COACHING IN ACTION GUIDE

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

Team Coaching
Team coaching, despite the absence of an agreed rises quickly from the shadows of its successful
theory, continues to grow. Practitioner-led forebearer, executive coaching.
publications and an increased interest from both
This guide explores how team coaching has
the professional coaching bodies and academic
developed and outlines three tried-and-tested
institutions are supporting team coaching as it
team coaching techniques.
The growth of team coaching
Despite the numerous efforts to
There is almost universal agreement that team coaching is a
relatively new concept that lacks the consistency of definition,
define team coaching, it is evident
practice and empirical evidence (Clutterbuck, 2014; Jones et al, that confusion still exists.
2019; O’Connor & Cavanagh, 2016).

Nevertheless, the demand and interest in team coaching

is growing. The Ridler Report (2016) noted that while team What is team coaching?
coaching accounted for 9% of total coaching, some 76% of the Team coaching definitions have highlighted the importance of a
organisations surveyed expected to increase their use of team common goal, individual performance, group collaboration and
coaching over the next two years. This growth in team coaching performance (Thornton, 2016), increasing collective capability
is being supported by an increasing number of practitioner-led (Clutterbuck, 2014; Jones et al, 2019), as well as the importance
textbooks (see Thornton, 2016; Widdowson & Barbour, 2020). of thinking ‘systemically’ and not just within the confines of the
team (Hawkins, 2017).

What is a team? We define team coaching as follows:

Before considering a definition of team coaching, it is important
to understand what we mean by ‘team’. The word is widely yet Team coaching helps teams work together,
oftentimes loosely used. Indeed, many teams are teams in name with others and within their wider
only. Katzenback and Smith (1993: 45) suggest a team is: environment, to create lasting change by
developing safe and trusting relationships,
a small number of people with better ways of working and new thinking, so
complementary skills who are committed to that they maximise their collective potential,
a common purpose, performance goals, and purpose and performance goals.
approach for which they hold themselves
It is our view that while team coaching will differ in terms of design
mutually accountable. and delivery, team coaching can be used to coach any team that
fits the definition of a team – be it senior leadership, functional,
cross-functional, dispersed, both joint account and client,
temporary, project or virtual.
How does team coaching differ from other key
team interventions?
Despite the numerous efforts to define team coaching,
it is evident that confusion still exists. To help increase clarity,
it is helpful to draw comparisons to some other major types of
team intervention.

• Group coaching: Hawkins has differentiated group coaching,

with its similarity to action-learning sets, as ‘the coaching of
individuals within a group context’, from team coaching, where
‘the primary client is the whole team, rather than the individual
team members’ (2017: 71).

• Team building: Team building tends to focus on improving

interpersonal relationships, productivity and alignment with
an organisation’s goals. It typically consists of short, often
one-day interventions (Kriek & Venter, 2009). In contrast, team
coaching is considered to typically take place over a series of
sessions (Jones et al, 2019).

• Team facilitation: While a coach may at times use facilitation

skills, facilitation can be considered a way of helping a team
manage their dialogue, compared to team coaching, which
aims to empower a team to take ownership for their own
dialogue (Clutterbuck, 2007).

A team coach’s ‘way of being’ is

the most important part of their
becoming an effective team coach,
while frameworks, tools and
techniques aid them in designing Team coaching models and frameworks
and delivering interventions. Given the increased demand for team coaching, it is not
surprising that there is an increasing number of models and
frameworks available for team coaches to use. Three such
examples are given below:
Developing as a team coach
Hawkins (2017) explores the differences between competencies,
Five disciplines of successful team practice
capabilities and capacities. He distinguishes between The five disciplines – commissioning, clarifying, co-creating,
competencies and capabilities: while both are about know-how, connecting and core learning – have been developed both in and
capabilities relate to how the team coach knows when and how to with teams (particularly leadership teams) over a 40 year period.
use and apply the different skills. In addition, he relates capacity to The model is the focus of the work of Hawkins (2017), and offers
one’s ‘being’ rather than one’s ‘doing’, and further states that such: a systemic and multi-disciplinary approach to team coaching
that attends to important external factors, as well as the internal
capacities are not things to be acquired or relationships and perspectives of the team’s work (Lawrence &
places to arrive. Each capacity takes our Whyte, 2017).

whole life to develop.

The META framework
(Hawkins, 2017: 261)
The ‘mobilise, execute and transform with agility’ (META)
Hawkins proposes that the capacities of a team coach will only framework is based on the research of Toye and Price (2017),
grow and develop further if the team coach continues to practise undertaken with over 3,000 teams. The framework features
and engage in supervision. It is our belief that a team coach’s ‘way drive and drag factors that need to be considered for teams to
of being’ is the most important part of their becoming an effective accelerate their performance. The findings demonstrate that
team coach, while the models, frameworks, tools and techniques teams who show all the drive accelerators have, on average, an
aid them in designing and delivering interventions. economic impact of 22.8% higher than that of underperforming
teams (Toye & Price, 2017).
‘Creating the team edge’ framework Figure 1: Creating the team edge
The ‘creating the team edge’ framework, shown in Figure 1,
consists of seven characteristics (described in Table 1) that can be
used by team coaches as a basis for coaching a team. Results from
a study at a leading UK retailer highlighted three main factors that
contributed to improvements in individual and team development,
team effectiveness and team performance (Widdowson, 2017):

1. Alignment of purpose
The teams became aligned in their purpose, values and beliefs,
identity and collective team goals.

2. Psychological safety
The teams developed an increased level of psychological
safety, meaning they could be more open and honest, could
show vulnerability and give robust feedback.

3. Team learning
The teams shared knowledge and best practice with each
other. Table 2 provides an example of a ‘creating the team
edge’ programme.
© Performance Edge 2015

(Widdowson, 2017)

Table 1: Creating the team edge: Seven characteristics and descriptions

Characteristic Description
Purpose A statement of why the team exists. The purpose statement captures the spirit of the team working together to uniquely
contribute towards the goals of its own organisation, its stakeholders and the wider system. The statement only has weight
when accompanied by collective performance goals.

Identity The team works on developing their unique identity. The identity binds them together and constantly reinforces the team’s
positive mindset, energy and motivation. The team identity will be recognised and admired by both those inside and
outside the team.

Values and beliefs Values and beliefs in teams provide a sense of what is right and wrong. The team explores and agrees on the culture it
desires and the values, standards and behaviours that will underpin the team’s efforts. Belief in the team’s purpose, identity
and values are essential for the team to fully perform.

Awareness Teams increase their awareness and consciousness of each other’s strengths and personal preferences, and how to
leverage them for the benefit of the team as a whole. The team also develops an awareness of how it interacts with its wider
stakeholders and system.

Relatedness Teams develop their sense of unity and build mutual trust, support and understanding. Teams invest time in open and
honest conversations to work more closely together and build strong relationships within the wider organisation.

Ways of working The team invests time in setting up the best systems and processes to enable its members to make confident and effective
decisions. The team works on improving the structure of meetings and how it engages with others, in order to deliver
concrete outcomes.

Transformation Teams explore ways to challenge their performance and look for opportunities to test their abilities. The team rigorously
reviews its plans, applies innovative ways to think differently and ensure the team members are always improving, learning
and supporting each others’ development.
 Table 2: Example of a ‘creating the team edge’ programme

Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6

Complete team Design and agree Team coaching Team coaching Team coaching Review: Evaluate
questionnaire team coaching Workshop 1: Building Workshop 2: Workshop 3: return on investment
journey relationships, trust, Awareness, Transformation,
purpose, identity, relatedness and ways action plans and
1-on-1 Team values and beliefs of working commitments
leader + team
members

Team
questionnaire
feedback

Team observation

1-on-1 coaching

Development and support

(Widdowson, 2017)

Applying the theory to team coaching practice A key question to ask is: what
In the following sections, we take three techniques that we have can the team deliver that team
found extremely useful when team coaching and illustrate for
members on their own cannot?
each how they can be used by team coaches in practice.

Technique 1: Team shield – developing team Exercise: Team shield

purpose and values • Draw a team shield divided into five or six sections, like the
one shown in Figure 2 (overleaf).
In this fast-changing world where jobs for life are a thing of the
• Agree on a heading for each section of the shield.
past, individuals and teams want to be clearer about why their
Potential headings are given below:
job exists, what is important about what they do and how it
adds value to the organisation and wider community.
• Purpose
Teams, therefore, also want to be clearer about why and • Vision
how they work together as a team. A key question to ask is: • Goals
what can the team deliver that team members on their own • Values
cannot? • Team charter
• Strengths
This tool can help teams become clearer on their collective • Qualities
answers to these questions. It can be used for teams of • Behaviours
any size and composition, and is probably best used at the • How the team will work with stakeholders
beginning of a team coaching programme. • Team motto

This technique helps teams: • Split the team into sub-groups and task each group to
• develop a compelling purpose, a strapline or team motto work on one of the shield sections for around 30 minutes.
• agree on the values that are important to them • During this time, group members from each group have
• articulate and recognise what they are good at and how the opportunity to collaborate with other groups to gain
they will work with stakeholders within their organisational further insights and check team alignment across the
system different sections of the team shield. Sub-groups can
send scouts out to other groups to share and build on
each other’s ideas.
 Figure 2: Team shield diagram

• At the end of the allotted time, all parts of the shield are
displayed together. The team shield can help teams
• The entire team shares their outputs, asking each clarify their collective answers to
other questions. why and how they work together.
• The team then agrees on any amends, resulting in the
final team shield content.
Top tip
• Finally, the team discusses and agrees on next steps and
• Teams can sometimes find it challenging to craft a
how they will apply the team shield.
purpose statement. It may help to focus on capturing
phrases and ideas first and to gain insight from other
groups before setting to work on your own statement.
 Technique 2: Feedback goldfish bowl
– developing relatedness
Teams often shy aware from having ‘real’, open and honest
conversations. However, it is essential for teams and team
members to have robust conversations, in order to work more
closely together, build strong relationships and, ultimately,
improve their individual and team performance.

Teams that lack trust can often avoid debating ideas and
engaging in difficult conversations. This, in turn, leads to
hidden discussions and team members not openly sharing
their views (Lencioni, 2002). The following technique enables
teams to address these issues.

This technique helps team members:

• increase awareness of their strengths and areas to

work on

• give and receive feedback from one another

• improve individual and team performance

• As each team member receives feedback, another team

Feedback should be given with good
member should be appointed to capture the feedback in
intention and received as a gift. writing for their colleague, allowing the feedback receiver
to focus on listening to what is said. It is important to
rotate this scribing responsibility.
Exercise: Feedback goldfish bowl
• The team member receiving the feedback shouldn’t enter
This exercise can be very impactful and enlightening for into dialogue around the feedback, but should receive it by
teams. It can also be very challenging for team members just saying ‘thank you’.
who haven’t previously provided feedback for each other. It
is therefore important to help the team build connection and • The scribe gives the feedback notes to the team member
rapport with each other beforehand and also for the team who has just received the feedback.
coach to create a feeling of psychological safety and trust. • Once all feedback has been offered and received, it can
• Discuss with the team important aspects of giving and be helpful to leave some time for personal reflection and
receiving feedback. For example: feedback should be for each team member to note down any actions for the
given with positive intention; feedback is received with the future.
appreciation that ‘feedback is a gift’; feedback should be • After the exercise, it is important to ask the team to
specific and, where possible, should explain the impact of consider how they will continue to give and receive
the behaviour. feedback, once back at work.
• Give each member of the team around 15 minutes to In most cases, this proves to be an extremely powerful,
consider and capture their feedback, answering the insightful and, in many instances, transformative exercise for
following questions with regards to each team member: team members.
• In what ways does the team member contribute to this
being a high performing team? Top tips
• In what ways does the team member hinder this being • It is important that the team coach makes a judgement
a high performing team? call on the readiness or otherwise of the team members to
use this technique to give each other feedback.
• Bring the team together in a circle (sitting or standing).
• It is vital that the team coach takes time at the start of
• Each team member takes it in turn to receive feedback
the exercise to contract clearly with team members how
from every other team member.
the technique works and the spirit in which the feedback
should be given and received.
 Technique 3: ‘Creating the team edge’ mini Exercise: ‘Creating the team edge’ mini questionnaire
questionnaire – developing awareness • Share the ‘creating the team edge’ framework with
the team. Outline the seven characteristics of high
While all teams have natural strengths and weaknesses, the performing teams (see Table 1), which were compiled
skills required to be a high performing team can feasibly be from a review of literature, team coaching experience and
developed by any team. The challenge for teams interested in research.
development and performance improvement is knowing what
to develop so that efforts are efficiently spent targeting the • Explain that while this questionnaire is only 7 questions,
right areas. The ‘creating the team edge’ mini questionnaire rather than the full diagnostic of 42 questions, it will still
enables a team to start to understand how they measure up. help to give some initial insight into the team’s strengths
and priority areas.
This technique helps teams: • Team members individually complete the questionnaire
(Table 3), ranking their answers on a scale of 1 to 10.
• find out how their team shapes up against the seven
characteristics of high performing teams

• assess where the strengths are in the team and what While all teams have strengths
areas the team needs to work on and weaknesses, the skills for
• highlight the priority areas that can help the team
high performance can feasibly be
improve performance developed by any team.

Table 3: ‘Creating the team edge’ – team mini questionnaire

Please rank your answers on a scale of 1 to 10.

1 = ‘Strongly disagree’, 10 = ‘Strongly agree’ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Purpose

My team has a clear and compelling purpose,

with objectives aligned to that purpose.

Identity

My team has a unique character and

personality that the team is proud to
identify with.

Values and beliefs

My team’s values and beliefs shine through in

all its work projects.

Awareness

My team understands each others’ personal

preferences and working styles in depth.

Relatedness

My team’s relationships are built on trust

– we are open and honest with each other.

Ways of working

My team is known for the effectiveness of

its meetings – they are thought-provoking,
engaging and always result in a clear set of
actions.

Transformation

My team frequently gets together to

identify new ways it can grow and sustain its
development.
 • Choose how you want to collate the responses; some
suggestions are given below: The challenge is knowing what to
• Create a matrix table on a flipchart, with the seven develop so that efforts are efficiently
characteristics written along the top (Purpose, targeted. This technique enables a team
Identity, etc) and the team members down the side to understand how they measure up.
(see Table 4, below). Ask team members to capture
their responses on the flipchart. You will then be able
to add them up to work out which areas have come
• Ask team members to collectively review their responses
out as strengths and which as areas to work on.
and consider the following:
• Send the questionnaire out before the session and
• What is an area of strength?
collate the responses in advance, adding up totals for
each characteristic. • What is the key area they need to work on?

Table 4: Example summary of responses matrix

Team members Purpose Identity Values and Awareness Relatedness Ways of Transformation
beliefs working
1. Julie 7 3 5 7 7 5 3

2. Jack 6 2 4 6 6 5 3

3. Siobhan 5 4 6 7 5 6 2

4. Russell 5 5 7 7 6 4 4

5. Tim 6 3 5 5 7 5 3

6. Ingrid 8 5 6 6 7 6 4

Total 37 22 33 38 38 31 19

Team average 6 3.6 5.5 6.3 6.3 5 3

 • Facilitate a team discussion and agree answers to the Top tip
following questions: • For each of the questions in the questionnaire, replace
• What are the next steps to work on in order to the phrase ‘my team’ with the name of your team. Then
develop? send the questionnaire out before the session and/or get
different team members to interview key stakeholders
• How can team members leverage team strengths to
using the seven questions. The similarities or variances
help them with this?
of other stakeholders’ answers compared to the team’s
Even though this technique is not the full diagnostic, it can still responses will help accelerate the development of team
be helpfully employed to ascertain the initial views of some awareness.
key internal and external stakeholders.

Conclusion
The increased focus on organistaional purposes that serve a more Above all, team coaching needs more
diverse set of stakeholders along with the increasing reliance on team coaches who are committed
teams to help organisations to perform, is ensuring the continued to developing their ‘way of being’,
growth of the demand for team coaching. This growth can be
competencies and capabilities.
supported by professional coaching bodies embracing team
coaching, leading academic institutions developing accredited
team coaching programmes, more practitioner-led publications,
and a larger body of team coaching literature. Above all, team We look forward to many more joining us on this exciting journey,
coaching needs more team coaches who are committed to and hope that the techniques outlined in this guide go someway to
developing their ‘way of being’, competencies and capabilities. helping coaches take their first steps into team coaching.
Recommended reading

Books Articles and chapters

Clutterbuck, D (2007) Coaching the Team at Work. London: Nicholas Duhigg, C (2016) What Google learned from its quest to build the perfect
Brealey International team. The New York Times Magazine, 25 February
Edmondson, A C (2012) Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate and Hauser, L L (2014) Shape‐shifting: a behavioral team coaching model for
Compete in the Knowledge Economy. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons coach education, research, and practice. Journal of Psychological Issues in
Organizational Culture, 5 (2), 48–71
Hawkins, P (2017) Leadership Team Coaching: Developing Collective
Transformational Leadership, 3rd ed. London: Kogan Page Jones, R J, Napiersky, U & Lyubovnikova, J (2019) Conceptualizing the
distinctiveness of team coaching. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 34 (2),
Kantor, D (2012) Reading the Room: Group Dynamics for Coaches and
62–78
Leaders. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons
O’Connor, S & Cavanagh, M (2016) Group and team coaching. In: T
Katzenbach, J R & Smith, D K (1993) The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the
Bachkirova, G Spence & D Drake (eds) The SAGE Handbook of Coaching.
High-Performance Organization. Boston: Harvard Business School Press
Los Angeles: SAGE reference, pp486–504
Thornton, C (2016) Group and Team Coaching: The Secret Life of Groups,
2nd ed. London: Routledge

References
Clutterbuck, D (2007) Coaching the Team at Work. London: Nicholas
Brealey International
Clutterbuck, D (2014) Team coaching. In: E Cox, T Bachkirova & D
Clutterbuck (eds) The Complete Handbook of Coaching, 2nd ed.
London: Sage, pp271–84
Hawkins, P (2017) Leadership Team Coaching: Developing Collective
Transformational Leadership, 3rd ed. London: Kogan Page
Jones, R J, Napiersky, U & Lyubovnikova, J (2019) Conceptualizing the
distinctiveness of team coaching. Journal of Managerial Psychology,
34 (2), 62–78
Katzenbach, J R & Smith, D K (1993) The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the
High-Performance Organization. Boston: Harvard Business School Press
Kriek, H S & Venter, P (2009) The perceived success of teambuilding
interventions in South African organisations. Southern African
Business Review, 13 (1), 112–28
Lawrence, P & Whyte, A (2017) What do experienced team coaches
do?: Current practice in Australia and New Zealand. International
Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, 15 (1), 94
Lencioni, P (2002) The Five Dysfunctions of A Team: A Leadership Fable.
San Franciso. Jossey-Bass
O’Connor, S & Cavanagh, M (2016) Group and team coaching. In:
T Bachkirova, G Spence G & D Drake (eds) The SAGE Handbook of
Coaching. Los Angeles: SAGE reference, pp486–504
Price, C & Toye, S (2017) Accelerating Performance: How Organizations
Can Mobilize, Execute, and Transform with Agility. Hoboken: John Wiley
& Sons
Ridler Report (2016) Ridler & Co, London
Thornton, C (2016) Group and Team Coaching: The Secret Life of
Groups, 2nd ed. London: Routledge
Widdowson, L J (2017) Creating the team edge. Henley Centre for
Coaching, members’ website. Henley Business School
Widdowson, L & Barbour, P J (2020) Team Coaching. London: Kogan Page
Henley Centre for Coaching journals and to contribute at conferences worldwide. Their writing,
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Authors
our Professional Certificate in Supervision. These programmes
are delivered in the UK at our Greenlands campus, and at venues
Lucy Widdowson
across the world.
Lucy is a tutor at the Henley Centre for
The Centre provides continuous professional development Coaching, a Henley coaching alumna and a
for coaching professionals through masterclasses, webinars, global team coaching thought leader.
conferences, and via online access to journals, ebooks and
coaching research. These are all delivered through our online
learning platform, meaning coaches can connect from anywhere
in the world to engage in professional development. Paul J Barbour
Paul is a tutor at the Henley Centre for
The Henley coaching team consists of leading practitioners and Coaching and a Henley coaching alumnus.
academics who have shaped the coaching profession since the Paul is co-authoring a book on team
late 1990s. They have written many of the most popular coaching coaching with Lucy Widdowson.
books and they continue to publish in leading management

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