Team Coaching Competencies 4 and 5

The blog series continues with the additional points of skill from ICF’s Team Coaching Competencies with competencies 4 and 5.

Competency 4: Cultivates Trust and Safety

+ Creates and maintains a safe space for open and honest team member interaction.

+ Promotes the team viewing itself as a single entity with a common identity.

+ Fosters expression of individual team members’ and the collective team’s feelings, perceptions, concerns, beliefs, hopes, and suggestions.

+ Encourages participation and contribution by all team members.

+ Partners with the team to develop, maintain, and reflect on team rules and norms.

+ Promotes effective communication within the team.

+ Partners with the team to identify and resolve internal conflict.

What this means:

• As a coach, work with the team to create safety and ensure all participate.
• By promoting the team seeing themselves as a whole, the coach is promoting the team itself as well as the efficacy of their work.
• The coach invites and holds space for each person as well as the team as a whole.
• The coach creates and holds the space for all team members to contribute.
• Invite the team to set ground rule if they want or circumstances call for it.
• The coach models and supports respectful communication and collaboration.
• As appropriate the coach may move into conflict coaching.

Competency 5: Maintains Presence

+ Uses one’s full range of sensory and perceptual abilities to focus on what is important to the coaching process.

+ Uses a co-coach when agreed to by the team and sponsors and when doing so will allow the team coach to be more present in the team coaching session.

+ Encourages team members to pause and reflect how they are interacting in team coaching sessions.

+ Moves in and out of the team dialogue as appropriate.

What this means:

• Focusing completely on the team includes noticing their interactions as well as individual reactions.
• Engage help for this as appropriate by exploring co-coaching as an option.
• Invite the team to consider their interactions and work.
• Be aware of when it serves the team to remain silent.

During coach training, the research showing that the number one indicator of success in a coaching relationship is rapport gets discussed.  These competencies, built on a foundation of ethics, competency, and training, are essential for rapport.