SPEED: The Ultimate Guide to Powerful Team Coaching

The vision of leaders needs the muscle of teams to fulfill. – Coacharya

Why Systemic Team Coaching?

Most corporate leaders have heard about coaching at the individual level, even if they are not aware of the process and competencies. What corporate leadership may not be aware of is that individual coaching has limitations.

While individual coaching can help individuals change their mindset and behavior, it doesn’t automatically lead to organizational change. The idea that individual coaching can directly improve organizational performance (ROI) is a misconception. Even when individual coaching incorporates a systemic approach, considering the perspectives of stakeholders, individuals often struggle to influence their teams and the larger organization.

Systemic Team Coaching , which includes individual work when needed, overcomes these limitations by connecting individuals, through their teams, to the broader organizational goals. It addresses both individual and team needs, aligning them with the organization’s vision and objectives. This approach extends beyond traditional coaching, incorporating training, facilitation, mentoring, counseling, and consulting, all within a coaching framework that promotes self-awareness by challenging limiting beliefs and exploring different perspectives.

What is Systemic Team Coaching?

In all kinds of systemic team coaching work, the team is accountable along with the team members, the coach being the catalytic guide. At the mastery level, it’s a process of integrating individual awareness with collective consciousness. The effect of individual involvement in the co-creation of decisions works at multiple levels:

Allotting collective responsibility does not translate into collective vision or individual responsibility. Management practices such as the Japanese Ringi try to avoid this dilemma by involving each member of the team in decision-making. Group synergies produce better results than individual inputs separately coordinated. Co-created and collaborative design and manufacturing borrowed from Toyota Way changed the way global industries work since the 80s. Groups can be emotionally bonded as teams to raise organizations from good to great.

To help groups work as teams:

• Develop a meta-objective vision that is structured with thematic and emotional content to be evidence-based, purpose-driven, and impactful.
• Act in an uplifted, emotionally bonded state in a safe and trusted space
• Develop upon their strengths supported by appreciation
• Share experiences, stories, legends, and metaphors
• Let the team control ownership with a right-brain co-created solution

Some of the facilitating competencies are:

• Emotional bond in trust and authenticity
• Awareness of liming beliefs, individual and collective
• Curious, empathetic, generative, and appreciative communication
• Accountability to deliver more than the organizational brief
• Balancing right and left-brained approaches in developing a creative solution with a practical structure.

The ‘How’ of Systemic Team Coaching: SPEED

As the first step, the coach with the client company leadership must discuss pain points to agree on the broad nature of desired outcomes. This process may take multiple meetings and surveys with leadership, team members, and stakeholders. The contracted systemic brief serves as the guideline for the team and its members. The SPEED process that follows the coaching to the desired contractual outcome comprises the following 5 steps.

• Share: Stories that emotionally bond the group as a team
• Produce: Co-create a vision aligned with organizational goals
• Evoke: Awareness with exploration and reframing
• Evolve: Accountable action plan
• Design: The journey to desired goals

Share: Fostering Connection through Shared Stories

The purpose of this step is to create a psychologically safe space for team members to share their stories vulnerably and authentically, fostering emotional bonds and a sense of shared purpose. Team members will briefly share:

• Personal Transformation: Highlight a significant personal experience (Hero’s Journey)that has shaped them.
• Contribution to the Team: Discuss how their experiences can benefit the team and the organization.
• Support Needs: Identify areas where they need support to contribute effectively.
• Appreciation: Express gratitude to a fellow team member for their sharing.
• Respectful Dialogue: Maintain a positive and supportive environment, avoiding criticism.

To ensure meaningful sharing, the following time allotments are recommended:

• Smaller Groups (10 members): 15 minutes per person
• Larger Groups (20 members): 30 minutes per person

A full day may be needed for a group of 20 to complete this stage effectively. This is a sacred space for respect, awareness, and spiritual growth.

Produce: Co-create a Vision Aligned to Organisational Goals

The purpose of this session is to build on the energy of the previous team-building session by co-creating a shared vision that aligns individual aspirations with organizational goals. To achieve this, team members will:

• Gather Diverse Perspectives: Incorporate the viewpoints of both internal and external stakeholders, including future-oriented perspectives.
• Engage in Collaborative Exploration: Break into smaller groups of 4 to discuss and integrate diverse ideas.
• Embrace Creative Thinking: Utilize right-brain techniques to explore innovative solutions without constraints.
• Visualize the Future: Create visual representations of potential future scenarios.

This process typically takes 2 hours for a team of 12-15 members.

Evoke: Awareness with Exploration and Reframing

This step focuses on generating diverse perspectives and reframing challenges to identify innovative solutions that align with the vision and goals. The coach may employ various frameworks to facilitate this process, including:

• Visualization Techniques: Leveraging deep sensory awareness to stimulate creative thinking.
• Theory U and Constellations: Exploring multiple perspectives and systemic relationships.
• Polarity Mapping: Identifying and balancing opposing forces to achieve optimal outcomes.

For roughly 4 hours, teams are encouraged to think big and explore innovative solutions, unburdened by resource constraints.

Evolve: Creating an Accountable Action Plan

The purpose of this step is to develop a detailed action plan, using the OKR (Objectives and Key Results) framework. This involves setting clear individual and collective accountability to ensure successful implementation. While corporate leaders often appreciate this step, they may be hesitant about the accountability component.

This process typically takes up to 4 hours, with smaller functional teams (such as supply chain, production, marketing, sales, and integration) working independently to address specific areas.

Key Elements of the Action Plan:

• Clear and Specific Goals: Ensure that goals are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) and aligned with the organization’s overall objectives.
• Defined Timeline: Establish a clear timeline with specific deadlines for each task and milestone.
• Resource Allocation: Identify and allocate the necessary resources, including budget, personnel, and equipment.
• Accountability Framework: Clearly define individual and team responsibilities, as well as external stakeholders who may be involved.

In most cases, these four steps can be completed within two days.

Design: The Journey to Desired Goals

This stage involves creating a visual dashboard that outlines the 9-12 month journey, highlighting key milestones, deliverables, and potential risks. The key elements of this dashboard are:

• Weekly Team Check-ins: 2-hour internal team sessions to monitor progress.
• Monthly Coaching Reviews: 4-hour sessions with the coach to review progress and address challenges.
• Post-SPEED Action Planning: Develop a detailed action plan within a week of the SPEED session and share it with the coach.
• Quarterly Stakeholder Feedback: Conduct feedback and feed-forward sessions with external leadership stakeholders every three months.
• Document as a Case Study: Create a detailed case study for internal knowledge sharing and future reference.

The Power of the SPEED Process

To read and understand SPEED as another visioning exercise or an action plan development exercise would be missing the philosophy of this process.

• The Crucial First Step: Sharing – The first stage of sharing is a crucial team-building exercise that must be followed up by the team leader and organization.
• A Balanced Approach: Right Brain and Left Brain – The coach facilitates the first three steps using a right-brain breakout-of-the-box approach with supportive techniques. The last two, which are more structured, also need to follow a coaching approach.
• Empowering Teams: A Hands-Off Approach – The coach must deal with the team as an entity, leaving the team to deal with conflicts and problems on their own taking ownership.

Coacharya’s SPEED in Action: A Case Study

Coacharya has successfully applied the SPEED process to diverse challenges across various industries, including Technology, Banking, Financial Institutions, Manufacturing, Public Sector, Multinational Corporations, and NGOs. These applications range from vision co-creation and team building to strategy development, performance enhancement, people engagement, cultural shifts, and new product/service launches.

A Case Study: Transforming a Multinational Giant

A global multinational corporation with over 10,000 employees in India sought to overcome plateaued growth and achieve sustainable revenue and profit growth. The CEO and CHRO, along with 12 key leaders, engaged Coacharya to address this challenge. The Challenge:

• A climate survey revealed a collective tendency toward conflict avoidance among the leadership team.
• Despite aspirations for improved company performance, the team struggled to translate these aspirations into concrete actions.

The Solution: A Tailored SPEED Intervention

A two-day in-situ intervention was designed to:

• Build team cohesion
• Co-create a shared vision
• Explore innovative options
• Establish a structured approach
• Develop a comprehensive action plan

Key Strategies:

• SMART OKR Contracting: Leveraging the insights from the climate survey, SMART OKRs were established to align individual and team goals with the organization’s overall objectives.
• Virtual Coaching and Reviews: Regular virtual coaching sessions and internal review meetings were conducted to provide ongoing support and accountability.
• Individual Coaching: Selected leaders received personalized coaching to address specific development needs.
• Collaborative Problem-Solving: The team collectively identified and prioritized 12 key issues, categorizing them into four major themes. Subgroups were formed to delve deeper into each theme, with external experts invited to contribute fresh perspectives.
• Continuous Improvement: The team maintained weekly sessions and monthly check-ins with the coach to track progress and refine their approach.

The Impact: After six months, the team achieved significant results:

• Improved Business Performance: Enhanced contracting processes and optimized business operations led to increased profitability.
• Leadership Development: The development of new leadership roles and divisions fostered innovation and growth.
• Technological Advancement: The adoption of advanced technologies streamlined processes and improved efficiency.
• Enhanced Communication: Clear and effective communication channels were established both internally and externally.

By effectively applying the SPEED process, Coacharya empowered the leadership team to overcome challenges, drive innovation, and achieve sustainable growth.

Ready to Transform Your Teams Through SPEED?

Don’t let your organization plateau when breakthrough performance is within reach. Coacharya’s proven SPEED framework has already transformed multinational giants – your team could be next. Book a consultation with our expert coaches today and discover how SPEED can:

• Unite your teams with purpose
• Drive sustainable growth
• Create lasting organizational change
• Deliver measurable results

Contact Coacharya now to begin your organization’s transformation journey with SPEED coaching.