The ICF and AC have created Team Coaching Competency frameworks that could revolutionise team coaching, say Georgina Woudstra and Allard de Jong
Teams are central to how organisations work. When teams perform, organisations thrive. Yet research shows that as few as one in ten teams are high performing (Hackman, 2002).
So teams are perhaps the greatest untapped potential for organisational sustainability and success. To leverage this opportunity, teams need to focus on collective goals, access their collective intelligence and collaborate brilliantly. High performing teams are the subject of hundreds of business books, so why do we still have so many that are under performing?
As we all know, translating insight into lasting and effective change is not easy so it is not surprising that organisations were expecting a 76% increase in team coaching (Ridler Report, 2016).
Team coaching is a learning approach that raises individual and collective awareness, fosters collaboration and enables teams to develop their own solutions. Different to more traditional team development workshops or awaydays, where the team is left to implement any learning extracted after the event, team coaching focuses on embedding learning, which in turn leads to more sustainable results.
This year, the two largest coaching professional bodies, the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and the Association for Coaching (AC), announced new Team Coaching Competency frameworks, with team coaching accreditation schemes following shortly. We believe this is the most ground-breaking evolution in the history of the coaching profession. Since Thomas Leonard started the ICF in 1995, coach training and accreditation have almost exclusively focused on developing coaches to work with individuals.
Team coaching is significantly more challenging, messy and complex than individual coaching and coaches need a more comprehensive set of skills to be effective. The new ICF and AC team coaching schemes provide necessary guidance and guard rails for coaches and organisations. They define what great team coaching is, and isn’t, and set out the competencies needed to achieve high standards of coaching practice for teams, providing a gold seal of approval and helping buyers to distinguish professional team coaches from those who are not equipped, psychologically, practically or ethically, to do the work.
As described in Mastering the Art of Team Coaching (Woudstra 2021), the Team Coaching Studio’s team coaching competency has informed professional body frameworks. We have updated our programmes to ensure alignment and are geared up to provide the team coaching training, CPD, live practice and supervision required to apply for accreditation.
The time is right for this giant leap for the coaching profession. Never before in the history of humankind has there been a greater need for a different approach to leadership and problem-solving. Otto Scharmer (2018) hit the nail on the head in saying, “We are collectively creating results that [almost] nobody wants.”
We are far beyond the point where any one individual, or set of individuals, however dynamic, focused and charismatic, can turn the tide. The problems are simply too complex to be solved by the old models of top-down authority. Team coaching can dramatically increase the collaboration needed to resolve the challenges ahead at every level, from global to local.
References
- J R Hackman, Leading teams: Setting the stage for great performances, Harvard Business Review Press 2002
- 6th Ridler Report Strategic Trends in the use of Coaching 2016, Ridler & Co: www.ridlerandco.com
- C O Scharmer, Theory U: Leading from the Future as It Emerges. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2016
- G Woudstra, Mastering the Art of Team Coaching: a comprehensive guide to unleashing the power, purpose and potential in any team. Team Coaching Studio Press, 2021
- Georgina Woudstra and Allard de Jong are directors of the Team Coaching Studio
- www.teamcoachingstudio.com