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How do I coach my team?
As entrepreneurs, we are used to blazing through, but not all employees can handle that equally well. Sometimes a team's work process requires a little more attention. In this article, you will read more about how you can coach your team to make your employees happier and more productive.
What is coaching?
Coaching is a specific form of leadership tailored to the individual needs of one employee or an entire team. By giving them space to create their own results, you involve your staff in the organisation of the company. Together, they feel responsible for a particular task, which motivates them to complete it successfully.
In short, a coach therefore adjusts work processes to make them run more smoothly, but in practice there is obviously a lot more to it than that. The self-confidence of your employees, their characters, interpersonal relationships... all have an impact on the group dynamics and the internal functioning of the team.
Difference between coach and manager
Managers are focused on concrete results and business processes. A coach keeps that in mind, but focuses on the personal journey of his people and the meaning in the tasks they perform.
You can always manage, you only coach when your team is actually experiencing a problem and in need of guidance. Moreover, you have to deliver some typical managerial behaviour to do so:
Look at yourself
Is there a conflict or is a process not going as smoothly as it could? Then ask yourself what role you yourself play in it. Dare to admit your mistakes and adjust your own behaviour if necessary. Otherwise, you cannot expect that from your team.
Support without filling in
The team itself takes responsibility for completing tasks and making decisions. As a coach, you are responsible for supporting that process, but leave the interpretation to the team. Focus rather on the development of good qualities of your team members, than on how to get a result.
Learn to listen
As a leader, you are used to making decisions, but as a coach, you have to listen especially well and from there support your team so that they can decide for themselves. This involves not only the content of the message, but also the way it is conveyed. That says a lot about the underlying relationship and tension.
How to coach my team
Safe learning environment
A good coach is attentive to his team's insecurities and conflict-sensitive issues. Therefore, create a safe environment where it is okay to make mistakes and where there is open communication. Teach your team to put situations into perspective and provide enough humour so that the process does not become too heavy.Concrete objectives
Instead of saying "we want to spend less time on administration", set a measurable objective with the expected outcome and lay out the resources and schedule needed to achieve it.Regular feedback sessions
Organise structured meetings to evaluate preliminary results, discuss what is going well and make adjustments where necessary. This cyclical follow-up ensures that everyone stays engaged and no one forgets the goal.Ask questions
As a coach, you do not give instructions, but let the team come to its own insights by asking the right questions. In doing so, don't dwell too long on the cause of problems, but focus on how things can be done differently.
Characteristics of a good team coach
A good coach...
Can deal with uncertainty
Dare to let go of control and accept the situation as it is.
Observes the behaviour of team members
Relates or confronts, depending on the situation.
Slow to respond
Because he trusts that the right outcome will emerge naturally by letting the team search for itself.
Challenge his team
Challenges his team to try things in a different way than they are used to.
Coaching a team: the pitfalls
As a coach, try to avoid these situations:
Mediating too early or too late
Mediate at the moment your team asks for it.Trying to avoid any negative effect
Let the team learn from their mistakes.Approaching team members individually
Coach in group.Downplay or ignore the mood of the team
Leave room for emotions.Losing your coaching position because you get sucked into the team
Keep a healthy distance.
Note: You cannot coach every team yourself.
If your own part in the situation to be mediated is too big or there is no click with the team, it is better to ask another party to coach. For example, the team leader of another department or an HR employee who can keep more distance and be neutral.
Reading tip: How do you find the right talent for your business?
More tips on team coaching?
Team coaching creates smoother business processes with attention to the people running them. At ActionCOACH, we help entrepreneurs guide their teams to create productive and streamlined business processes.
Kurt Vervloet
Kurt Vervloet is a business coach, blogger and speaker. Since 2017, he has been coaching businesses around the world, ranging from solo entrepreneurs, SME companies to executive management teams at large organisations. His clients choose to work with him because of my proven, no-nonsense approach to optimising and scaling businesses. By achieving great results with his clients, he has already been rewarded with several Awards.