TIPs to Kick Start Your Next Team Coaching Assignment

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Team coaching is a retreat to your profession if you enjoy adventures. Every human being is unique, so are the teams which consist of diverse human beings. So your approach for team coaching need to be adapted to team dynamics. How ever I hope below tips would build your confidence to start your next coaching assignment.

Start with your Intentions and hopes for the teams

As an Agile team coach when I go on board of coaching assignment, I’m cognizant with what their needs, desires and how I bring value to them. I ask myself why do they need a coach? What intentions I have for the team?

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1.?????Clarity: This goes beyond teams’ awareness on current state of agile processes, tools. But offering them systematic view by helping them to see themselves as well as interactions, dependencies with each other in the team and with their stakeholders. I also help them to see, hear voice of their system. The inner calls, whispers & yells they might ignore due to work pressure may be. By this helping them to see through their limitations as well as their potentials to survive and thrive as a team

2.?????Hope: Agility is about hope. Agile manifesto begins, we are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others to do it. The word Uncovering” got deep meaning. Its more about emergence over rigidly planned process. ?Its not about knowing everything. But it is being hopeful, curious to learn and adapt to what unfolds. When teams feel stuck, I help them to reflect their hopes. What your team still can hold on to in difficult times? It’s what that you worth fighting for? This is inspired by dialogue between Frodo & Sam Lord of the rings movie

3.?????Growth: A reinforcement and path to continuously learn and grow as human beings and high performing teams

4.?????Self-Sustainability: Like in “Hero’s journey, after a great adventure they should return to new land and settle with new norms and values. ?Team need not be dependent on superheroes, mentors and coaches. I help them to grow team capabilities so they can continuous their journey with minimal support of coach.

Understand the Context

When I undertake multi-team team coaching assignment, I carefully look at 5 things

1.?????What kind of connection the teams have with each other? Are those connections healthy, constructive, or challenging?

2.?????Stakeholder analysis to understand the influences & expectations they for individual teams and and overall program

3.?????What are the healthy patterns, what are the dysfunctions?

4.?????What is the energetic field of the team and their X FACTOR that they can leverage.

5.?????What kind of coaching agreements I need to have and with whom? ( e.g. sponsors, stakeholders, team etc. )

Clear Coaching Agreements with Stakeholders

·???????A clear coaching agreement is a propounding step ?for a great collaboration with management.

·???????Its utmost important to clarity and set expectations what is your role as coach, what you offer and what in scope and out of scope. This may not clear out in your first meeting but ensure you continue this discussion until clarity and alignment is created.

·???????Discuss and agree on your coaching stance.

·???????Your coaching agreement should be strengthened by coaching ethics. Please read ICF coaching ethics and Agile coaching ethics here.

Co-Create Team Coaching Approach with Team

I explore and validate my understanding with the team doing a TEAM 3D WORKSHOP. I use best practices from “Design Sprint” to facilitate this TEAM 3D workshop. This usually entails some or all of below activities depending on need. In my next article I will bring more details how to facilitate this workshop.

Discovering: Awareness and Clarity on Teams Strengths, limitations, needs and pains.

·??????Micro View: Value stream mapping for team to see the details of the system and their limitations & opportunities.

·???????Macro View: Multi team retrospective (use tools like Causal loop diagram, Spotify health check or Lyssa Adkins agile high-performance tree or team diagnostic tool).

Dreaming: What are our dreams, desires, hope and X Factor.

·???????Team Vision Board.

·???????Agile Balance Scorecard: Creating Alignment among multiple stakeholders and their goals.

·???????Minimum Viable Change & Roadmap ( Short term and long term view)

·???????Recognizing Team’s X Factor to Drive the Change.

Dare to Drive Your team will have lots of questions at this time. How can we make it a reality? What is the Minimum viable change? What are our assumptions? how can we work together? How can we stay accountable to each other? What makes us strong in difficult times? Here coach plays a huge role to build confidence in team. Role of coach is to help the team to uncover the answers make meaningful choices around way forward.

·?Forming Executive Action team (A leadership alliance to guide and remove impediments)

·?Impediments & opportunity Backlog (team level and org level)

· Readiness assessment /application profiling for complex large projects, Selecting pilot teams

· Design Team Alliance. This I facilitate for team to come up with

o??Hopes wishes and challenges & goals

o??Success criteria and metrices

o??Roles and Responsibilities

o??Working & Learning agreements, Values & ethics

o??Communication protocol

o??Information radiators

Discovering, Dreaming and Driving is a continuous journey. And every team coaching assignment is unique. Above tips will help you to set your sail your team coaching assignment smoothly and be mentally ready to inspect and adapt to storms you may face and overcome them with your team.?