Team coaching: boosting the collective effectiveness of Nicolas' team

The context: A company undergoing transformation

As a team coach, I was invited to work with a team of managers in a technology company undergoing a major internal reorganisation. Nicolas, the head of the business unit, and Rebecca, the HR Director, [first names and sector changed to protect confidentiality], began by explaining to me that changes in their industry and an internal restructuring meant that the management team had to evolve. New direction, new priorities, new internal organisation... He wanted me to help the group of managers to redefine their mission in order to better align themselves with the new 'raison d'être' of the company and motivating the team.

Faced with this team, it was important to intervene "as a team", in order to work more effectively on the issues at stake. collective dynamics (systemic approach). So I worked in tandem with a partner coach, to guide them through this critical transition and facilitate the realignment of the team with Management and the other BUs.

The challenges of individual coaching: A misalignment that creates bottlenecks

Nicolas explained that the reorganisation had created uncertainty among the managers, who needed to refocus their efforts, refresh their mission and re-establish their role in the organisation as a whole. He felt that they were beginning to struggle to respond positively to the ever-changing expectations of the business, and that it was becoming difficult to motivate them to change.

Indeed, the managers told us that they felt disconnected from the company's new objectives. That they no longer knew exactly what their roles and responsibilities were under the restructuring. That they were, in their words, "stuck" between the "old world" and the "new world", and no longer knew how to "fit in". remain a competitive BU. For example, one of the managers felt obliged to give the priority to short-term revenue targets, while another thought that it was necessary to focus on long-term innovation, which caused tension at meetings team. Without a clear, aligned mission, they debated endlessly about the 'right' direction...

During the team coachingWe observed how this gap led to confusion in their decision-making, breakdowns in communication and reluctance towards any attempt at organisational change.

The tailor-made approach proposed for this team coaching

When we first met the management team, it was clear to us that they were motivated but overwhelmed. To help them move forward, we designed a system based on clarity, collaboration and alignment with the company's new direction.

1. I started with one-to-one sessions with each member of the team, and with Nicolas (BU leader) and Rebecca (HR director), to understand their perspective on the current state of the team and the business. These conversations enabled us to discover the issues, aspirations and frustrations of each person, as well as how the managers saw their role evolving.
2. We then ran 5 half-day workshops for the entire management team, alternating between group time, work in sub-groups and individual work. We got them to work on the team's strengths, the evolution of the company's objective and how they could each contribute to it in their respective positions.

The progress of the coached team

When we asked the team for their feedback on the road they had travelled, they told us about the transformative effect the coaching had had on their team. They now had - almost to their surprise! - a clear and concise mission statement that was in line with the company's new direction. We had avoided the pitfall of a pseudo-inspirational version such as "To be the most innovative team, delivering globally recognised solutions for international success", which would not have spelt out in concrete terms how innovation is encouraged or what success looks like.

More importantly, they told us that this updating of their mission and roles had sparked innovation within their teams. Within six months, their teams had started to come up with new ideas for their work. In this company, where innovation is central, unlocking creativity was a relief.

Key success factors for team coaching

• Relying on the systemic approach: this enabled the team to see how their individual roles and actions had an impact on the organisation as a whole. We helped the team to better understand the interconnections between their new vision, the company's values and market dynamics. The managers were able to realign their mission with the company's overall strategy and re-launch innovation in a coherent way.
• Facilitating open communication: we have ensured that the voice of every member of the management team is heard during the coaching process. Creating a space for open dialogue enabled the team to uncover unspoken issues that needed to be resolved in order to move forward.
• Remaining pragmatic: we didn't want to create statements that sound good on paper but remain dead letters. We therefore worked to translate the evolution of the company's "raison d'être" into managerial strategies and into everyday behaviours, with functional tools. 
• Linking mission and measurement: we were careful to ensure that the team's new mission was linked to specific, measurable objectives that could guide their day-to-day work and decision-making, and rectify the situation if necessary. In particular, we set short- and long-term objectives, and assigned responsibility for each initiative to specific members of the team according to their respective skills.