As they gain additional skills, shift
rapport, mutual respect
and understanding
your focus. Help them master knowledge transfer within the team, and guide individuals
required to sustain the as they take over leadership positions. When the coach-team relationship ends, hold a final
communication needed “outcome review” to help your team members articulate what they have achieved. Share
for consistent high
performance.” the results with senior management.
getabstract

How to Coach a Learning Team

As contemporary companies implement “organizational learning,” teams play an
increasingly essential role. Teams are the bridge between individual learning and the larger
organization. A “learning team” exists for mutual acquisition of knowledge; its function is
getabstract to gain understanding, to share the process of learning and to develop each individual.
“The ability of the
team to [manage]
task achievement and Your team could exist just for learning or it might have other tasks, but most learning teams
continuous learning share several qualities. First, team members generally feel as if they own their learning, their
is heavily dependent
on their individual goals and processes. Such teams use multiple resources, and are open to learning anywhere
and joint emotional at any time. They expect to learn as a group and as individuals, and they know they will
intelligence.”
getabstract need to share what they have learned, with the team and with the larger organization.

Though work teams generally have other leaders, coaches often manage learning teams,
because their performance depends on leadership that can create “an environment suitable

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 for learning.” That means exemplifying the behaviors you want your team members to
enact, openly expressing what and how the members need to learn, and inviting mutual
coaching from team members. Learning teams are very democratic and accent dialogue.

Stimulate “reflective preparation” to ensure that your team’s dialogue is productive.

Show team members how to examine their individual and group expectations about their
conversations. Hold your team back from making judgments, so members can explore new
areas without foregone conclusions. Allow this exploration to play out until the team is
“dancing at the edge of chaos,” when people become uncomfortable because they’ve moved
getabstract
“Making judgments into genuinely new territory. This takes time, and requires certain social and emotional
is the end of an qualities that you can help establish. Coaches can help team members feel safe as they
interaction, so people
who make judgmental balance conflicting perspectives. Show your members that their ideas are not always
statements have correct, and then have them use their mistakes as part of the learning process. Give everyone
effectively decided that
the dialogue...is over.” a voice in determining how the team will work and learn.
getabstract
On well-established teams, members may have tacitly agreed not to discuss certain topics.
These agreements can become barriers to learning, so help your team surmount them. Some
individuals resist new information, so you may need new tactics. Let people who are open
to new information help assimilate it for the team. Sharing information can be difficult, due
to technological challenges or lack of a formal system. Help your team articulate a cycle of
consecutive goals, based on what they want to learn, how they will learn it, how they will
review their knowledge and how to reward their efforts.

How to Manage Team Coaching

Often, coaches have to respond immediately to complex issues, so think ahead about the
challenges that may arise so you can lay the groundwork for their solutions. For example,
you can anticipate that you’ll need to handle “interpersonal dynamics.” Your team members
don’t have to like one another, but they must have a basic level of “trust and understanding.”
If you expect conflict, prepare yourself to step in, and steer it quickly into productive
channels away from personal attacks. Once you defuse the immediate conflict, guide
getabstract
“People are often a
your team away from discord and toward productive interaction by reviewing its goals,
lot more creative than motivations, values and methods. Accentuate positive shared achievements. Raise their
they think. They simply “emotional intelligence,” boost their confidence and nurture their ability to handle stress.
get out of the habit of
creative thought.” Since people learn and work at different speeds, be ready to intervene in time-related issues.
getabstract Team members can improve their processes by sharing their individual orientations toward
time, and establishing a common vocabulary for task and time management.

Help your team manage its “key processes.” Determine when you should intervene, and
offer feedback and support. After you clarify team and individual goals, examine the
team’s major processes. Ask questions to sharpen everyone’s perception of each step. Help
your team engage in more comprehensive “systemic thinking,” which builds capacity for
decision making, conflict resolution and communication. This fulfills some of your goals as
a coach, including increasing your team’s general competence and preparing its members
for “self-coaching.”
getabstract
getabstract

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About the Author
getabstract
David Clutterbuck, a coach, mentor and consultant for 25 years, has written nearly 50 books and hundreds of
articles. The former New Scientist news editor and “serial entrepreneur” is also a university lecturer in England.

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