WHY GROUP & TEAM COACHING?

Why would organizations be interested in Group and Team Coaching training? What’s in it for a business, an association, or a government? What will be the benefits and return on investment? When you consider the possibility of being a Group and Team Coach and employing the Meta- Coaching System to resolve conflicts in groups and to enable the functioning of a group, there are numerous values and benefits.

1) Effective and Productive Groups The first and most important reason for Group & Team Coaching training in an organization is that most groups are dysfunctional. They do not work very well. They not only are not very effective or productive, they are all too often, positively hurtful to the organization. They undermine the effectiveness of the business.

Yet managers and business owners hire people for their talents and skills to improve the quality and quantity of products and services. Yet the essence of business is the ability to work with others and through others. That’s what we do in business. The people we hire have to be able to create products, services, and information for clients by working in a coordinated, cooperative, and collaborative way. If people in an organization are not communicating well, are not coordinating their efforts, clarifying their communications, understanding each other, understanding what the customers are asking for, and getting information in plenty of time, then we know that the business will be putting along at half speed.

Group & Team Coaching works to solve these problems. It works to enable people to appreciae the importance of cooperation and develop the required skills. Otherwise there will be a great waste of human capital of intelligence and creativity. This is where a Group Coach can interactively facilitate a group to learn how to communicate with each other so that there is precision and clarity. This is not easy, that’s why a well-trained Coach is needed.

2) Reduction of Conflict and Dysfunction In addition to straightening out and cleaning up the language of people, a Group Coach also facilitates the ability of a group to face and work through conflicts in a respectful and effective way. This also is not easy and can be quite demanding. Yet if a manager spends a lot of time settling conflicts and misunderstandings, and have to deal with the political maneuvers of keeping secrets, undermine another’s success or reputation, gossiping, playing favorites, etc., then you also know that the group will not be operating at its optimal best.

When we consider all of the ways that people in groups can be ineffective and can create stress and problems for each other, it’s a wonder that any group is very effective. Group & Team Coaching offers business the chance to enable people to work more effectively with each other by confronting the issues, by talking about “the 500 pound guerilla” that’s in the room, and

working through the differences. This typically means facilitating people to change their neuro- semantics about “conflict” and “differences” and then develop the skills for being curious, respectful, responsible, and open to correction. Only then can a group become truly effective and productive in getting results. Isn’t that what companies are in business for?

3) United Efforts As there are many different kinds of groups—there will be differences in group coaching. Seven different kinds of groups are listed in the book Group and Team Coaching (2012). At the highest level is the executive team. Yet most often the term “team” is more of a label rather than a description. Take each of the individual senior managers apart and ask them about the vision and values of the group, and you’ll probably get as many answers as you have individuals. Is it any wonder then that the overall group isn’t aligned, focused, and integrated? Then there are all sorts of department groups and inter-department groups. And are they any more unified?

There are also work groups—projects, committees, quality control circles, etc. These are groups which have been commissioned to accomplish a specific outcome, to get a specific result. And again, the inner fighting, politicking, and vying for either control, influence, status, budget, resources, etc. is a frequent occurrence.

4) Unleashing Group & Team Potentials When groups work effectively together, they can achieve great things—achievements greater than what any individual can do alone or apart. An effective thinking and learning team will be smarter than the most intelligent individual. By such collective thinking, learning, and deciding, we not only unleash potentials but attain a higher intelligence. To facilitate this, groups need to be safe, inclusive, empowering of members, respectful, fun, effective, and unleashing the highest and best in all.

This is especially critical for a Meta-Coach because he or she does self-actualization coaching. The Meta-Coach operates from a deeper understanding of Self-Actualization Psychology than other coaches. They know the processes of unleashing, for holding the space for a crucible experience, for unleashing self-actualizing leaders and companies, etc.

5) Create a Warm and Welcoming Social Context Groups in organizations, associations, government, and everywhere are social entities and the quality, feel, and mood of the group establish the group’s culture. Group Coaching is an excellent methodology for renewing, rejuvenating, and empowering an organization’s culture. When there is a warm and welcoming culture wherein people work—people will want to be there, want to be a part, take more personal responsibility, and enjoy the experience. That will improve their learning and development, create team-spirit, and that will improve retention of the best people in the organization. And all of that will improve the bottom-line of the business.

6) Unleash greater Creativity and Innovation To stay current in today’s market, every organization that wants to be on the cutting-edge has to be a learning organization and that means that the communication system within the business has to be fluid, quick, and accurate. That enables people to be “in the know” and trusted to handle

the information and activities in the organization. In this way Group & Team Coaching improves the groups within a business to be more creative and then more effective in innovating new products and services.

Now you know why Group & Team Coaching can be transformative in an organization enabling it to not only be profitable but create a culture where people are engaged and find meaning in their work.