Are you looking for new and exciting ways to develop your employees? Would you like to maximize your training dollars? How about build a culture of feedback and mutual accountability? Sounds too good to be true? Welcome to the concept of Team Coaching. It accomplishes all of this and more. Please enjoy this Case Study on Team Coaching.
Situation
One of our clients approached us asking for help and guidance on how to develop his team of four managers on a limited budget and within a tight timeframe. Basically he was looking for “the biggest bang for his buck”. The team was made up of entry level managers in a global life sciences organization. Each manager on the team had approximately 2 to 4 years of experience managing teams of 5 to 15 people. Their leader, our client, was a senior director with over 15 years of leadership experience. The goal was to elevate the leadership skills and strategic thinking of the management team.
Action
We created a Team Coaching program that incorporated:
a strategic group project
leadership skill building
a team building event with the managers and their employees
one-on-one coaching for each manager including a 360 assessment
The team met approximately once a month over a 6-month period. The sessions had two components:
Creating a new strategic vision that focused on how their department could add value to the overall organization
Skill building around leadership skills such as communication, building teams, coaching employees, and strategic thinking
After each session the managers journaled about what insights they gained from the meeting. Specifically, they responded to the following two questions:
What did you learn (content, facts, different perspectives, etc.)?
What management tools/techniques (process) can you take away to use with your team?
In between the Team Coaching Sessions the management team met to support each other and work on the group project. At the end of the program the management team presented their new strategic vision to the SVP of their department.
Results
The comprehensive approach used in this Team Coaching program offered many benefits. Since the team focused on identifying and solving a real work challenge and received one-on-one coaching, it created a culture focused on both big picture strategy and personal development. The managers were exposed to the challenges each of them face and learned how to leverage and support each other. This exposure expanded their knowledge base and will enhance future collaborations among the managers.
The opportunity to present their strategic vision to the SVP was a key component to the project. It encouraged the team to stretch their thinking beyond the day to day challenges of their roles and think about the value they can add to the overall goals of the organization.
Specific benefits included:
Improved strategic thinking
Increased collaboration between the managers and their teams
Created a culture of learning
Encouraged peer-to-peer accountability
Leveraged team members’ strengths, talents, and skills
Enhanced emotional intelligence
Provided a forum to give and receive valuable feedback
Solved for relevant, current business challenges
Built coaching skills
Expanded internal networks
Elevated leadership skills
Improved presentation creation and delivery
Could your Team benefit from Team Coaching?
Click here for our free Team Coaching Readiness Inventory.
Comments