We Are Teamery
As a new and evolving field, using a single lens to define and explore ‘team coaching’ feels limiting to the Teamery team.
We find a wide-angle and integrated view on team coaching more useful, taking our lead from a range of academics, researchers and practitioners in this emerging area.
How does Teamery Work?
We partner with a team, over multiple months, engaging with them in a variety of different ways. Our coaching process spans 4, 16 or 12 months across virtual, in-person and hybrid sessions that are 2.5 - 4 hours in length. Our approach includes the following milestones:
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Pre-launch to gain contextual understanding and assess team readiness
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Pre-launch Discovery
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Month 1 Launch
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Months 2 - 11 Team Coaching Sessions
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Final Month Progress Review
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Final Month Close Out
Our hybrid approach is both in-person and / or virtual. Our team embraces virtual tools, which has enabled us to work globally with our clients. We use a variety of tools to maximise engagement in our Teamery sessions and seek feedback from our audience to continually improve the experience. Coaching clients have quickly adapted to these new virtual tools, building relationships online and quickly gaining trust in the process.
Context and Readiness
We start each engagement in a conversation with a) the team leader and then b) the team members around their expectations for team coaching and their readiness. We focus on building clarity about your business context and your culture, the team’s current level of effectiveness and performance, and where changes are needed to optimise performance. We ensure alignment on what team coaching is and where it is most useful and how we’ll work in partnership with you as the team leader. We spend time with team members to build alignment around what team coaching is and how it supports team effectiveness; and we explore team readiness levels.
This results in a mandate to partner with the team and start the ‘Discovery’ process.
Discover
We gather diagnostic data from the team to explore your current levels of team functioning and effectiveness. This is done using a combination of team and stakeholder interviews and/or focus groups, behavioural questionnaires and team profiling tools; as well as analysis of organisational data usually including culture and engagement surveys. This builds insight into your team’s collective style, strengths, obstacles and helps to identify ways to optimise performance.
Teamery has licenses to use some of the top diagnostic tools for teams including Lencioni ‘s Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Lumina Spark and Leader, Belbin Team Roles and PROPHET.
Discovery results in alignment on where your team is currently- what is working which can be leveraged and built on, what areas are currently not as effective - and what changes are needed to move the team towards optimal performance. It also provides essential input into the design of your team coaching launch and future sessions and enables alignment on the length and rhythm of your team coaching engagement.
Launch
We launch your team coaching process with a longer session – 4 to 8 hours – in which the team spends time getting to one know another better and building stronger connections across the team. The team explores what is working in the team and how to build from this to address the areas which are not yet optimal. Ways of working are contracted, and your team charter is built. Importantly, the goals for the team coaching process and measures of success are defined and contracted with you and your team. The team launch provides the foundation for the future team coaching sessions.
Team Coaching Sessions
We hold monthly team coaching sessions over six to twelve months, delivered by two co-coaches. These are 2.5 to 4 hours each and focused on the team coaching goals contracted. These sessions explore your team’s current team functioning and build alignment on new possible ways of communicating and interacting to move your team towards the goals contracted. The team’s collective purpose, style, aspiration, and team effectiveness is unlocked through reflective, provocative and action-oriented conversation. The sessions provide a deliberate and purposeful time for your team to optimise its collective way of working, building its range and resourcefulness to better deliver to its collective tasks. We use positive psychology, team dynamic theory, neuroscience principles, combined with narrative coaching to build a team that is ‘more than the sum of its parts’.
Team leader support and 1:1 coaching
We partner with you, as the team leader throughout the team coaching engagement, holding review and insight sharing sessions post each team interaction to reflect and plan ahead. Should 1:1 coaching be relevant – which is often the case as team leadership is a key criterion for team effectiveness – this will be contracted and scheduled with you.
Team member support and 1:1 coaching
We partner with the team members throughout the team coaching engagement, inviting them to masterclasses on key ideas and tools relevant to the team engagement and providing exposure to peers across industries. Should 1:1 coaching be relevant for any of your team members to better equip them within the team context, this will be contracted and scheduled. You will be included in a 3-way objective setting and progress review sessions with the coach and team member, ensuring that the individual coaching is aligned to the wider team coaching goals.
Team Reviews
We monitor the team climate and progress throughout the engagement, using bi-monthly pulse checks as well as a final impact review. This will mirror the Discovery data collection, tracking changes in team effectiveness against the team goals contracted upfront with you and your team.
Close-out and re-contracting.
We hold a final, close-out session with you and your team to reflect on progress, track impact, contract future team goals and celebrate.
Discovery
We gather diagnostic data from the team to explore your current levels of team functioning and effectiveness. This is done using a combination of team and stakeholder interviews and/or focus groups, behavioural questionnaires and team profiling tools; as well as analysis of organisational data usually including culture and engagement surveys. This builds insight into your team’s collective style, strengths, obstacles and helps to identify ways to optimise performance.
Teamery has licenses to use some of the top diagnostic tools for teams including Lencioni ‘s Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Lumina Spark and Leader, Belbin Team Roles and PROPHET.
Discovery results in alignment on where your team is currently- what is working which can be leveraged and built on, what areas are currently not as effective - and what changes are needed to move the team towards optimal performance. It also provides essential input into the design of your team coaching launch and future sessions and enables alignment on the length and rhythm of your team coaching engagement.
FAQs
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When is the best time to engage the team coaching?
A team is ready for team coaching when growth and change is on their agenda. When a team understands what potential might be realised if they work ON the team, not simply IN the team; and the value of creating an intentional time and space to do this – they’re team coaching ready.
Often teams who are forming and wish to quickly move into performing, or have a new mandate, task or strategy, transitioning towards a new way of working or culture, building increased collaboration and innovation, navigating interpersonal conflict or underperformance benefit from team coaching.
Increasingly teams are engaging with team coaching to proactively build their capabilities.
The world in which we work, and in which teams operate, is messy. You don’t need to wait for the ideal time to start team coaching. We’ll start our engagement by exploring your team context in depth. You can expect us to be direct if we believe the timing if not optimal and we’ll be practical on how to build readiness in your team.
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What if my team requires a shorter process to move things forward?
We’ll engage with you and collaboratively scope your requirements and timeframes. We meet teams where they are and co-design a coaching approach. You can expect us to be authentic on what is possible in your ideal timeframes and how to accelerate your team’s optimisation. It is important that we’re clear that team coaching is not a ‘one and done’ experience but usually spans a number of months and interactions.
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What if I have a short timeline to produce team results?
Then let’s get to work immediately! We’ll engage with you and collaboratively scope your requirements and timeframes. We’ll work with you to define what team results you need and how to optimally deliver these in the shortest timeline. You can expect us to be authentic on what is possible in your ideal timeframes and how to accelerate your team’s optimisation. It is important that we’re clear that team coaching is not a ‘one and done’ experience but usually spans a number of months and interactions. Depending on your team’s readiness to roll up their sleeves and dive in, significant results can be achieved in short timelines.
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How long does a typical intervention last?
Team coaching is not a ‘one and done’ event and usually spans 3 to 12 months, involving a range of interactions and experiences. This will be decided once we have a deeper insight into your environment and the team results you’re driving towards. We meet teams where they are and co-design a coaching approach. You can expect us to be clear on what is possible in your ideal timeframes and how to accelerate your team’s optimisation.
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How do you assess team functionality?
We use a variety of ways to collect data on your team’s current level of effectiveness. We have licenses to use the top team effectiveness tools, exploring the team’s behaviour, preferences, stage, strengths, and risks. We run focus groups, interview the team and analyse data from your own surveys and stakeholders. When we meet with you and explore your team’s context and aspirations; we’ll introduce you to the possible tools and ways of gathering data and determine the best fit for your team. Importantly, this won’t only be done at the beginning of the team coaching. Teamery PULSE helps you and your team to track functionality regularly.
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What is the maximum number of team members you work with?
Research has shown that the optimal number of members is between 4 and 6. If your team is bigger - we sometimes work with teams of up to ten – we’ll probably start in exploring optimal team design with you.
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How do you assess what makes a team?
We’ll explore if your team is a real team – and if it needs to be – by exploring the level of interdependency and its collective output. We work with groups too; and are clear on the difference between the two.
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How do you measure effectiveness?
We have a variety of ways of collecting data and tracking impact. The most important part of this is co-creating measures of success – how you’ll know you have achieved your desired outcomes - at the beginning of the team coaching engagement. We’ll then measure these on commencement, during and on completion of the team coaching.