As a business coach, one of your roles is to help leaders improve their team performance and achieve their goals. However, before you can offer any advice or guidance, you need to help them identify the areas where their team needs improvement. How can you do that effectively and collaboratively? Here are some steps you can follow.
The first step is to assess the current situation of the team, using both quantitative and qualitative data. You can use tools such as surveys, interviews, feedback forms, performance indicators, and observation to gather information from the team members, the leader, and other stakeholders. You can also use frameworks such as SWOT analysis, Tuckman's stages of team development, or Lencioni's five dysfunctions of a team to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the team, as well as the level of trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results.
A leader has to start with "Need analysis" to get more clarity on what is required for the team's improvement. A holistic way to doing this by the leader is to - 1. Understand the business goals & objectives 2. Align the capabilities of the team with business and 3. Define the outcomes to be achieved. Based on the above, the leader can create the action plan to elevate the teams' performance.
The next step is to identify the gaps and root causes of the team's issues, based on the data you collected. You can use techniques such as gap analysis, fishbone diagram, or 5 whys to compare the current state and the desired state of the team, and to find out the underlying factors that contribute to the problems. You can also use questions such as "What is working well?", "What is not working well?", "What are the consequences of not addressing the issues?", and "What are the benefits of addressing the issues?" to help the leader and the team members reflect on their situation.
The third step is to prioritize the improvement areas, based on the impact and urgency of the issues. You can use tools such as Eisenhower matrix, Pareto principle, or MoSCoW method to rank the issues according to their importance and feasibility, and to decide which ones to focus on first. You can also use questions such as "What are the quick wins?", "What are the low-hanging fruits?", "What are the biggest challenges?", and "What are the long-term goals?" to help the leader and the team members agree on the priorities.
The fourth step is to co-create an action plan with the leader and the team members, based on the improvement areas and the priorities. You can use tools such as SMART goals, action steps, milestones, timelines, and resources to define the specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound objectives and tasks for the team. You can also use questions such as "Who is responsible for what?", "How will you monitor and measure progress?", "How will you communicate and collaborate?", and "How will you celebrate and reward success?" to help the leader and the team members commit to the action plan.
Use the simple and easy TOM framework for your action plan - T – Time frame (define what is the short-term / medium-term & long-term of the action plan) O – Objectives (define the objective to be achieved by implementing this action plan) M – Measurement (Specify the important metrics that indicate the progress on the action plan) For more on goal setting and action plan read the book "Where's The Moolah? - Financial growth hacking for business profitability"
The fifth step is to provide support and feedback to the leader and the team members, as they implement the action plan and work towards their goals. You can use tools such as coaching sessions, check-ins, follow-ups, and reviews to offer guidance, encouragement, accountability, and recognition to the team. You can also use questions such as "What are the achievements and challenges?", "What are the learnings and insights?", "What are the adjustments and improvements?", and "What are the next steps and actions?" to help the leader and the team members reflect on their performance and outcomes.
While the coaching methodology is an excellent way to support & enable the team to reflect and introspect, a better and more effective way of doing this, is by getting them to work with an external business / leadership coach. Also while providing feedback, using the sandwich method of feedback by the leader, will be an effective way and is likely to be better received by the team members.
The sixth step is to evaluate the results and impact of the team improvement efforts, using both quantitative and qualitative data. You can use tools such as surveys, interviews, feedback forms, performance indicators, and observation to collect information from the team members, the leader, and other stakeholders. You can also use frameworks such as Kirkpatrick's four levels of evaluation, or ROI methodology to measure the reaction, learning, behavior, and results of the team, as well as the return on investment of the coaching intervention.